Team Teaching & Math
Mathematics is one of the most exciting things to teach and to learn. To learn math is to study both concepts and procedures. To learn math is not only to get the correct answer, but to see patterns emerging. To learn math is to tackle difficult problems from a variety of angles, trying to muddle through to an answer. To learn math is also to master algorithms, neatly laying out your work so that you can go back and check yourself. Learning math well requires independence and autonomy, but also the ability to communicate your reasoning well with peers.
Because there are so many different facets of it, learning math is HARD and teaching it is a complex task. This is why I am so excited about team teaching 4th grade math.
Each day, Ms. Wu and myself tag team through 1 hour and 10 minutes of math time. In the room with us are also Ms. Stoudmire and Ms. Hernandez, who play significant roles in helping the team-teaching vision happen.
While one of us leads a teaching moment, the other observes student involvement and attention in that moment. The two of us can also model mathematical discourse in front of class, demonstrating how to have math discussions.
While one of us supports independent workers, the other can pull a small group of students to either support or extend the content.
Last week, our group was able to split in half and visit both 1st grade rooms to collect height data.
Team teaching math has also been fun for me because of the perspective I have gained. A teaching mentor of mine once told me this:
"To learn is a clockwise motion. To teach is a counterclockwise motion."
There is not always one pathway to an answer. There is not always one way to understand something. A way that feels intuitive to me might not feel that way to someone else. When we teach one another and explain things to one another, we see things from a different perspective, and we might think "counterclockwise" to the way we normally think.
As a team of teachers we can push one another to to consider other methods and other ways of thinking. When we experience that ourselves, we can lead our students to do the same!
