How to Teach Math

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Part of the video series: Basic Mathematics & Algebra

Summary: Ways to teach mathematics include coming up with examples, like money matters, a classroom can relate to. Make math applications, like word problems, relatable to students with assistance from a math teacher in this free video on mathematics.

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Presenter

By Jimmy Chang
eHow Presenter

Jimmy Chang has been a math teacher at St. Pete College for more than nine years. He has a Master's Degree in math and his specialties include calculus, algebra, liberal arts math and...read more

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"So how do you teach math? Math is a very tough subject as it is. Hi, I'm Jimmy, and we're here to explore that topic right now. I've got a few examples as to how you might be able to teach math and keep the students engaged. One suggestion might be to, if you connect with the audience, if you know who your audience is, you can come up with examples that they can relate to or if you know their names as the semester goes on, then it lets them know that you know that they're there and you want them to succeed in the course. Sometimes even small chitchat gets them engaged in the course. You don't have to talk about math throughout the entire lecture, but if you just talk about some things that just don't really relate to math, well, it might keep things loose for a little while. Now, when it comes to doing things like word problems, which a lot of students just don't like, you might want to think about applications that they can relate to. Money is a great example as to how every student can relate to money and things like record sales, car depreciation, interest generating. The more you can make the applications relatable to the students or related to current events that they recognize, the more that they'll be able to understand, "Oh, this is where I use the subject." Another suggestion would be be as visual as you can. A lot of students are visual learners, and if you draw a picture, it'll encourage them to draw pictures so they can dissect the information. Even if you in a...using a white board, if you use different markers to emphasize different points, they'll be able to differentiate, "Oh, this is how you go from one step to the next." And lastly, practice makes perfect. If you emphasize an idea over and over again in class, at some point, they'll understand it. And give them enough exercises not to overwhelm them per se, but to give them an idea as to, "Oh, this is how this idea works." And the more they work at it, the stronger they will be with the concept. So I'm Jimmy, and I hope I've given you some ideas on how to teach mathematics."