Math

Something every pre-service teacher can look forward to when teaching math is the aha! moment, it is truly one of the most inspiring and fulfilling parts of becoming an educator. As students ourselves we have also felt that light turn on when something finally clicks, but witnessing when a students' pondering expression turns into a bright wide eyed smile is a completely different feeling. It reminds us how it is such a privilege it is to guide these students through their learning journey and help them discover what they are capable of. These moments do not just teach math, it teaches students to believe in themselves. And as future teachers we get to be a part of those moments. If you ever doubt your impact on a student, remember the power of the aha! moment, a single spark of understanding that can light up a child’s entire relationship with learning.

Imagine sitting in a class where you feel confused and overwhelmed. That is not where you would want to be learning most likely. For future students, we don't want them to have that feeling that is negatively impacting their learning. This is why it is so important to foster a positive environment for students to promote learning. When they are positively viewing math, they are able to build those lasting strategies that they will carry on throughout their math career. We should be celebrating our students and fostering positive feelings.  When creating this positive math learning environment, it is also important to recognize common impacts that hinder and discourage learning around math. It could be overall math anxiety for example, but working to change this and promote the positive and comfortable learning environment can flip the script and make the learning environment positive for students. We feel that as a future educator, it is extremely important to connect too and with ...

               Hi preservice educators, and welcome back to our mathtastic blog! Think about the last time you were in an elementary math classroom... this was probably a while ago, but do you remember how often you looked at a math problem and it related to your life? Did you ever have a class where you could relate? In our experience, there were not many opportunities for connecting. It was very surface level and used examples that could never connect to our real lives. However, it's so important for us as teachers to connect their experiences to our math learning. Expanding our curriculum and branching out to help students recognize that math is part of our every day lives is so important!      Knowing our students and their lived experiences will allow us to connect with them more in and out of the classroom. Depending on your grade level and the concepts you are teaching, there are so many different ways to incorporate rea...

 Math is more than just numbers, it is the patterns we notice, the animals we see or know, the food we eat, and the world we make sense of every day. When students understand that math is everywhere, it becomes something meaningful rather than something to fear. Using animals, food, or familiar objects to represent numbers helps make math more enjoyable because it connects to things students already know and love, rather than relying only on number form. Instead of only using the number form students can can use pictures, boxes, symbols, drawings, or objects to show their thinking, or counting out loud allowing them to express math in a way that works for them. This flexibility empowers students to see themselves as capable, creative mathematicians who have valuable ways of showing what they know. By encouraging varied strategies and representations, we help students build confidence, deepen understanding, and approach math with curiosity rather than fear.

     In todays blog post we are going to talk about how important student centered learning is so important in the classroom. We know for our students to learn they have to feel important and connected. As pre service teachers it is important to make sure when we plan what we imagine for our future classrooms our students are at the center of it. As the world around us is constantly changing so is the way our students learn. Student centered learning creates a positive learning environment for all students because it becomes personalized to each student. Teachers are more guides then teachers in student centered learning, allowing students to chose the direction in which they go in their learning. Students are also able to connect to their real life by personalizing their learning to include topics that they can relate to better.