Kids don't have to love math to love class
Linda Reusch has taught for 31 years - all of them at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. In the spring of 1986, she student taught at West Chicago High School under Tim Kanold, who that fall moved to Stevenson to serve as the director of the mathematics department. He later became Stevenson's superintendent.
Q. Why did you decide to teach math?
A. I have always loved math, and knew I wanted to major in it in college. Entering college, I did not have teaching on my radar, but loved helping my peers with their math questions. I can remember a survey coming out asking if undergraduate mathematics students were interested in education. My advisers said to answer "yes" if we weren't sure so that we didn't close off options. I've never turned back.
Q. How do you reach kids who don't like math?
A. Although I get excited about math and all the connections between topics and courses, I do not expect that all of my students would rank math as their first love. I'd love to get all students loving (or at least liking) math, but, more importantly, I want them all to enjoy coming to class.
I feel like I have a very good rapport with my students. I know each student for who they are and try to show them that I am interested in their lives, regardless of their feelings toward math.
I ask them about their extracurricular sports, clubs and jobs. I bring in newspaper articles with their names or pictures included. In a few of my classes we even have Friday story time, where either I will share an adventure or something about my upcoming weekend or a student will share a story. It's just a fun way to make the class feel connected to each other.
Q. What's your philosophy for teaching math?
A. Teach for understanding! I find it impossible to try to get the students excited about the math if they don't have any idea where the concept came from and how they are connected to other units.
Q. How has technology changed the way you teach math?
A. Honestly, kudos to my colleagues who consistently push me to try new technology in the classroom. This year, I have used peardeck.com to give students immediate feedback about their progress.
Students participate in a warmup or cool down activity in which they answer questions anonymously, and we can all see immediately how the class is progressing and make corrections to their thinking without singling out an individual.
I have also tried Quizlet. live, which creates an opportunity for small groups to practice new concepts. Students compete against each other. They love the competition and the opportunities to explain/teach concepts to each other while getting immediate feedback.
Technology has also opened doors for me to post notes, homework, keys, and extra practice online. In my calculus classes, I have a place where students create videos each unit, explaining problems from the review sheet prior to a test.
This is a way for students to learn from each other and gives students an opportunity to verbalize the math they are learning.