Summary and Synthesis

These first few weeks of class have made me look at the way I am going to teach math through a different viewpoint. I have learned that when teaching students how to problem solve teachers must almost take a step back and let the students teach themselves and each other. What I mean by this is that a teachers first inclination when teaching math is to show the students how to do a problem step by step and then have the students practice the skill taught. Instead what we as teachers need to do is to allow students to come up with their own ways to solve problems. By doing this students will be able to problem solve on their own without having to rely on a teacher on how they should solve problems. Also, when teaching problem solving, a teacher must allow students to discuss the routes that they took to solve the problem. Allowing students to discuss their routes with the rest of their classmates will show students that there isn't always just one way to solve a problem. I had never thought about allowing students to come up with their own way to solve a problem. I think that this is because as I went through primary and secondary schooling my teachers always used the method of showing me how to solve problems and then requiring me to practice those taught skills. However, from the class discussions these past few weeks it makes a lot more sense to me now to allow students to teach themselves different problem solving skills instead of repeating my problem solving skills.