Sensible math teaching

[nancylebov]

http://crookedtimber.org/2008/05/12/civilising-the-rug-rats/#comment-239760

Later on, I was lucky enough to attend a very good private girl’s school and had the most wonderful math teacher. She had a very simple method which worked really well for students of various levels of competence. She would give an explanation of the mathematical principle and illustrate it on the blackboard. She then gave us a series of problems to solve. Anyone who didn’t understand, would go to her desk for tutoring. Those who got it, solved the problems on their own and, if they finished them all, would go to her desk for more difficult ones. Even the most mathematically challenged eventually mastered the basics, and those of us who needed more stimulation, were taken care of too. She also encouraged us to think for ourselves and rote learning of geometry theorems was not followed.