Over the years, my main focus as been centered on urban education and what it means to be a truly effective urban

teacher. The idea that my philosophy as an urban teacher trumped my philosophy as a mathematics teacher has been at the forefront of my development, until now. My growth as a mathematics teacher has not surpassed that of my urban development, but I have found that they are one in the same. The location of a teacher should not change the fluency in which they teach mathematics. I do not believe that certain people are innate mathematical thinkers, because to believe this I would have to believe that certain people are not, which I refuse to believe. So what does it mean for a student to look at a math problem and its equivalent to an English speaker filling out an application written in Chinese? Does it mean that they are mathematically challenged? Or does it really mean that throughout their mathematical career, they have not encountered teachers that cared as much about learning as they did about teaching? At this point in my teaching, Im inclined to believe the latter. Mathematics should be taught with the expectation that no matter what level the student began the school year, they will end the school year, not just knowing more mathematics, but grasping a better understanding of the language it speaks. For example, when teaching manipulating equations, it is not enough to explain the basic operations. It is necessary that the students understand that equality must be maintained. In order to ensure this occurs, mathematics teachers should ensure the students know the language, engage the students in activities that allow them to think critically, and give the students the opportunity to explain themselves. All of these ideas require that there are high expectations set not only of the students, but also of the teacher. The language. Is asking a student, who has never taken algebra, to calculate the slope equivalent to asking the same student to characterize the steepness of a line? Mathematically the

questions are equivalent, if you speak the language. I have found that one of the biggest struggles my students face is understanding what the question asks. On assessments we use mathematically terminology that we expect the students to know, but it is not always the case. It is important that we ensure students know the language we are speaking. Not only should they understand the language, but they must speak the language. If they dont, how can they even begin to attack the concept? The job of an educator is to require of his/her students creative, critical thinking. If we are not doing so, then what more are we doing than a computer that displays facts. The biggest complaint I hear from students is, I hate word problems which of course is secondary to I hate fractions! When asked to think, my students give up. It isnt the word problem they hate; its the constant demand I have put on them to use their own knowledge to discover. In their eyes, any question with more than one sentence is a word problem, along with anything that requires more than a serious of steps. The key to mathematical success is doing math. In order to do math, students must be given work that doesnt require a repetitive procedure, but work in which they use prior knowledge to achieve a mathematical goal. Which in short means, giving the students the opportunity to meet mathematical frustration and allowing them to work through it. It is important that we give students a chance to discover mathematical concepts instead of lecturing everyday. It is important to find out what the common misconceptions students have, whether it comes before or after the lesson. It is very important to anticipate the misconceptions that students may have while planning the lesson. It helps to clarify a lot of errors before they occur and it helps answering questions in a way that wont hinder the students learning. On the opposite spectrum, it is important to listen to what questions the students have. I have found that

when I dissect some questions, I find out a lot of things about the students mathematical thinking. I discover new ways of explaining and what areas of concern some students have. For instance, I found that a lot of the time the concept isnt the problem, a fraction is. The students have a lot of great ideas that if listened to, can greatly contribute to the learning.