Written by I taught a Grade 10 math class yesterday. To those who teach math, this will not be a shocking opening line, but for me, it was a huge accomplishment. I always liked math in high school and I even took calculus in first year as an elective (why? worst mark ever!), but I had not touched a math problem in over a decade. So when I was assigned coverage of a class on medians and centroids, I was nervous but actually quite excited about the challenge.
My dear colleague was very patient going over the lesson with me. I was slow and I made a lot of silly errors when we first started doing the questions together. The feelings of panic came over me a few times, and the terrible invading thoughts of, Oh no, she is going to think I am too dumb to do this, also entered my mind. But what I found helped me, however, was to think of the students. I know so many kids (and friends) who claim to be terrible at math and that they hate it. But as my mother, and probably your mother, always said, hate is too strong of a word. I believe it can be harder or more frustrating for some, but allowing ourselves to ask the questions we think might of as “dumb” or admitting when we don’t understand something is extremely important. Spending the time to prepare and understand is always essential.
I spent several evenings working on getting ready for that one class. I practised the problems, I watched Youtube videos reminding me how to multiply fractions and brush up on my algebra. I even made my partner sit through a lesson with me. We each had a beer for the lesson so it made it a bit more exciting, ha.
When I walked into class yesterday morning, I felt ready. And you know what? I loved it! Watching students work through problems, ask questions, and help each other through, was so satisfying to watch. I rarely have lessons like that in my French or English classes, so it made me wonder how I might apply what I saw and learned from teaching a math class to my other classes?
I asked the students to give me feedback on my lesson and they said they understood because it had been easy to follow and at a good pace. I went very slowly since I had to go very slowly. This was a good reminder for me as a teacher — when something seems extremely easy, I can speed through it as I teach.
Moving forward in the next couple of weeks, I am going to be reflecting on how I could apply more problem-based activities into my English and French classes, and remind myself to slow down and act like I’m teaching a math class for the first time.
When I first started to teach math I did not feel like I was in the right place. I too made small mistakes that were quick to catch up with me….but in making them I knew my students would make them too and could design questions to help point out these errors.
So many insights expressed with a genuine tone. They say great teachers can teach anything as there is more to teaching then content expertise. Thanks for sharing your story and for making that class a meaningful one for those students.
I love when we have the opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes and remind us what it is like to be a student. I teach Math and make lots of mistakes. It is so easy to make mistakes in all facets of life, and that is ok! I try to explain to my students that the discomfort we have from learning and making mistakes is a gift, it IS THE LEARNING. Congrats on getting through it and having a growth mindset!
Thank you sharing, Sarah. No one likes to be out of their comfort zone but you persevered and rose to the challenge, and you’ve also role modeled this for your students. Have you thought of sharing this blog post with all of your students to further cement this?
Well done!
@mmoore I had not thought about sharing the blog post with the students, but that is certainly a great idea! I’ll report back on how that goes.
What a great story! So often teachers were students who found school easy, and it can be hard for us to relate to a struggling student at times. It’s so good for us to share our students’ experiences with doing something difficult and uncomfortable.
I also had a coverage class last week, but in French – a course I used to teach before I moved into library and then tech integration. Wow, did it ever bring back memories! The teacher was using a handout that I had created years and years ago, and I had SO much fun teaching that lesson again. It wasn’t planned that I would teach it, but it worked out so well for everyone. (Do you always know your coverage blocks in advance? I’ve never had the opportunity to prep for a coverage – we always find out the morning of!)
Jen
Thank you for the feedback, Jennifer! We usually know in advance if the absence is planned. It is only for sick days that we would find out the morning of!