数学学不好？那还不快来看看这篇秘籍！ | The Secrets of Mathematics Learning

Serena Fu is a Primary Mathematics teacher in NAS Nantong. She teaches G1,G2 and G3. Serena has a Master's Degree in education from Nanjing Normal University. She has several years of experience in teaching Mathematics and she is specialized in personalised learning.

Let's find Serena's secrets in Mathematics learning!

When talking about mathematics, many children will feel embarrassed and say that it is too difficult. In fact, mathematics is not difficult at all. On the contrary, it is quite fun. The key point is whether you have the right method of learning. When you have right directions and methods, learning becomes very simple. And also the correct learning method is the key to high learning efficiency.

As the child owns more, distraction increases. So before learning activities, students need to know if the current circumstance is suitable for learning: whether they should change the environment or their mentality for the upcoming learning activity. For example, if they were playing a game, they must calm down and find a quiet place for a transition into the learning mode. They need to find a place free of disturbance for other people, toys, food, mobile phones or other electronic gadgets. This is very important. Without such preparation, the students' learning is easily interrupted, and the learning process is shredded with a low learning efficiency.

In order to cultivate the students' self-learning ability, we offer the students appropriate learning materials and methods, and teach them how to study on themselves. For the problems that arise during their self-study, they should try to find solutions by themselves first. If unable to find an answer, the Approximation Principle shall apply: ask the people around them (including elders, teachers, classmates, etc.). The classroom is where we solve the problems that arise in the students’ self-study.

We encourage students to express the approach they have taken and the process of their thinking. Actually, the process is more important than the answer. As a matter of fact, the students need to express themselves and tell stories not only in the Chinese language classes, but also in the mathematics classes. Only when the students can explain their own thinking process, can we be sure that they really understand. In my class, I always create opportunities for students to explain his thinking process. When  the students can think, analyze and solve problems, and have the ability to understand and explain, mathematics learning becomes natural.

We encourage the students to read more books about mathematics, and be able to sort out the core ideas of the books, and turn them into mind maps. That is, to read the book and draw it out in a way he likes. By doing so, the student will be able to acquire a complete and in-depth understanding of the book, in addition to a concise expression of its ideas.

The purpose of education is to help students win in the future. The important thing is not to learn an equation, a formula, but to have the concept of lifelong learning and the right way to learn. As teachers, what we should do is to help students establish a good way of learning, the right way of thinking. As we always say: when you teach people how to fish, you feed them for a lifetime.