CRESMET Teachers Are Re-Thinking Math and How to Teach It
"I took physics in high school and knew that the course required a solid
understanding of mathematics. Now that I have better math skills and have
applied myself more to the physics content, I see the strong connection
between mathematics and the sciences…
"A student cannot learn science without learning math…Unfortunately, as teachers
and as a school district, we do not take advantage of this relationship.
Math teachers and science teachers should be in the same wing of the school
and should plan their curriculum together. What a difference this would
make! I can only imagine how much this would benefit the students.
"Unfortunately, as a math teacher, I do not connect the reasoning I teach in
my class with science concepts as much as I should. We should have a lab for
math teachers to do experiments in. Why don't we?
"My opinion now is what is the point of teaching students these reasoning
skills in math if they do not have any connections to the real world, via
science, for these concepts. I know that if a student completely understands
a concept then the student will be able to meaningfully communicate the
concept to me. ..In order for a student to do this, I must first
communicate the concept meaningfully to them. But...we have to be careful as
teachers because something might sound perfectly clear in our heads but come
out with absolutely no meaning in the eyes (or should I say ears) of the
students.
"I have already changed how I teach in my classroom because of CRESMET…"
-
High School Mathematics Teacher