| |
How you teach, the way you
present, the atmosphere you create and the effort you make to view math
through the eyes of the students, all these factors decide how good a
math teacher you are. Although students need to discover the joy of
learning math for themselves, the teacher needs to be sensitive to their
limitations. Students love structured lessons, because ground rules are
defined and the expectations of the teacher are communicated
effectively. Providing a lot of background information about the area to
be covered will go a long way in alleviating the stress that students
normally encounter when they have to study mathematics. As children
learn in different ways and at a different pace, it is essential for the
teacher to cater to those children who are withdrawn and quiet. Make
time for them and you will have a class full of students who are good at
doing math problems.
The fundamental aspects of addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division ought to be made easy and fun to learn. Use everyday examples
for addition and subtraction. Once they have learnt to do such problems,
make them do some mental arithmetic. Make them do the addition and
subtraction without using anything but their heads. Kindle a passion in
them, wait long enough for a response, encourage those who answer
correctly and motivate the others into thinking. The result can turn out
to be astonishing. With a little bit of stimulation, children can be
great learners. Once they find addition and subtraction easy, work on
multiplication and division. Again use examples of chocolates or toys
that children fancy and show how the multiplication tables work.
For the older children, teach profit and loss by using examples of cars
or games that the students have bought and sold. Whether you are buying
or selling a house, depositing money in the bank, or traveling long
distances, indirectly you are using aspects of profit and loss,
calculating simple or compound interest, or doing problems involving
time, speed and distance. All these problems involve the basic elements
of math. Using such examples help the students to relate more easily. In
fact many a time, they do math without realizing they are doing it. As
the students move from middle school to high school, there should be a
shift in the methods and activities that involve the students. Topics
should be integrated so that handling them becomes easier for the
teacher and the student. The key to success is to sustain interest by
practicing rigorously without seeming to do so. With a little bit of
innovation on the part of the teacher math teaching can be fun.
The concept of Vedic maths is definitely catching on. Problems in
arithmetic and algebra too can be solved very easily. The methods are
very straightforward, and more flexible. Even complex problems can be
tackled. Teaching Vedic mathematics while the children are still young
can help them steal a march over the students who have stuck to
traditional mathematics. Vedic maths captivates both the teacher and the
taught.
~ Author M. Hemdev
data(c)Indian child. all rights
reserved.
Back to
study articles >
teaching philosophy
teaching
reading
teaching math
study
skills
teaching study skills
study skills for kids
middle school study skills |
|
