Expert Recommendations: Ways to Help Students Understand Math at Eye Level Learning Center in Alexandria

At Eye Level Learning Center in Alexandria, we help students better understand math by presenting multiple examples, encouraging collaboration on alternative solutions, and framing the class with a clear agenda and effective summary. The ultimate goals of mathematics instruction are students understanding the material presented, applying the skills, and recalling the concepts in the future. There’s little benefit in students recalling a formula or procedure to prepare for an assessment tomorrow only to forget the core concept by next week. It’s imperative for teachers to focus on making sure that the students understand the material and not just memorize the procedures.

Listed below are three effective ways to teach math from the best learning center in Alexandria. Have a look to understand clearly!

Create an Effective Class Opener:

The first five minutes of the class period set the tone for the entire lesson. Ideally, teachers would start by sharing the agenda for the class period so that students will know the expectations for what will be occurring. Next, teachers could post and articulate the learning objective or essential question to the class so that students know the purpose and at the end of the lesson can self-assess whether the objective has been met for them. Finally, the opener might include one or more warm-up problems as a way to review and assess students’ prior knowledge in preparation for exposure to the new material.

Introduce Topics using Multiple Representations:

The more types of representations that you can present to students addressing their different learning styles, the more likely they will truly understand the concept being presented. Different representations could include using manipulative, showing a picture, drawing out the problem, and offering a symbolic representation. Students who are exposed to and can recognize the same relationship posed in the different representational modes are more likely to have conceptual understanding of the relationship and perform better on assessments.

Solve the Problems Many Ways

In the best learning environment at Eye Level learning center in Alexandria, the teacher is able to show different ways to solve the same problem and encourage the students to come up with their own creative ways to solve them. The more strategies and approaches that students are exposed to, the deeper their conceptual understanding of the topic becomes. Empowering students to create their own problem solving methods can make the teacher nervous. What if we don’t follow their logic? What if they’re incorrect? However, it’s worth the risk to have them explore. After an individual, pair, or small group of students finish solving the problem using a single method, encourage them to look for alternative ways to come up with the same correct solution. Having students develop their own methods and then share the correct steps with the class is a very powerful learning experience.  

Enroll your child with the best learning center in Alexandria and ensure your child is in the right path to excel in academic curriculum. Schedule an appointment with the talented teachers at Eye Level learning center in Alexandria and get a complete report on your child’s performance status.