Tips for Teaching Middle School
While attending NCTM, I was asked to offer tips for teaching math in a Middle School classroom. In thinking about it, these are tips that apply to any classroom! I hope that there is something here that will strike a chord with you. Happy Teaching! no matter what level you teach!!
Teach in application
(Kids want to know "When will we use this stuff?" Teaching them in application gives them a purpose and a need to know skills in order to perform a task or solve a problem.)
Teach hands-on
(Many students already think that it's OK not to understand math, that math is too hard and is meant for only the “brains” in the classroom. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Math is attainable by every student in your classroom. Use hands-on activities that help students to “see” the mathematics! )
Encourage lots of "mathese" spoken in your classroom
(They're going to talk anyway, so why not have them talking about math! Study groups, partners, projects, problem solving, students should be talking, discussing, verbalizing about what they are doing and why they are doing it! Mathematics is a language, learned by speaking and by doing.)
Keep them busy with mathematics, not just algorithms and skills
(Mathematics is wide open and wonderfully interesting, and skills are used throughout the explorations. Pages of drill really do "kill" the excitement. Keep students “doing” mathematics, not just practicing skills.)
Introduce every new concept with hands-on experiences
(If seeing is believing, then “doing” is understanding. Use manipulatives, patterns, relationships every step of the way when teaching new concepts. We all learn by attaching new knowledge to prior understanding.
Front-end problem-solving, not back-end.
(Let kids struggle with the mathematics before you give them the shortcuts of the arithmetic -- remember, arithmetic is just a tool that helps us "do" the mathematics more efficiently.)
Create a Free-to-Risk Environment
(Students need to feel free to express their mathematical understandings without ridicule or judgment. Help students to grow from their informal understanding to formal mathematics.)
Well, that’s it for this Teacher Tip. Be sure to check out our website for lots of staff development opportunities that can help you and your students create a classroom that’s fun, productive and full of mathematics!
See you next time,
Ms Fritzie!
