Teach Middle East Magazine Sep-Oct 2017 Issue 1 Volume 5 | Page 23

Sharing Good Practice BUILD A GOOD FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING MATHEMATICS By Maarit Rossi T he beginning of the school year is exciting for students, but it can also be exciting for the teacher, especially if you are new to the class - not to mention if the whole school and region are new. This article is to help you with ideas on how to start with a new group and how to build your classroom management, which will influence your ability to implement good pedagogy in mathematics. 1. What do you think would be an ideal teaching environment for you? Make a list of those things that you think would make your teaching and learning environment ideal; e.g. work peace, listening when someone is speaking, classroom is a safe place to make mistakes, homework expectations and so on. When you know what the most important things are for you in the classroom, you need to get the students to engage and commit to them. You can do it by getting your students to agree to each principle: One of my principles is that, you need to listen when someone has something to say. We all learn better if you don’t speak over each other? Students say yes, they agree. Principle by principle, you discuss with them, by using this m