Successful mathematics teachers and coaches are always setting high expectations for their students. When setting expectations, consideration needs to be taken on each student’s abilities. Goals that are attainable should be set. Students need to learn that dedication and hard ...
I know that great teachers promote inclusiveness. Whether it is students in a classroom or students on a mathematics team, each student needs to feel that they are important. Teachers promote inclusiveness with words and actions. All students must be given an opportunity to contr...
In recent years, I have learned the value of using YouTube to learn mathematics. There have been times when I am trying to review a concept that I knew in the past, but have trouble with in the present. During these times, it is difficult to reach out to a peer for help. At these...
One of my goals as a teacher and mathematics coach was to inspire excellence. I tried to inspire excellence by modeling. I have been doing that for more than 44 years. I always wanted to show students how much I loved what I did. I demonstrated what I felt by the way that I sough...
Every successful teacher develops an ability to be resilient. An integral part of being resilient is being flexible. All teachers will encounter obstacles in their careers. The same is true about academic coaches. You need to be able to make the necessary adjustments to continue ...
Organizing a mathematics team requires systematic planning and dedication. Initially, the focus is on recruiting students for the team. Several things can be done to be successful in recruiting. If your school has daily announcements, make use of them to inform students about tea...
Many times, coaches have to find ways for funding their mathematics team. During my career, I supplemented money allocated in our school budget for my team by sponsoring mathematics tournaments. Although I was a high school mathematics coach, I sponsored tournaments for element...
Every academic coach needs to be diligent in promoting themselves and their team. Promotion can be focused within the school, community or state. This can be done by sharing personal and team accomplishments verbally or in written form. Many schools feature “announcements”...
Teachers, academic coaches and parents need to emphasize the importance of communication with their students and their children. They should model what effective communication looks like. Communication is not only talking but also listening. When communicating with another indiv...
To promote learning, teachers, academic coaches and parents need to use positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is applicable to students or children from early childhood through high school. Students that receive positive reinforcement will develop a good self-image. It i...
