The last years of the twentieth century saw the development of universal secondary education in many countries. This means that all students, regardless of their ability or interest in mathematics, are required to continue learning in mathematics until the end of their high school education.
In the past, students graduating from high school math classes were, for the most part, “logical math” thinkers. This means that the teacher’s “chalk and talk” and multiple exercises approach has worked for these students. But with all students attending high school, their learning styles just don’t work for that traditional teacher. This means that teacher education in mathematics must change. In addition, significant curriculum changes were required to bring the curriculum in line with recent advances in mathematics, particularly with the advent of computer technology. To further complicate the problem, if the teacher uses a variety of teachers, the teacher needs to use an evaluation process that reflects that teacher.
This meant that my teaching teacher had to expand to meet the needs of all my students as well as the requirements of the modern curriculum in mathematics.
Here is how I tried to make mathematics more attractive to my students at the beginning of the 21st century. There are fourteen strategies I have used to help students want to be fully involved in developing their mathematics.
The student-centered strategies were:
1. Math should be fun, relevant and connected to life.
I’ve used strategies such as fun quizzes, realistic questions, easy and hard challenges, questions in unfamiliar contexts, and speed tests to name a few.
2. I try to teach math the way I wish it was taught, not the way it was taught to me.
Remember how often you were bored in the “mathematics” classes and could not see the relevance of mathematics in your life. Don’t allow your students to feel this way.
3. I used a variety of teaching strategies to suit the subjects I was teaching.
Don’t let math be just “chalk and talk” and multiple exercises. Use technology, collaborative learning methods, practical materials, practical lessons, testing, and any strategies that take into account the different learning styles of your students. Then assess each topic in a way that reflects your teaching approach.
4. I often used my students as assistant teachers.
I have often used my most capable students as mentors in their areas of expertise. I may need to give them some teacher training but I’ve found that other students react well to their help and progress faster. The important thing in the guide’s speech is that it is in the language of the student. This enables the less able student to comprehend more quickly.
5. I set out to develop every skill I could in all of my students, regardless of their talent for mathematics.
The greater the range of skills I can teach my students, the greater their chance of success in the long term. These skills may include estimation, planning, how to check effectively, as well as the best way to determine a solution to a problem.
6. I have worked hard to help students develop their understanding of mathematics, not just to adopt mine.
In other words, I introduced the idea of ”constructivism” into my teaching.
The strategies my teachers focused on were:
7. I taught mathematics incognito.
The test is an example of a method for creating learning by stealth. It seems more like fun than learning math for many students.
8. Teaching mathematics should be challenging, exciting and interesting for you, the teacher. It was for me.
I looked for real-world examples to use in my teaching and assessment. I’ve included short problem-solving/critical thinking exercises in every lesson. This does not need to be difficult every time. For difficult examples, I will slowly give students clues.
9. I will experiment with new educational approaches, then evaluate their success, revise the curriculum, plan a new version and try again.
I introduced new teaching strategies into my program and perfected them through the revision process. These different strategies addressed the different learning styles of the students. In addition, they added new and interesting educational challenges for me, as a teacher.
10. Working with middle and middle school classes has given me the flexibility to experiment with new teaching approaches and the assessments I can use.
This is because the results of the assessment in these years are used to evaluate students internally, not externally. If a new type of evaluation task didn’t work the first time, you changed it and tried the evaluation task again. The original task may have produced a great learning experience rather than a valid assessment task for your students.
11. I shared my successes and disasters with your peers.
This process has become an informal career development for me and my colleagues. Sometimes a more experienced colleague will show me where I went wrong and how I can overcome the disaster in the future.
12. I would like to present out loud to my class what I was actually thinking about a problem when I produced a solution to the problem on the whiteboard.
Sometimes I took an approach that I knew would fail. I did not call this a failure but rather a learning experience for my students. Being a “perfect” problem solver often frustrates students who think they can’t match what you do. Many times, I included, in my form, any ideas that came to my mind and dismissed them. I explained why I rejected these ideas. I would model as many different solutions or approaches as the time allowed. If a student comes up with a different but mathematically correct solution, I ask them to pass it on to the class.
13. I challenged myself to help students want to attend math classes.
I tried to create a personal mindset that helps me develop lessons that I enjoy giving my students. It means I want to be there too.
14. I have incorporated the use of graphing calculators and computer software as far as possible.
Students, today, are computer users. It is well connected with technology. The beauty of technology is that a teacher can visually illustrate many examples of what is under discussion using computer programs or on-screen graphing calculator applications. Understanding comes faster than pen-on-paper strategies of the past.