As we all know, attitude is key to most things that we do, and teaching fractions is no exception. Before trying to teach something, it is important to sort out your own experiences first.
What do you think about math? When you were in school, do you hate math? Find it boring and useless? Does math make sense to you?
The answers to these questions may just be determining how effective a teacher you are.
Good teachers and effective teachers love the subject they are teaching, or at least aren’t totally negative about it. If a teacher feels negatively toward math, children will pick up on subtle clues and they too will feel negatively towards math. Two major factors in the student’s achievement in math are the way it is taught and the way the teachers feel about math.
Stay positive, and if possible, enthusiastic about math. If this is difficult, you may want to look at your past experiences, feelings and beliefs and work on changing them. This is an ongoing process. In the meantime, look at math examples that you can be enthusiastic about. Concrete, daily life examples are always valuable. Think of practice examples of using fractions in the kitchen, or around the house. Any example like this is good! Start off using examples that are concrete and that you can feel enthusiastic about, and you will pass on your enthusiasm, and avoid passing on negativity to your students.
Treat your math class just like other subject, not as a difficult and un-learnable subject. The more positive you can be, and the more ‘real’ you can make learning math—the more students will learn and retain what they learn.
________________________________________________________________________
Brian Stocker is a psychologist and former teacher. He has written widely on teaching and teachers. Visit his math site at <a href=”http://www.math-lessons.ca”>Elementary Math Lessons</a> for elementary math lesson plans, math worksheets, fractions games and more!
Disclaimer: The information presented and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ArticlePros.com and/or its partners.
