Math Aunty

In my first couple years of teaching in the high school classroom, I did not feel confident in my teaching skills. After all, I had not pursued a degree in education and all of my teaching experience by then was with college students who generally don’t require behavior management or note taking skills. However, time and time again, students would say that they had one of the best math experiences of their academic lives in my class, even at the beginning when I was fumbling through. Here are some of my top tips for math teachers to create an authentic math classroom experience.

• Set community guidelines from day one in a democratic process that includes student input. Establish the punishment for breaking those guidelines. Consistently remind students of these agreements.

• Explain the purpose behind assignments (i.e. to learn a new skill, to practice a skill over and over, to connect to a future concept).

• Look for connections in the material you’re teaching – either to other classes, pop culture, careers, etc.

• Share your opinion about math topics (especially ones you initially found challenging!) – but balance the negative with a nuanced perspective. For the topics you absolutely hate, be prepared to talk about why it’s useful to know.

• Allow student choice for seating arrangements or have a great explanation for yours.

• Give students responsibilities in the classroom, even if they are kind of silly. I once had a student who’s job it was to do “vibe checks”.

• Tell age-appropriate, silly stories about your life that show your fun, unique personality! Teachers are usually pretty interesting people and students love the peek behind the scenes.

• Acknowledge any community tensions going on, either in the school or in the world. Let students share their thoughts diplomatically, if you have the skills to manage that, and then get back to the math.

• Have planned, regular fun activities to motivate students during challenging moments.

• Learn about the psychology of learning so that you can coach students through their learning process. Being able to support their emotional processing as they’re learning new, sometimes challenging information can help them with educational perseverance.

• Remind yourself regularly why you teach. Envision the future, when the present is challenging. Bask in the present, when the future feels uncertain. You got this.

Math Aunty Tutoring and Consulting is interested in developing a Math Teacher Coach program and would love to work one-on-one with any educators who want time to chat with another math educator. Our conversations and your feedback will help me develop a program that will eventually be offered as part of a non-profit. This coaching relationship would be free of cost to the educator, but any donations would be appreciated! We are on the path to non-profit operation and all revenue is currently being poured into achieving that goal. If you’re interested, contact us!