What math teachers are doing wrong
MathEducation #Teaching #Pedagogy #StudentEngagement #GrowthMindset #EdChat
I see it too often: the bright, curious student who slowly disengages, then switches classes. The reason isn’t that math is “too hard.” It’s often how it’s taught.
If your classroom feels like a rigid, high-pressure procedure factory, students will leave. If it feels like a place to grow, they’ll run to you.
Here are 8 common missteps in math instruction and how to fix them:
1. Starting with Formulas, Not Meaning
When we lead with abstract rules, students memorize steps without understanding. They forget. They panic.
✅ Fix: Start with a situation, a pattern, a puzzle. Let them explore it. Then name the concept together.
2. Teaching “Watch Me, Copy Me”
Passive note-taking and copied examples don’t build brains. They build dependency.
✅ Fix: Use “You try first” problems. Ask, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” Analyze errors. Incorporate turn-and-talk. Make brains active.
3. Rushing to Procedures, Skipping Sense
A student can solve for x but can’t tell you if x = 150 is a reasonable answer for a pizza price.
✅ Fix: Embed the question into your classroom culture: “Is your answer reasonable? How do you know?”
4. Rewarding Only Right Answers
This makes students terrified of being wrong. Risk-taking and deep thinking shut down.
✅ Fix: Grade and praise the process—the strategy, the justification, the thoughtful revision.
5. Not Diagnosing the Root Misconception
Re-teaching the same way louder doesn’t fix a flawed foundation (e.g., misconceptions with negatives, fractions, or slope).
✅ Fix: Implement 2-minute “misconception check” warm-ups. Use them to form targeted mini-lessons for small groups.
6. Too Much Talking, Too Little Thinking
If the teacher’s voice fills all the space, student thinking gets no oxygen.
✅ Fix: Build in 30–90 seconds of mandatory silent think time before anyone explains or answers.
7. Problems Are Disconnected & Pointless
“When will I ever use this?” is a valid question if contexts are irrelevant.
✅ Fix: Connect math to their world: sports stats, social media trends, personal finance, music, art, and issues of fairness.
8. No Structured Math Talk
If students never articulate their reasoning, they never truly own it.
✅ Fix: Teach them how to discuss math. Provide sentence stems:
- “I started by…”
- “I noticed that…”
- “I disagree because…”
- “Another way to see it is…”
The Bottom Line
Students don’t leave because math is hard. They leave when they believe:
“If I don’t get it fast, I’m done.”
They come to you when they believe:
“I can grow here.”
The shift isn’t about lowering standards. It’s about building a classroom where struggle is productive, thinking is visible, and everyone’s reasoning has value.
Are you creating a procedure-following culture or a sense-making culture?
#MathEducation #Teaching #Pedagogy #StudentEngagement #GrowthMindset #EdChat
