Getting The Point Across

I think about how to “reach” my students all the time when teaching math, in particular. When I first started teaching, I knew the fifth grade math content, but I didn’t know all “the tricks.” I am not a mathematician, but I could break down the process of teaching and understanding a process so my students could understand. Just teaching the steps to solving a math problem is not enough. It’s the understanding that makes it all meaningful for the students so they can actually apply their knowledge into real life situations. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I didn’t realize that over 100 years ago, this whole concept of combining content and pedagogy was a concern. From what I’ve understood of the past, (seen, read, and experienced), I thought that content was given and children just did what they were told and got through. I don’t recall a teacher really explaining things to me, breaking things down so I could understand or maybe even explaining it in a different way, when I was in school. Times are different, yet the concerns are the same after all this time. I feel that teachers of today are thinking more about how children learn and that we are connecting content knowledge and pedagogy.

Does one need to “know it all” in order to teach a subject? I believe that you do need to know the subject matter, but you do not need to be an expert. Many experts have the knowledge but have no idea how to convey the understanding. I find this so often to be true when my students go home and their parents try to help them with their math homework. The parents may know how to solve a problem, but they can’t explain the process at a child's level of understanding so even though the homework comes to school complete, the child has no idea as to what was done to achieve a solution. The key to the understanding is in the teaching.

When being educated to be a teacher, should teachers major in education or in a particular discipline? That's a good question. Throughout time, elementary teachers majored in education and secondary teachers majored in a particular discipline as well. Now the state is saying that any teacher who teachers a particular discipline for the majority of their day needs to be highly qualified (have taken a certain number of credits in a certain subject) in that particular subject area. Special education teachers need to be highly qualified in many disciplines. This is all well and good, but if you don’t know how to execute the information so your students can understand, you haven’t accomplished what is most important in education. Are we getting anywhere? Yes, we are because not only do we need to know the subject content, teachers are furthering their education on the pedagogy. Workshops are attended by teachers to help them collaborate with other teachers; learn how children learn, and how to implement curriculum in a meaningful way.

Teachers need to ask themselves certain questions when teaching in order to make sure that their students understand the subject matter. I am constantly asking myself, “How can I present this in another way?” and “How much should I tell and what should I lead my students to discover?” and “Who should I scaffold for?” I use exit cards (students write down what they still need to know or what they are still questioning, or even if they understood the lesson on a card and hand it to me at the end of class) to help me plan for future lessons. This helps me know what my students are thinking; possible misconceptions.

I would say that it has taken me years of practice in order to be able to teach mathematics well. I have learned “tricks” over the years that have helped students understand concepts. I’ve learned what questions students would most likely ask at certain points in a lesson so I am ready with different answers according to how the students will understand best. This all takes practice and experience and I don’t know that it can be taught in teacher training, but teachers should be made aware of the basic "tricks" to teaching because it will make a difference in how content is taught and how students will grasps concepts. Together with content knowledge, pedagogy, and experience, fine teaching can emerge.