My Philosophy of Teaching Mathematics
As a math teacher, I will want to my students to acquire great math learning skills, great study habits, and an active, open mind as to how math connects to their everyday lives. In order to do all of this I think it is important to create a fun, comfortable, yet intriguing learning environment for my elementary school students. I would have learning centers where they can explore grade-level math through a variety of problems, activities, games, and have books showing literacy connections for different areas of math. I think it’s very important to give math “Do Nows” for the students to do in the beginning of class to activate their mind to learn math and to go over the previous “Do Now” at the start of class the next day. In addition, I believe it’s important as a math teacher to dedicate the time to preparing and creating an anticipatory set to engage the students minds for the concept they are about to learn. It’s important to hear how the students think and make connections in math. I learned the importance of engaging the minds of students and how to do so by the great Kay Toliver. She makes anticipatory sets for most lessons that activate the students thought process which lead to the concept they will learn that day and learn how, where, and when to use the concept. Following this, I believe it’s important especially in math to “review, revisit, and repeat” new concepts in order for students to retain and gain deeper understanding new concepts. Finally, I believe that math should be looked at in a brighter light than it was while I was growing up. I believe it’s important to encourage students about math by making myself available for them when they need extra help, creating fun yet effective activities and games, and reading them books that are related to math. Using all of these effective teaching methods and incorporating my deeper understanding for simple math concepts to the best of my ability are my philosophies of teaching mathematics.