During my over twenty years of math teaching career, I taught a lot of different courses to students with a broad range of needs, knowledge, and cultural backgrounds. I taught freshmen classes and high level Ph.D. classes. I even taught a course for university professors, on using computer technology in mathematical education at the Moscow State University in the eighties, where everybody in my class was at least twice of my age at that time. Several important general principles that I try to use in my teaching practice can be formulated as follows:
1. No matter how experienced a teacher is, every new class and every new student pose a challenge. For excellence in teaching, there is always room for improvement.
2. A teacher has to appeal to
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Being a successful teacher depends on creating a learning environment with the open exploration of ideas, a relationship in which students feel respected as well as challenged. Students should be encouraged to stretch themselves a bit beyond their level of comfort and be given an opportunity to leave every class feeling that they have overcome a new challenge successfully.
4. Teaching should be an integral component of the creation of new knowledge, an initial step toward continuing education, and first of all, self-education.
5. Though student satisfaction is important for better learning, teaching -- especially in mathematics -- should not become a popularity contest, or a show. A teacher is responsible to the society in general, and should resist the pressure of lowering academic standards in education.
Teaching of
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Grades are mostly based on evaluation of a content-learning. At the same time, I also implemented several ideas in my classes that seem to be not very typical:
1. Grades are never curved, thus, there is no limit of high/low grades.
2. I use multiple-choice tests and avoid giving partial credits in low-level undergraduate courses.
By enforcing these rules, I try to take my share of responsibility in the fight against the grade inflation, which became an evident problem in recent years.
My policy on retaking tests is unique in the department. Every student has a opportunity to retake every test; however, the grade can go down in the process if the student is not well prepared. I keep students fully informed of their progress during the semester, always announce final grades before the end of the semester, and give every student a last chance to improve the final grade during the week of finals.
Teaching and Technology
Technology is an essential and integrated part of my teaching. It is crucial for students to feel comfortable with the technologies that are becoming available; they need to know how to use a new technology effectively, what its limits are, and what to do when the technology fails. I am quite interested and familiar with recent innovations. Computer simulations and numerical experiments are traditional parts of many courses I
Teachers would share information and research as well as their own experiences to support and develop the grading reform. An English teacher had shared her experience on using the method of practicing and retaking for her assessments. Students who didn’t do well in a section the first time had the chance to put their practice into extra work for the second time, and the grading of that work had replaced the first. As a result, more than 65% of her students scores had increased and they were able to master the skill. This development had strengthen their grading.
Technology enables students and teachers to have a fast and easy way to acquire unlimited access to tons of information. With all of the useful technologies, the curriculum is bound to change in endless ways, creating more opportunity for learning.
I know that as I grow and learn as a teacher my theory on education will change and grow with me. I know that the best thing that I can bring to the table when it comes to being a teacher is the willingness to learn along with my students on what works best for us in our classroom, what is important to us when it comes to learning, and to change what needs to be change in order to have a positive learning environment for my student. The most important thing as a teacher I will bring with me into my classroom is the unwavering desire to help to guide, shape, and above all foster a love of learning in my
Under any circumstances, teachers’ knowledge helps teaching occur and central to any teaching endeavour is children’s learning. Researchers have been into earnest works seeking the aspects of mathematics teachers’ knowledge which would contribute to effective teaching and learning. Take Bass (2010) as for one who claimed that having mathematical knowledge, teachers should be able to present mathematical concepts to students in understandable form. In this vein also Fennena (2010) stressed that what mathematics teachers know limits what is done in their classrooms and ultimately what
Education is a very important aspect of our lives. It is our education that makes us who we are and determines what we become. Therefore, education is not something to be taken lightly. As a teacher, my goal will be to provide the best possible education for my students. Every student is unique. I must see students for who they are individually and respect their ideas and opinions. Each student has a different learning style. I must take this into consideration because I want to provide a constructive learning opportunity for every student. I believe that every student has the potential to learn.
This being my first year of teaching I feel there are so many things that I have learned, and have helped me too become a good teacher. Yet I have so much more to learn, I still believe that students have the ability to learn and as a teacher it is my job to find ways to help them to become the best person they can be. Through being a reflective teacher, using professionalism, respecting diversity and having collaboration and community connecting this can be accomplished. When I am having fun teaching the student will have learning that material, this will help them to be relaxed and engaged in that lesson. I feel it is important to connect what they are learning to things that they have experienced in the real-world.
Upon entering the field of education, I am faced with many questions. Will the students like me? Will I have a large class? Will I be a good teacher? A few of the questions that definitely need to be answered before I enter the classroom, are what methods should I use to teach? What aspects of which methods will work best for me? What philosophy best exemplifies the way I want to bestow the learning process to my students? In my quest to become an elementary teacher I shall use a variety of aspects from past philosophers of education. As long as each child is learning, I feel that I am fulfilling my goal, and a difference is being made, I am on my way to a successful classroom.
This is a great point because in today’s society too many people just give bare minimum effort because that’s all they have been taught. Students need to learn as much as possible and be challenged so they can succeed in the future. Like Rojstaczer said all Grade Inflation is doing is making lazy students, teaching one to give no effort because everything is given. This is setting students up for failure in the future, as work does not come easy for the everyday
As with every academic subject, there are a variety of strategies for teaching mathematics to school-aged students. Some strategies seem to be better than others, especially when tackling certain topics. There is the direct instruction approach where students are given the exact tools and formulas they need to solve a problem, sometimes without a clear explanation as to why. The student is told to do certain steps in a certain order and in turn expects to do them as such at all times. This leaves little room for solving varying types of problems. It can also lead to misconceptions and students may not gain the full understanding that their teachers want them to have. So how can mathematics teachers get their students to better understand the concepts that are being taught?
I have had many excellent teachers throughout my educational experience, some of these have been wonderful teachers that have set lessons to life. Others have been boring, overly strict, unapproachable, and at times unknowledgeable. I have learned valuable lessons from both. A positive and fun learning environment makes students want to be in the classroom. The first step in learning is that the children must want to be there.
When thinking of a philosophy of teaching, four major issues need to be considered. Those issues are one’s views on education, the role of the teacher, teaching and learning, and on the children. This is something that someone entering the teaching profession needs to give serious thought to and realize the importance that this will hold in the future. The following essay will express my philosophy of teaching.
Every teacher has their strong points as well as weak points. Teaching is very hard work and some of them never grow to be anything better than mediocre. They do the bare minimum and very little over and above the call of duty. There are several ways to become a great teacher. Teachers are truly dedicated workers who put a lot of time and schooling into being able to teach for the rest of their lives.
In order for learning to take place in the classroom the teacher has to put in place an effective teaching and learning strategy. Being an effective teacher is not something that can be achieved instantaneously but rather something that has to be continuously developed and improved upon over time. Petty mentions how good teachers are not born but rather make themselves and that effective teaching comes from learning from your mistakes and successes. Petty, p. 516, 2009. This process involves teacher reflection and assessment of the effectiveness of different teaching strategies used in the classroom. It is only then that teachers can learn and advance themselves.
Being a teacher is not an easy task as many people could think. To be a teacher does not only imply to know the subject to be taught, it also includes being willing to constantly improve oneself integrally, as much as updating the resources and materials one uses in teaching. Reflecting and analyzing over and over again the best way to teach to learn and how to make students to extend what has been learned. The many hours spend in the classroom will never be enough to plan lessons, prepare materials, review pupils tasks and exams, as well, all the administrative requirements one has to cover for whatever institution we work. Besides all this a good teacher, a professional one, will have to find the time to keep preparing to improve oneself.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.