Teachers often juggle creating lessons and helping students understand concepts, which can become overwhelming. And math teachers get to manage this problem more often than others because of the technicality of their lessons.
But creating relatable lessons on math for 1st graders or kids at any level is possible. If you want to groom your students to excel in STEM and other fields requiring technical problem-solving, this article presents ideas for planning math lessons to ease children’s learning process.
Why it is essential to have a math lesson plan
As a tutor or parent, there are several reasons why having a learning plan for your math classes is crucial. Below are some:
To maintain an ideal learning progression
When teaching math, you may accidentally skip specific crucial topics; however, having a math learning plan eliminates this possibility. Furthermore, a math plan conforming with a government-approved curriculum and planned across grades ensures that kids master basic concepts before progressing to more complex topics. For instance, kids learn the addition and subtraction of numbers before progressing to multiplication and division.
To keep tutoring systems fresh
The way instructors are educated as students is how they teach as adults. However, it's not an ideal approach because of how quickly things change nowadays and how easily default systems can suddenly need an overhaul. When teachers embrace new formats and systems of making a lesson plan, tutoring becomes effortless.
To curb time-wasting
Some mathematics textbooks that serve as guides for teachers and students come with many unnecessary topics. The math curriculum homeschool teachers use can also make them focus on speed. They appear to learn things quickly, but the student's progress suffers.
A math lesson plan can check these excesses. Irrespective of the types of math classes, having a lesson plan makes tutoring more organized and manageable. Properly-planned math lessons also help teachers stay on track and meet deadlines, which is why Brighterly.com tutors excel.
To ensure continuity
For any reason, a teacher may fail to show up for class. Filling up for an absent teacher may pose a problem if there is no lesson plan. However, with a pre-designed semester or yearly lesson plan, it becomes easier for an instructor to step in for another.
Understanding the need for math lesson plans will help you when creating yours. But you still need a strategy to ensure your plan works. The following are worth trying if you want your students’ learning standards to improve.
While teaching topics in math, covering the foundations is paramount. Start by addressing the fundamentals — addition, subtraction, etc. Algebra will be too complex for students to understand if they don't know how to multiply or add.
Ensure your lesson plan accommodates extra time for students to grasp the basics. This approach will keep you from panicking and fast-tracking your lessons. After creating a solid foundation in basic arithmetic, you may progress to more complex topics like calculus, trigonometry, and algebra.
For many students, memorization is the first step in mastering mathematics. That is why curriculums still require that they learn the multiplication table. Despite this strategy's success in the past, it is not an ideal way to learn math. In the event of anxiety during an exam, the student may lose track of the information they memorized.
Research shows that having a deep understanding of concepts is better than memorization. Rather than cramming the multiplication table, students should understand how to multiply numbers to get the results. If a student can solve 9×9, they can answer 10×9. That ability will be more beneficial than if they memorized the times table and the answers to both math problems.
Goal setting is the foundation of most successful operations. It is equally essential in teaching mathematics, especially to students in their formative years. As soon as kids grasp the fundamentals of arithmetic, begin to create objectives for your studies. Once you've identified the specific types of arithmetic operations you want your kids to master, focus your efforts on teaching those areas.
When teaching kids, you must be careful not to overload them with information. Take topics one at a time and ensure your kids master a concept thoroughly before proceeding to another. In your lesson plan, separate math topics and assign each one different time frames based on their difficulty rating and your students’ skill levels.
Understand your students’ learning modes
The entire lesson will be a waste of time if you don’t understand your students' learning process. Most kids struggle to grasp a new concept they meet for the first time, especially when it's a math idea. So when planning math lessons, factor in your students’ preferred studying modes.
If they prefer video lessons, look into learning video lesson creation on YouTube and other platforms. You can also create hybrid lessons that leverage the different learning styles of students today. Planning with your students’ comfort in mind increases your likelihood of succeeding as a teacher.
Conclusion
Although math is among the most challenging subjects for individuals to grasp, it may be easy with the proper training, practice, and effort. The ideal conditions for learning math require tutors to prepare a suitable lesson plan. So, if you need a headstart on transforming your math classes for the better, use the lesson-planning ideas in this article.