What a frustrating day.
1. Three days so far of concentrated effort on learning how to find the areas of rectangles, circles and triangles in my Geometry classes. Still very little progress from large portions of my classes. Ugh! What am I doing wrong?
2. Some kids took candy from my candy stash today. I am angry at those #@!%#! brats. Really makes me want to give up on helping them learn math.
3. So very tired. Not in body but in spirit. I wonder how some teachers can last for decades in the classroom.
I know this might not help, but at this time of year the students are really weary, too.
It is a great time of year to plan off-campus travel or service projects, but most schools aren’t set up for it. Everyone needs a change of pace now and again. For students who might not get the point of learning mathematics, it is just more of the same.
What is their goal in mathematics? To pass the class? To just wait until the hours are done? If students don’t find math inherently beautiful and engaging, then it really helps if they believe there is a good reason to be learning it. Even though you have shared both the beauty and utility of math, they might not buy into it. Yet. But you are planting seeds.
It isn’t you.