Avenues for Math Teacher Improvement

Being a teacher is hard work. If you teach junior high or high school, you probably have over a hundred students to know and to teach. If you teach elementary, then you have an entire day with the same squirrely kids, and multiple subjects to cover. None of this even mentions the countless other challenges teachers face. One of the most recent ones is the implementation of the Common Core. If you are looking for programs for math teacher improvement that can help you teach this Core, continue reading for some ideas on what to do.

Personal Study

Probably the best thing you can do before going to any training sessions or taking classes is to explore the Core Standards on your own. You can do this online. Read through everything the students have to know at the grade level you are teaching. Read through sample performance tasks, student sample work, and the suggested texts. This will help you to identify where your weakest areas are. It can also help you realize parts of the Core that may be confusing to you. Then you can adjust your learning more directly to your needs.

Use Your Resources

You have many options for information and resources. You can use the Internet, where there are countless forums of teachers and experts you can talk to. These people are willing to share their ideas and methods, and tell you what worked and what didn’t. Your colleagues can do this with you too, of course. And you can also look at classes offered through your district. This is often the easiest direction to go because you can receive stipends or credits more easily through them.

Take a Class

Another option is to take a class on implementing the Common Core Standards. Many classes are offered online, which is great so that you can go at your own pace. Some programs also allow you to self-design the experience, choosing which modules and content strands you want to focus on. If you’re a math teacher looking for math teacher improvement programs, and want to focus on specific things, this is probably the best way to go after you’ve done your own personal study and online research. 

This is a guest post provided to Me, Myself & the City for its readers.