Making Math Matter

Math...the class that everyone lines up outside classroom doors excited for the next lesson.  Wait, I have not seen this to be true for many math teachers.  Instead student arrive stressed and worried about the lessons taught in math classes.  Why??

Math instruction that is skill, drill, and lecture helps to create the stress and anxiety for students.  

Instead of skill and drill defined as showing a student how to solve a mathematical problem then having students replicate this process for "leaning".  Math teacher should move away from this concept (have a paradigm shift in teaching) to teaching through asking students questions that engage them into the math lesson.  The questioning allows students to feel apart of the lesson and that they are all learning together.  Also, teachers should allow students to teach each other as well as to encourage (without forcing) students to demonstrate how to solve problems by co-teaching the class with the teacher.

I also suggest that activities and real work applications are a common practice in math classes.  These will help to encourage students to engage into lessons and will help student relate mathematical concepts to how they apply outside the classroom. 

Do you agree?

How do you engage your math students? 

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