Teaching Math

This is what I am talking about. In our school, I scrapped the middle school text book altogether. I did not follow the standards they preached like the apostles. In Math, it is the content. We have to teach them how to think abstractly. In the effort to be learner-friendly, we forgot all about content. Content cannot be sacrificed.

To compensate for Math's abstractness, what did I do? I befriended the children. I made them realize that Math is a friend, not an enemy. I motivated them. Pep talks start our lessons. And they end them lessons too. What was the result? One student told her mother, "I really wanted to be good in this exam, mama. If I get high scores, they will transfer me to Teacher George." She got 73/75 in that exam, and made it as the 15th member of my Math class. Yes, half of the kids were with me.

These same kids got "Proficient" and "Highly Proficient" ratings in their final APSA test. My kids' average SAS was 87.6 (An SAS of 80 is Proficient; 90, Highly Proficient). Their average increase in SAS is 14. Angela's increase was 24, followed by Maynard's 16.2. I have 6 highly proficient kids, with 3 more almost making it (with an 88 average). Consider that these kids were tested as "below country standards" when they started out.