During my lifetime, I have observed how enthusiasm positively impacts those around me. Since I began elementary school, until the present time, I have made a conscious effort to be enthusiastic about everything that I do. Following my commitment to doing things that I enjoy and...
Whether it was my time as a student, a teacher, a coach, a parent or an author, I have always worked at improving what I do. As a student, I focused on trying to learn as much as I could about the content that was being taught. When playing sports, I worked diligently in becoming...
I believe it would benefit all teachers of mathematics to integrate a diagnostic element to all practice materials and tests that they write. Although there are a variety of things that a teacher can do to determine individual and class weaknesses, diagnostic materials are perhap...
Since my retirement from 32 years of being a high school mathematics teacher, I have tutored numerous students from second to eighth grade. What I learned is that each of them was capable of mastering concepts that many teachers and parents would describe as not being age appropr...
The most important key to being successful in teaching any concept is to be able to subdivide that concept into subtopics. This applies to teachers, parents, employees, etc. Mastery of initial subtopics lays the groundwork for a solid foundation. This foundation will increase the...
Success in mathematics, like any other endeavor you learn, is highly connected to how it is taught. Psychology is also an integral part of that success. As a classroom teacher and as a current online tutor, I have made a conscious effort to create excitement in what I teach. I...
I am often asked to describe my style of teaching mathematics. In general, when I am explaining mathematic problems to students I like to constantly ask questions to see if the concepts being taught are being understood. My questions normally focus on common errors that occur whe...
Step-by-step instruction in mathematics is crucial to learning and should be an integral part of any teaching strategy. Once a concept has been selected and prior to presenting it to a student, a teacher should determine what fundamental subtopics will that student need to be fam...
Both teachers and parents need to teach their students or children how to check solutions to the mathematics problems that they solve. Checking solutions gives student additional practice in solving mathematics problems. Checking solutions on independent study assignments and tes...
When I was young, memorization was a big part of every teacher’s tools for instruction. In recent years the emphasis on memorization has been drastically reduced. I think that there is a place in learning for memorization. Memorization requires focus. Memorization requires comm...
