Characteristics of Successful Math Teachers

Characteristics of Successful Math Teachers

Between challenging the brightest students and scooping up the lost students before they fall too far behind and most importantly before they age out of the system with educational deficiencies, the teacher is tasked with overcoming time constraints to "do it all".

(1) Empathy and encouragement go a long way towards being an effective math teacher. So many students fail to understand the concepts, formulas, and logical reasoning that cannot be achieved through blunt memorization. An effective math teacher may be able to encourage understanding by providing alternative strategies for various learning styles, i.e. the visual student, the aural student, and, of course, the students requiring the intensity of one-to-one learning.

(2) Familiarity with the material is essential. It seems unnecessary to mention that the successful math teacher needs to know the subject matter. Its not possible to impart knowledge with a lack of proper understanding themselves. Typically, math teachers need to achieve high standards themselves before going into teaching others. Once they are teachers, it's so important to be able to break down math content into simpler components and use terminology in a manner that is easily understood by students.

(3) Resourcefulness comes in handy when a teacher genuinely lacks answers. It's best not to "fake it" and it is not very helpful to say, "You should know this from your previous courses." Student trust and admiration grows when a teacher can say, "I don't know, but I will find out." Go find out from text or software sources, internet, or from other teachers. Then present the findings to the learners. It is also necessary to encourage students to be resourceful when solving problems, not just by copying the solutions but also trying similar problems using similar solutions.

(4) Being open-minded and culturally aware are tied to the fact that teachers work with students from many different walks of life and diverse backgrounds. Having an open mind to cultural differences is extremely important, possibly even affecting the longevity of the teacher's career. Interpersonal talents and communication abilities are underrated yet important leadership skills.

(5) To the dismay of math teachers often finding themselves in front of unmotivated students, finding engaging ways to excite and, if lucky," ignite" the learners. A long-time standard has been constructing polyhedron projects which can be adapted to just about every grade level.

(6) Collaborating with fellow teachers, administrators, and staff is an on-the-job learning curve that needs to be be nurtured daily.

With many teachers already working more than 50 hours per week, it makes sense to use the educational tools available to reach ALL students. Try our demo to see if it meets the needs of your students. Ordering season is approaching. Please submit your quote request with the number of workstations that will be using the software to support@mathmedia.com.

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Opinions and Analysis by: Illana Herzig Weintraub

Publisher: MathMedia Educational Software, Inc.

www.mathmedia.com

support@mathmedia.com

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