When a student hears the word ‘mathematics’, they usually tend to either panic or just give up right away. Statistics show that the common student enrolled in schools today have a high rate of anxiety and problems with adapting to different styles, due to learning disabilities or just their natural behavior. Students need to know that just because they might have certain problems with mathematics, there is always a solution to the equation.
The assurance of learning begins with the assurance of teaching. Although the assurance of teaching gives one more stress than anything else, it is the prime importance of the development of the quality of learning stated by Wei-Ping Lu and Shuo Zhao, Management Science of Engineering, 2010, page 62. Teachers today need to think about ways to improve their teaching qualities to their learning outcomes. As a teacher your main focus is how and what the students are learning, and how it can be improved throughout the year. Not only should a teacher concentrate on the improvement of their students but as well as their own. A teacher should have three stages that they should follow every time they are going to teach a new topic. First there is the pre-teaching stage, where the teacher should think about the age of the students, methods that can be chosen in order to teach the lesson, the atmosphere and how the students may react to where they are going to be taught, and questions that may be asked during the lesson. While the lesson is being taught there is the teaching stage, where the teacher should awake the previous knowledge of the students, introduce the topic, select a method, create an atmosphere, give illustrations, and evaluate. After all that is set and done the final stage is the post teaching stage, where both the teacher and students get feedback, and the teacher collects perceptions about teaching, then fills in the gaps, and how they can improve their next lesson. To assure the capabilities of the lesson being taught the following seven steps should always be taken into consideration: planning- the annual and long-term process that is the foundation for the quality of teaching and learning, assurance- procedures and practices, responsibilities- the responsibility of the teaching quality, outcomes- judged ultimately by the students’ learning outcomes, staff/student support- the ability to have support for each other to achieve in the up most possible way, student input- their involvement and feedback concerning the quality and improvements of the lesson.
Anxiety is one of the most dealt with problems in schools all around the world. Some students do not even know when they are dealing with the problem, most of the time it is shown through their actions.
Anxiety: a state of arousal that surfaces through bodily, emotional, and mental changes an individual experiences when faced with a stimulus. (Aiken, 1976)
According to Erhan Ertekin, Bulent Dilmac, and Ersen Yazici in the Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 2009, “people who think that math is just a set of rules, tend to have an outcome of a negative attitude and begins the anxiety.” The teacher’s teaching styles is one of the main effects to the math anxiety. For lesson that tend to be inconsistent, negatively influence the students’ learning and attitude towards the lesson and along with their discipline. Due to the fact that the students are unaware of the “flow” of the lesson just distracts the student from wanting to learn the math that is being taught. On the other hand, for the lessons that are more consistent it is proven to have an increase of the learners’ achievement and nothing is shown to a result of a negative attitude or problems with their discipline. Students in all grades, especially kindergarten through their senior year in high school, need to have that consistency if you want the student to learn to the best of their abilities. If they do not have that consistency, it is only common sense that the student will have difficulties later on throughout their mathematic classes. Taking the consistency into consideration this also affects their testing anxiety. A student not knowing what was being taught greatly affects them during tests. During class time students have the ability to ask either their peers or their teacher any type of question about the problems for their exams is a whole different story. “Studies show there is a high anxiety with testing because of working independently with no help.” (Ertekkn,E. et. All: Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal 2009) This is one major problem in almost every student. Tied into testing anxiety will sure enough result into a negative attitude towards mathematics.
“Learners who need authority when studying could experience increased math anxiety in daily life because of their apprehension that they may not find the authority they need in daily life. Tactile learners learn best by taking part in activities like a short trip, a visit, getting acquainted and interacting with others, this could account for the decrease in their mathematics anxiety in daily life.” (Ertekin, E. et. all Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 2009)
Not only is anxiety a main problem in learning throughout schools, but also learning disabilities. Students who show difficulty remembering operations throughout an equation, organizing information, and comprehending are known to be students with a nonverbal learning disability. It is shown in classes that students could benefit from planning and accommodation strategies made by the teacher. ( Donaldson, J., Zager, D. Teaching Exceptional Children, 2010) According to Teaching Exceptional Children, mathematics is shown to be one of the hardest subjects for Nonverbal Learning Disability students (NLD) due to the organization, steps, and misreading of signs. With so many students coming out to having disabilities that are keeping them from learning to the best of their abilities, Integrated Behavioral Experiential Teaching (IBET) develops specific needs for High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) students. This organization’s main focus is the idea of self-regulation. IBET uses the system of a check-list to remind them of each step that increases the student’s mood to be more positive. They also use verbal feedback strategies where students are to repeat the directions that were given to them to see if they are making a connection. A direct instruction to demonstrate how to perform tasks, guide the learner, and reinforce correct responses is another strategy that IBET try to enforce to test the process and outcome of the students. (Donaldson, J. et.all Teaching Exceptional Children, 2010)
Readers do not realize how important the whole idea of teaching is to the outcome of students’ education. All around the world and especially throughout the United States, there is constantly a new article in newspapers complaining that there are not enough well educated mathematic teachers out there, which are probably true, but it is only an opinion. The world needs math teachers that are willing to go out beyond the horizon of just the traditional teaching aspects. Teachers that are willing to spend hours just figuring out different options in order to help their students with their math. The world needs mathematics teachers that are especially, willing to inspire students to one day become a great mathematics teacher as well and continue to show the next generation of students the importance of math. Freedom Writers (2007) is a motion picture that was mainly about an English teacher moving to a low income area in Los Angeles to inspire students to become someone, and was based on a true story. The students that she had for that class had no inspiration what so ever. To those students their future looked out to be just another drop out, but with determination from both Mrs. T the teacher and the students themselves conquered all the problems that were keeping them from being successful. Mrs. T had a great effect on those students. Thanks to her those students graduated, and to some were the first to graduate in their family, which later on some of them also became successful freedom writers. It is greatly important that we get this problem out in the open to find a quick solution, because if we do not, the already low population of math teachers will continue to decrease, which will lead to more problems, and where does that lead our future?
on their assignments and can get the help they need. Being able to have that assurance of knowing you are able to ask questions, students are more comfortable doing their math assignments. When it comes down to knowing what to do or how to do it
