Summer draws near. The weather heats up, pollen flies in a last
wild burst, and my math students nerve themselves for the final
assault.
Summer draws near. The weather heats up, pollen flies in a last wild burst, and my math students nerve themselves for the final assault.
I have been teaching math for three years now, or 20, depending on what activities one wants to count as teaching math. If one counts such activities as singing “One, two, buckle my shoe,” to a baby, and asking a toddler how many crackers he wants, and introducing a 4-year-old to the fine art of one-to-one correspondence by teaching him to set the table, then I have been teaching math for 20 years.
If such activities do not count, but homeschooling school-aged children does, then I have been teaching math for 14 years.
If homeschooling qua homeschooling does not count, but getting paid to teach unrelated students, in groups, such subjects as algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus counts, then I have been teaching three years. They have been rewarding years, emotionally and intellectually, (though not particularly fiscally.)
Of course, my math classes differ in many ways from public school math classes. In most respects, my math classes offer a better environment for learning math than a public school class. My classes are very small, two to five students (which explains why the fiscal rewards are low.)
My classes are also very well-behaved. Most of my students have been homeschooled their entire lives. It would never occur to them to be rude, and if it did, I know their mothers personally.
The only behavior problems I have ever encountered are clowning and talking about non-math subjects during class time. I handled both of those problems the same way; I raised my eyebrows. The students become abashed.
“Oh, we’re off-topic again. Sorry, Cynthia.” If the problem persisted, I would call the offenders to the board to work an example problem. That always helped them to re-focus.
In one respect, a real school has a huge advantage over my classes. My classes meet only once a week, for an hour and a half to two hours, depending on the subject. The other four days, the students do homework, at home. Their parents check their homework and tell them to re-do any problems they get wrong.
On class day, I offer to review any problem areas that they have not managed to correct. I give them a one-point quiz. I teach them the next four lessons. I call them to the board to work examples. I encourage the ones who are not on the board to work the examples simultaneously. I give them their homework assignments. I also give tests, approximately quarterly.
The other disadvantage to my class is that the grade I give them means absolutely nothing until they demonstrate that they have indeed mastered the material on some kind of a test, SAT, AP, college placement test. In a way, this is actually an advantage. It removes any incentive to go through the motions without really learning the material.
I have some suggestions for GUSD for improving their percentage of students who are on grade level for math from its current 34 percent, and for increasing the number who pass algebra.
Higher math is hard. Students have to concentrate. Teachers have to focus on teaching. Therefore, the administration needs to take care of the discipline area. If a kid will not at least allow those around him to learn their math, the teacher needs to be able to send him out, without fear that too many referrals to the principal’s office will reflect on him as a disciplinarian.
Math builds. Kids need to be placed according to their skill level. A beginning algebra student needs to have her times tables memorized, and needs to be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals and fractions. The lower grades need to make sure that she can do these things. When she enters algebra, she needs to pass a short placement test to demonstrate her ability to benefit.
Math teachers need to be able to do math. No more journalism majors filling in as Integrated Math II teachers, please.
The current set of math texts in use at GHS is much better than the set in use four years ago. (Saxon would be still better.)
