Monday, February 9, 2009
What aspect of the text interested you the most?
The thing that stood out most clearly to me from this article was the fact that math teachers seem to teach better if they have worked with "special populations" of students. The most difficult thing about teaching math to a student is finding the right explanation for that student who is having troubles. Repeating yourself isn't useful, a math teacher needs to be able to come up with an almost entirely new approach for the student to have that "ah ha!" moment. Keeping this in mind, it makes perfect sense that teachers who have worked with special populations of students, such as ELL or students with learning disabilities, would be used to thinking up creative new interpretations of the subject matter. The ability to come up with multiple descriptions of a single idea is vital in my mind to being a successful math teacher.
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The part of the study that talked about how teachers who have training in working with special populations get better results from their students made me wonder: how do I find this apparently rare training and sign up for it? Also, I wondered if there has been a change in the number of teachers who received this type of training in the past decade (since this study was published). And, if so, have these teachers improved, or are teachers who are naturally drawn to training in working with special populations just better teachers?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Hugh, in that working with special populations could do us all some good. Learning to work with different types of students and thinking outside of the box to explain a concept would make us all better teachers tenfold. In the current climate where budget cuts are affecting special needs and ELL programs, teachers more than ever need to step up their game. I agree with you, Hugh, in that working with special populations could do us all some good. Learning to work with different types of students and thinking outside of the box to explain a concept would make us all better teachers tenfold. In the current climate where budget cuts are affecting special needs and ELL programs, teachers more than ever need to step up their game.
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