Blue BayHawk Math

  Growing as a Teacher Learning Through Experience The last couple of weeks have been a journey of growth and learning for me as a teacher. One of the biggest takeaways has been the value of incorporating high-level cognitive tasks into my lessons. I’ve realized how important it is to give students opportunities to engage deeply with math concepts, justify their thinking, and explore problems from multiple angles. For example, I’ve started using tools like Poll Everywhere to spark engagement and encourage students to ‘fearlessly’ express their thinking within and outside math. Watching them actively participate and make connections has been a reminder of how impactful thoughtful, interactive strategies can be. What Makes a Great Teacher? When I think about the qualities of an exemplary teacher, a few key things stand out. Great teachers don’t just know their subject—they know how to make it come alive for their students. They use approaches like Universal Design for Learning ...

  How I’m Growing as a Teacher In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about how asking the right questions can totally change how students learn. I’ve been working on a unit about Polynomials and Rational Expressions, and it hit me just how much the way I ask questions affects how engaged my students are. A good question can pull students into the lesson and make them curious, while a bad one can leave them zoning out. Here’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way: in my first year of teaching, I wasn’t great at asking purposeful questions. It felt like I was just throwing random questions out there and hoping they’d stick. By my second year, I got better at connecting the dots for my students. I got even better by year 3. For instance, when introducing polynomials, I started asking things like, “How is a polynomial different from other algebraic expressions?” or “How does the graph of a polynomial reflect its degree and coefficients?” These kinds of questions make st...