Awesome!

This is a happy reminder of all that we do! 

Teaching is a very rewarding profession!

Celebrate your awesomeness!

Spoon fed?

IThis is something I feel strongly about and I do my best every day to "let them hold the spoon". 

So why am I struggling?

The cycle already exists through former teacher-student relationships and so students expect it to continue with me. This is especially true of the math students who already lack any confidence in their skills and problem solving. I cannot tell you how many times a student receives a math problem and before I have even turned around - I hear 

" I don't know how to do this". 

I try not to rush in and rescue. I try to encourage. 

Often I get "you didn't teach me this". And

What they mean is you didn't teach this to me by showing me a bunch of examples that are pretty much the same. 

I recently asked a gr 9 class to compare the amount of popcorn that would be needed to fill our school vs the local coliseum. We had been working with volume. 

I was disappointed that I found that they could not really start. 

It does not help that in my building I am surrounded by adults who strongly believe that the 'sage on the stage' instructional strategy is necessary in math. 

if students are so accustomed to the spoon fed approach, how do I have them believe in themselves, take risks, fail and try again? 

I will continue to strive to instill risk taking, mathematical independence and Math enthusiasm in students.