Writing in math is essential in helping students vocalize key math concepts and connecting them to real life. As a teacher, we sometimes get so caught up with teaching our students the basics (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) that we forget about accessing the students ability to explore math concepts through writing. According to Marilyn Burns, we as teachers need to help our students become more "flexible thinkers" and feel confident about the areas of math and able to apply key math concepts to problem-solving situations.



He has 10 "big ideas" to help his students enjoy math. (1) they should know the purpose for what they are doing and reasonableness of their solutions. (2) Students should be able to explain their reasoning with proof of why it makes sense. Teachers can probe their students to get them to think deeper and explore the concept in detail. (3) Allow some conversation in the classroom like Think-Pair-Share because students can really clarify their ideas. (4). A teacher should make writing in math a routine in the classroom and should encourage writing and talking. Furthermore, teachers can get a better assessment of where their students are in their thinking and whether they understand the concept. (5). Math activities should be given in contexts.

When applying real-world contexts students will have an appreciation for math and its connection to the real world. For example, ask students if you were to go to the store and you bought five pieces of candy and the total cost was $ 5.50 how much did you pay per candy? I find that when I connect math activities to the real world, my students understand the concept and smile with gratification. hands-on activities are excellent and provide for excellent conversation pieces in math. My students and I were working on dividing decimals by whole numbers. I had them measure different size plants with a ruler. Before measuring the plants, I had them make an hypothesis on the changes of averages. I asked them to hypothesize if I was to take the biggest and smallest plant size from my average what would happen? If I was to take the largest plant average out what will happen, the smallest, and the two in the middle what would happen?



6). Manipulates are also a good way to help students grasp the concept of mathematics because they can use these tools to figure out the solution. 7). Don't rush through materials. Make sure your students understand the concept before moving on. Do many projects that will help extend the lesson. 8). Make sure to differentiate your instruction to meet all levels and abilities of your students. 9) It is okay for the students to be confused and make errors. As humans we are make errors and mistakes but we also learn from these mistakes.10) Teachers should encourage the students to think differently and support different ways of thinking about mathematics.



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