Reflections- A Final Look Back

Coming into this class, I really had no idea what to expect. Would I just be learning

elementary level math concepts? Would I be teaching lessons? Would it be harder than my Math

1050 class was? I can honestly say I was surprised by this class once it started. I had no idea how

much goes into teaching math, and how much preparation it takes. I think I learned a lot through

the activities, the mini-lessons, and the tutoring.

When I learned that we would be teaching lessons in this class, I gave me little bit of

anxiety. Teaching in front of my peers was something that made me extremely nervous because I

was intimidated by them. I could teach kids all day, because I know that I understood more about

the concepts than they did. I never felt confident in my math skills, and I often doubt myself

when I do math. Before I taught my first lesson we talked about how a teachers attitude towards

math could really affect their students. I never knew that before taking this class, and I wanted to

make sure that I was aware of it. I made it my personal goal to come off as confident and

positive when I taught my lessons, and I think that I achieved that goal. I want to keep that same

goal when I enter my future classrooms.

Tutoring was another aspect of this course that taught me a lot. Going into this class I

wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to teach math. I didn’t really know how the concepts I

was learning from a textbook would translate into teaching actual students. I have observed

plenty of teachers, but I never really got the chance to give it a try myself. Having the

opportunity to get to teach actual students taught me more than any textbook ever could. I

learned what works and what doesn’t, and that there are so many aspects can play into a students

success. I also learned that it is important to be flexible. No two students are the same, so I need
to be prepared to switch up my methods in order to find the best way to help the students. Now I

feel more confident in my abilities when it comes to actually teaching math.

Throughout my academic career I have always struggled with math. One of my biggest

weaknesses was long division. I never could fully grasp the concept, even after going over it

multiple times. Even throughout high school if I had to do long division I would shut down. That

was always such a blow to my confidence, and it made me feel like I was stupid. I knew that I

would need to figure it out if I wanted to teach that concept to a classroom full of students. If I

was going to be able to teach a concept, I would need to understand it first. So I decided to pick

that topic to teach for my first lesson, that way I would be forced to figure it out.

There were other methods of doing long division shown in that chapter that really helped

me. Once I had figured those out, I was able to figure out the traditional method. I was only

taught the traditional method when I was going to school, and that was something that just didn’t

work for me. After I finally taught the lesson, I felt like I did a really good job. I understood what

I was teaching, and I felt like everyone else understood what I was trying to teach. That was a

big confidence boost for me.

When I am a teacher I want to teach my students more than one way of doing things. I

want to encourage them to use whatever works best for them. I think that if I was taught the other

methods of long division I would have understood it when it was first introduced. No two

students are the same, so teachers should not expect every student to understand the same

methods.