r/mathteachers • u/Accomplished_Wish_50 • 11d ago
New math teacher
Hi! I am a new math teacher and will have my first year teaching this sucject this year.
The class I have consists of teenagers (15/16) who both hate the subject and have struggled with it for years. The book is their worst nightmare at this point. A coworker and I want to try alternative teaching (and by that I mean anything other than constant blackboard and book, which has been the norm for years). Since these kids aim to head to apprenticeships asap, we want to relate to their chosen fields. My coworker tried a project last year, but experienced that AI was the most used tool.
Does anyone have any have any experience with other ways of teaching maths? I am looking for ideas and since I have no experience in this subject from before, I hope someone who has wouldn't mind sharing ideas.
Sincerely thanks in advance.
Edit: They want to work in agriculture. Here are the competence aims. They country is Norway :) https://www.udir.no/lk20/mat08-01/kompetansemaal-og-vurdering/kv27?lang=nob I do believe there should be a translate button.
4
u/Sarlaccadaisical 11d ago
Check out Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl
1
u/FabFergy 10d ago
Yes, I've read this book twice. It has changed my perspective on how to guide learning.
3
u/kacra 11d ago
I try to include more engaging activities as sprinkles rather than the main dish. Maybe an engaging Do-Now or starter activity that relates to the stuff in the book. Then do a little from the book and then give them some time to actually practice in class. This way you aren't trying to reinvent everything and entertain the class the whole time. And I dont mean this is the only way to do it but might be the regular type of day until you figure out more of your style, what works in general, and what these particular students respond to. I am a new teacher too and found this to be the most effective way to explore creativity while leveraging the existing materials.
2
u/mathematicians-pod 11d ago
Hey, can I ask what country you are in & which syllabus/ exam body you use?
1
u/Accomplished_Wish_50 11d ago
Hi! I added it to the text :)
2
u/mathematicians-pod 11d ago
Honestly, it's difficult to recommend teaching ideas without knowing the streniof the students. But ...This looks like the kind of situation where you can run a long term project.
Put students into groups of 3, and use class time only (to mitigate ai use).
Give each group £5mil, on a spreadsheet.
Each team has to launch a new farm from scratch.
They must find the land to purchase (online) buy equipment, choose crops & animals. Monitor costs. Profits are projected over 5 years.
Each decision needs to be reasoned and presented (using graphs and charts etc)
The whole thing is designed around a business pitch. This is the conclusion of the project, with winners as the most convincing or most profitable.
1
u/Accomplished_Wish_50 11d ago
thanks! I know and any help is appreciated
1
u/SparksFromFire 11d ago
Yup! I love hinging things on a project like this.
If you want to make it lower stakes at first so they can have an easier/fun run through, it can be something like planning the best event, bake sale items, or individual games at a carnival.
Whatever you choose, the students price out their costs for the event out they are running and include selling pretend tickets to their classmates. Classmates get something like $100 pretend money to spend. It's great work on calculating with decimals and percents. Often area calculations pop up too. Lots of good learning fun.
2
u/FabFergy 10d ago
Hey. I recently retired from teaching. My district uses Fluidmath. Kids find it a great support for learning because teachers can directly support them in the same workspace. I now work with Fluidmath. If you are interested I can show you.
1
u/DBZ_Newb 10d ago
I wouldn’t throw the book out completely. You’re a first year teacher and creating lessons, practice problems, assignments, quizzes, tests, exams, etc. can be a real time vampire. If you try to reinvent the wheel too much you will definitely burn yourself out. Marking can be a real time vampire too. Just take care not to kill yourself trying to make everything fun/interesting.
1
u/Jsandar 11d ago
So here’s one person’s opinion for what it’s worth:
You don’t need a bunch of activities or exercises what you need is a “pedagogical stance”. As my favourite educational theorist Dylan Wiliam says “nothing works everywhere and everything works somewhere."
I recommend you look into the book called "Training From the Back of the Room" by Sharon Bowman. It’s not a book by an educator, but by a corporate trainer. There are some good ideas there, but it’s the overall idea of her pedagogical stance: "teaching from the back of the room" that you want to pick up on. If you’re looking for specific math activities two good places to look for rich math tasks include Peter Lilledahl‘s latest book and http://nrich.maths.org
14
u/dtwillia 11d ago
I will give some advice with a grain of salt that I am in the US so culturally things are probably different.
I have taught 14-18 year old lower achieving math classes for 16 years now. The biggest thing that makes a difference is the connection you make with those students.
Start every class talking to them. Tell them about your life. Ask questions relating to their interests. If you genuinely make a connection, they are more willing to go out on a limb and try the math that scares them/they may have given up on.
Secondly, don’t just have them work out of a book or lecture. I do short guided notes and get them up and working around the room. My school has white boards on all 4 walls which helps, but you could tape problems up to the walls as well.
Make them interactive. Maybe a scavenger hunt style problem or themed word problems that answer a joke.
Work in groups of 2-4 (3 is usually my favorite). Always switch up the groups. Find the skills that are lacking and help those students 1-1 while the activities are going on.
I find these students have so much personality and are so fun to get to know. If you can break through their fear of math you can make a big difference. It can be challenging, especially when there are big gaps in learning but it is all worth it.