Top 5 characteristics of a great maths teacher
Being a teacher is often considered to be a rewarding profession as it requires a lot of challenges. Being a maths teacher requires the ability to impact children in ways that other professions do not. Teachers can mold young minds into becoming productive members of society.
As Maths Week is coming up on the 14th November, we’ve put together a list of characteristics that make a great maths teacher.
5 characteristics of a great maths teacher:
Patience
Firstly, being patient is one of the best qualities a maths teacher can have, especially when dealing with children. As an educator, you are responsible for teaching and developing the next generation of leaders and innovators. Therefore, patience is critical when dealing with children because they have short attention spans and get distracted easily.
Children need guidance to develop into well-rounded people who can handle challenges throughout life. If you are impatient with them when they make mistakes or ask questions that may seem obvious to adults but confusing for children, they may feel discouraged from trying.
Real world impact
Secondly what makes a good maths teacher is, showing children why the material they are learning is essential to them. For example, teaching children to learn about fractions and additions and showing how they can help pupils in the real world.
Did you know teaching children to learn about fractions can help them with cooking and baking? You can start by encouraging children to learn about fractions and explore different ways to do fractions with our magnetic fraction percentage bar.
Making maths interesting
Did you know that making maths fun and interesting can be engaging for children? As teachers, it can often be stressful to teach children maths. Teaching children to enjoy learning maths is important for them to understand the topic and get a good grade. When children enjoy learning, they will want to continue doing it.
Consequently, they will not feel as much pressure when it’s time to do tests or complete homework. You can start by making maths interesting by offering children activities like polydron magnets. This will allow children to explore the world of shapes, space and magnets, all in one exercise.
Knowledge
As a maths teacher, it’s important to have a strong knowledge of the core subject to be able to teach it to children. Having a strong subject knowledge allows teachers to gain confidence whilst teaching children about maths. Teachers who know the subject they teach well can communicate their knowledge effectively. This helps them deliver lessons that are interesting and engaging for their pupils. This can help children develop an interest in maths, which will encourage them to continue learning throughout their academic year.
Creating a positive learning environment
Lastly, did you know as a maths teacher, it’s important to make a positive learning environment for children in the classroom? A positive learning environment for children will help them to be more relaxed and confident about their maths work. This is because they will know that their teacher will support them and give them confidence if they are struggling with something.
The classroom should be an enjoyable place where students can relax and enjoy learning, and you can start by building a positive relationship through communication or class discussion. To help you, use our maths mastery number kit to increase children’s participation in the classroom and make learning fun and enjoyable.
Maths resource
Inspire the teaching of maths and make maths a fun subject for kids to enjoy by downloading our domino worksheet, where kids will be able to count the dots in the domino and add the answer on the sheet. It will help them to develop number sense and maths skills while they are playing dominos.
Teaching maths is a meaningful career that significantly impacts children’s academics and professional lives. Therefore, having the suitable characteristics and qualities as a maths teacher will impact children’s learning and make a huge difference to teachers.
As a maths teacher, learn how to create an interactive environment for children by taking maths outdoors. Take a look at our previous blog on ‘teaching maths outdoors: maths awareness month’.