Chapter 9: Mathematics

Math is a subject that I find enjoyable to learn, but I see many of my students struggle with basic number sense.  Teaching math is probably the most difficult subject for me to teach because I find it easy to learn.  For many of my struggling learners I've found hands-on learning with manipulatives is especially helpful.  When teaching subtraction with regrouping, we start off with using base ten blocks to help them understand why regrouping is necessary.  Once students understand the concrete, you can move on to the algorithm.  Whenever teaching math, I always model how to solve the problem and give lots of guided practice.  Using whiteboards is a great way for me to monitor their work and address problems.  When teaching multiplication and division, I team up higher students with lower students to help them study for their timed tests.  It's amazing how well some of my lower students did with the guidance of a friend who is on a higher level.

There are lots of areas for improvement in my math instruction.  Although sometimes I provide independent practice in my lesson, it usually gets pushed to the side because of time constraints.  I need to be more consistent in providing opportunities for independent practice.  I also would like to use more cooperative learning groups.  Students can learn so much from each other and by using these groups they can get guidance from their peers.  From reading the chapter I think my students could also benefit from practicing how to solve word problems.  We do practice looking for key words and how to read word problems.  My students still struggle when deciding how to solve these problems independently.

To correct some of these oversights, I would definitely use some of the self-monitoring suggestions in the book.  The questioning checklist would be a great tool for my students to use when solving word problems.  Students could also work in groups to solve these types of problems to give them opportunities to work with each other.  Promoting more independent practice in the classroom will also help all students.  Skipping this important step is only making my students less able to monitor their work.