Deepening Students’ Understanding in Math
At some point in our lives we have either said ourselves, or heard someone else say, “I’m just not that great at math.” In our own experience as math learners, we fed into this notion that some people are good at math and others just aren’t. These ideas can begin early on in elementary school and follow us throughout our entire educational career. As a math teacher, it is disheartening to see students at such an early age give up on themselves as math learners when I know for a fact that there is no such thing as, “being bad at math.” Because of this, I have been working hard to shift the mindset of students who previously held this belief. In my classroom, students understand that math can be difficult, but it is NOT unattainable.
In full transparency, I did not always apply this type of mindset to my teaching. However, taking the time to encourage students, walk them through difficult processes and instill the joy of accomplishing new skills has forever changed my approach as an educator. Here are a few things that I have incorporated into my teaching that have increased student participation, understanding and joy in the classroom:
Challenge your students. We must provide students with the skills that will allow them to be successful at the next level. If we shy away from difficult things because we think it’s too hard for them, they will never experience the full extent of their growth. Within these challenges, students will almost always complain and that is okay! Help them shift their mindset. When a student says, “I don’t know how to do this.” My response is, “You don’t know how to do this, YET! The more we practice, the easier it becomes; however, you have to be willing to put in the work to get past the difficult parts.” Students almost always rise to meet the challenge and the joy they experience as a result motivates them to tackle the next challenge.
Slow down. It can be so frustrating to fall behind the pacing guide. We tend to want to push through as quickly as possible in an attempt to expose students to as many skills as we can each school year. Yes, students need exposure, but what’s the point of moving forward if students didn’t master the previous skill? By slowing down and going at the pace of my students, I see a significant increase in their understanding this year. For each new lesson, we work through examples as a class, have partnered practice and then individual practice. The length of the lesson depends on how well students are grasping the concepts. Some lessons we’re able to finish in one day, others may take a little longer and I have learned to be okay with that.
Always encourage students to explain their thinking! If you can talk through the steps, or tell someone else how you got to your answer, that shows a deeper level of understanding which can then be applied in similar situations. During class discussions/group work, you will always hear me asking students, “how do you know your answer is correct?” “Why did you do it that way?” or “Tell me more about what you’re thinking.” As a result, my students have become comfortable with not only writing their answers, but also sharing their ideas aloud.
Of course, there is no “one size fits all” method when it comes to teaching math, however, I believe that these are universal techniques that can be applied in many different classroom settings.
