Teaching math today is not what it used to be when I started teaching 20 years ago. How I miss those days. Math today involves so much more critical thinking and problem solving than the simple one-step problems when I was in school. We have to teach our students how to problem solve. We have to teach our students how to rethink a problem when they first don’t get the solution.
I have found in solving problems in math, many students don’t know where to even start.
That’s when problem solving posters can really come in handy.
Included are 16 problem solving posters which can hung around the room or even printed out 4 to a page for students to glue in their math notebooks.
I am big on modeling how to do things, so I would model each of these strategies for my students with a sample problem. Students have seen some of these strategies before, but they honestly don’t know how to use them themselves.
I also really like poster on mistakes. I think kids need to know that mistakes aren’t bad. Not bad at all. Mistakes are ok and not something to be ashamed for…after all that’s why God invented erasers!
This idea is from Math Equals Love and she has a lot of good problem solving ideas.
What are your favorite strategies to improve your students’ problem solving skills in math?
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