Bradford Egelston

I rely heavily on PowerPoint presentations for math instruction and have discovered that, if done correctly, animated (GIF) images can greatly increase both interaction and learning.  For example, a student activity involving rolling a pair of dice can be "accelerated" to show how an increase in sample size (n) will gradually approach a normal distribution.  When rolling a pair of dice, 7 is the most likely combination while 2 and 12 will be the least likely. 

After a small sample size of 5-10 rolls, the normalized pattern has yet to show.  With 20-30 rolls, it may be seeming to take… >>>

While I believe that all teaching styles can impart learning to students, the effectiveness of each approach varies based on the needs of the students.  I typically work with students in the developmental level of math, which tends to come with a lot of nervousness and apprehension.  With those types of demographics, the statue or drill instructor teaching styles tend to minimize success.  Students will be bored by an instructor who simply reads from the textbook or slides and are far less likely to engage with the material (which they'll likely find to be equally boring).  Drill instructors, even in… >>>

Perfection is the enemy of good.  When I first got into teaching, an instructor I admired told me "If you're going to teach for thirty years, then teach for thirty years.  Don't teach one year thirty times."  I am always adjusting my teaching based on new things that I've learned, new approaches that students have shared and the needs of the particular group that I have.  What worked great the last three classes may fall flat the fourth time.  

I am no stranger to making a math error on the board during a class.  If I catch it first, then… >>>

I have an extensive background in teaching inner city middle school so I had to hone my Managing Student Behavior skills very quickly.  I became very good at being approachable and friendly but still maintaining authority as the teacher/instructor in the room.  I worked very hard to make sure that students enjoyed my company and genuinely respected me without giving up command for friendship.  Even now that I'm teaching adults, I use the same tactics.  I listen.  I offer to help when I can.  I keep in mind that a student being angry, disruptive or disengaged might not have anything… >>>

In my experience, I've found that I can harness the "exuberance" of students who crave the spotlight.  I can often come up with a job for that student under the guise of "assisting" me.  In math classes, I'll often make students who like to speak up and interject into my fact-checker.  With a calculator, they'll check my mental math as I work out examples on the board.  When other students offer answers, I'll have my assistant "verify" the answer before I write it.  When a student asks me a higher order question, I'll have students give their theories or opinions… >>>

First and foremost, I have to "hook" students to increase their buy-in regarding the course material.  Teaching math, I often have math-phobics who have had limited success with math in the past.  Other times, their math skills have atrophied after spending years outside of a classroom.  I try to entertain as well as inform, so on the first night of class, I'll typically use a mathematical party trick to suggest that I have psychic mind reading powers.  The students are generally amazed, but as I repeat the trick, some of them start to recognize a pattern and then they begin… >>>