An Open Letter to New Teachers

Two weeks ago, I shared to you about A Mathematician’s Lament, an essay by Paul Lockhart about the mishaps of teaching in K-12 Mathematics. In this post, I’m going to share to you about an open letter to new teachers, a great piece written by Sam Shah in his blog, that discusses teaching tips. I think it’s a must read for new teachers, especially math teachers.

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Here is Sam’s letter.

Dear person about to enter the classroom as a full-time teacher,

I love you. Okay, fine, not quite true — maybe respect, like, or lurve is more appropriate — but you have a passion for something and you’re following it. I don’t know if that passion is for the subject you teach, or for working with kids, or the deeply interesting intellectual puzzle of how to get someone to understand something, or for (in the booming Wizard of Oz voice) the Betterment of All Mankind. Regardless, this thing that brings you to the classroom is wonderful, because it puts you in the same ranks as those wonderful teachers that loom large in your past who inspired you and who helped you recognize that what they do has some worth. Continue reading…

The Love of Learning

I want to introduce a new partner blog, the Love of Learning blog.The Love of Learning Blog, by Kristi Grande, is written for Middle School Math teachers.  This blog explores teaching strategies, activities, and technology applications for Middle School Math teachers.  The teaching strategies and activities in the Love of Learning Blog reflect current research, best practices, and brain-based learning principles.

The Love of Learning Blog will host the May 2011 edition of the Mathematics and Multimedia Carnival. Click here to submit your articles to the carnival.