Breaking the Cycle; 2: What Do Mathematicians Do?; 3: Mathematicians Take Risks; 4: Mathematicians make mistakes; Mathematicians are Precise; 6: Mathematicians Rise To A Challenge; 7: Mathematicians Ask Questions; 8: Mathematicians Connect Ideas; 9: Mathematicians USE Intuition; 10: Mathematicians Reason; 11: Mathematicians Prove; 12: Mathematicians Work Together and Alone; 13: “Favorable Conditions” for all math students
Tracy Johnston Zager has worked in many schools over the course of her career, first as a fourth-grade teacher, then as a supervisor of pre-service teachers and their in-service mentors, and currently as a math coach. Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had grew out of Tracy's work in classrooms, where she's most in her element, learning together with teachers and students over time.
'Tracy skillfully blends academic research, illuminating classroom
dialogues, the thoughts of mathematicians and maths educators, and
her own perceptive observations. This seamless mix is a real
strength of the book; we not only see what habits are important and
why, but how they can be enacted through specific teaching
strategies, and the powerful effects they have on our students’
development as confident and capable mathematicians. The reader
can’t help but be inspired by the teachers that Tracy holds up as
exemplars of good practice… I can confidently say that, alongside
Thinking Mathematically (Mason, Burton and Stacey, 1982; 2010),
Tracy’s book will become a cornerstone for my teaching. It is a
gift to all maths teachers.'
- Dr Amie Albrecht'Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had:
Ideas and Strategies from Vibrant Classrooms addresses the common
gap between mathematicians who perceive math as creative and fun
and students who view it is boring at best and frustrating at
worst, and helps teachers move students from dull math classes to
more vibrant, lively productions. The author spent years with many
math teachers in a wide range of settings and grades to collect the
successful strategies that would reach grades K-8 through this
collection. Chapters offer examples of innovative teaching methods,
measurable results in improving math comprehension and usage, and
include strategies, examinations of conjectures, and tips on how to
lead math students to make new, exciting connections. The result is
a powerful survey highly recommended for any math instructor
seeking specific keys to not just teaching the basics, but making
math relevant and exciting.'
- Midwest Book Review
'Math concepts can be hard for me to absorb when I’m learning them,
not to mention trying to teach them to someone else. After reading
this book, though, I have found a sense of confidence and security
that I can teach this rigorous subject, and I can teach it using
these inspiring strategies. My goal for my students is to help them
gain full ownership of mathematical learning. Using strategies like
discussing the theories in math and coming up with questions
(rather than just providing answers), as Tracy Johnston Zager
writes about in Becoming the Math Teach You Wish You’d Had, makes
it more likely I will succeed.'
Emmy Avery Witham, student at College of the Atlantic in Bar
Harbor, ME and studying to be a certified teacher.
'This post is about Tracy Zager’s most excellent book, Becoming the
Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had. Each chapter starts out comparing
how mathematicians talk about what they do and what students’
experience of it is. Then it moves on to detailed examples of the
aspect of maths thinking in action in real classrooms, as well as
strategies to encourage it both in your students and in yourself as
a teacher.
I didn’t expect to see this last point about encouraging these
attitudes and thinking in yourself as a teacher. Yet it is the most
compelling feature of the book for me. Indeed, I don’t think the
book would have had nearly the impact it had on me (or the impact I
see it having on others) without this constant message that to help
your students experience maths differently, then you yourself need
to experience it differently too. More than this, Tracy doesn’t
just make this need clear, but actively and compassionately
empowers us to seek out ways to fill it.
“Somewhere inside you is a child who used to play with numbers,
patterns and shapes. Reconnecting with your inner mathematician
will improve your teaching and benefit your students, and it will
also benefit you.”— Tracy Zager, Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
You’d Had, p39.'
- David Butler“Revel in the treasures each chapter offers and let
it inspire your own curiosity about children’s mathematician
ideas…Your copy will become dog-eared, taped, scribbled on, and
referenced over and over again." - Elham Kazem
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