Teach YOUR way!

FOR EXAMPLE:  I currently teach MATH to 4th and 5th graders.  "MATH" would not be on my short list of PASSIONS... "MATH" would not be on my long list of PASSIONS...  "MATH" would not even be on my list of classes I passed in school.  But, that's what I DO right now, and WHAT I do has never been as important as HOW I do it, so... I go to my actual list of PASSIONS and I teach MATH that way...

• I "DRAW" lots of numbers and boxes and "comics" for my MATH.  The lines and colors and shapes  reinforce the PATTERNS of MATH... there are a LOT of PATTERNS in MATH.  If I had seen PATTERNS in MATH when I was in school, I might have actually passed a class.

• I find and write and play and sing all sorts of MATH songs.  Some are pretty like the Inchworm song and some are awful Heavy Metal or Rap songs that kids might not like... but they laugh... and they repeat... and they REMEMBER.

• I PLAY with MATH... lots of IMPROV games that make MATH a physical and SHARED experience.  It is truly remarkable how many ways you can use flash cards if you think just a little way out of the box.  YOU can think out of the box.

I will admit that I am sometimes frustrated that kids still have to be evaluated in a sterile setting with laptops or number two pencils, but I feel very strongly that our PASSIONATE way of learning has great value to them, and I KNOW it has great value to ME, and that is something I can ALWAYS share.  Try it!