So there I sat, in math class (at college), using flat squares, rectangles and small squares as a way to model multiplying algebraic expressions. I had never done anything like that before, but it made perfect sense and I could see using that in my math class (at middle school). Then, our professor began answering some of the questions we had posted, and the bomb dropped. She stood there and told us quite frankly that we would NOT do everything right as teacher and that we were bound to make MISTAKES as we taught. At first I was horrified, or maybe just surprised. You know that moment in Oz when Toto pulled back the green curtain to reveal who the Wizard really was? It was sort of like that. I had thought that there was some teacher curriculum or education program that would teach you how to do it right EVERY time. I remember feeling at the end of some of my past classes a sense of disappointment. I wanted to know when we (my cohort and I) were going to learn all the TRADE SECRETS. Today, I learned that there is no magic teaching formula that will allow you to always get it right. There are certain things that will make your teaching better, but every year you have a new batch of kids and every year you will need to tailor your teaching to fit THEM. You are bound to screw up some of the time. So, today, after the bomb dropped, I felt this HUGE sense of relief. I'm a teacher and I am still learning.
The implications of this realization will of course filter down to my teaching. I think it will take some of the pressure off and allow me to be excited about learning from my mistakes instead of dreading that I will make any. I also think it allows me to see my master teachers in a new light. I can watch what they do and learn from them. I can record what I like, the things that they model well. And I can give them a break because of course they won't be perfect all the time, they are still learning too!
My only question for the day is where can one purchase cool manipulatives like the multi-colored shapes we used for solving the algebra expressions today?
Math & Stuff on Roosevelt Ave in Seattle
ReplyDeleteThis blog has made my day. Thank you for sharing that.
I wish I had had a placard on my desk during my first year teaching that said something like "You are going to make mistakes but how are you going to deal with them?" I think I tried to cover up a lot of the mistakes I made or tried to come up with answers that would deflect the fact that I didn't know. I think I'm much more willing now, in my 5th year of teaching to say, "Honestly, I don't know. Can I get back to you on that?" I think it's done wonders for making my classroom a community of learning and not just a sage on the stage. We all make mistakes. None of us know all of the answers all of the time. And that's okay.
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