garnermath.com

π = C/d

Teacher Resources

My teaching philosophy is rooted in the effective teaching movement where educators collaborate with their peers to share teaching models which did and did not work in the classroom. We are basically ‘scroungers’ who may keep the entire lesson or just its core as we tweak it to fit any unique situations in our own classrooms.

As ‘cutting-edge’ as we might want to think these techniques are, effective teachers have been sharing what works and doesn’t for thousands of years.

And within the movement, we also learn to admit that not much learning takes place without good classroom management. So, this means we are always looking for ways to better manage the class, support each student and our fellow teachers.

Needless to say, that makes Harry Wong and Fred Jones the current ‘apostles’ of my effective teaching resources. Harry got me started and Fred showed me how to more effectively extend it into my high school math classes. And a tip of the hat has to go to Ron Rohac and his creative ideas for developing the vocabulary and comprehension of ESL student. Even EFL students improve with it.

Any original work I’ve done has just one copywrite rule - copy it right and don’t charge people for it! i.e. “You’re free to use and modify my stuff, so just give it away since you got it for free.”

When you find what works, share it with whomever will listen to you foam at the mouth on about how some of your students “Got It!” that day/week. Hang around positive teachers so you can keep your chin up and learn to become one of them! Encourage fellow teachers. Keep telling the kids that they can get this stuff and that they are worth it! Sit in on the best teachers in the department and discover how they make cognitive and behavioral connections with their students. Then make their insights your own.

Never forget that we fellow teachers are our best resources. We just have to find ways of sharing this stuff with each other.

And one last comment. Learn to tell a bad pun now and then to keep those kids guessing about you. Check out my Goof Off Page for more ideas.

Your fellow math teaching professional,

Bud Garner

Q: How do you find a good wrecker service if you’re in an accident?

A: Look for one who will ‘tow’ the line!

You see, effective teachers are always modeling the behavior they want their students to imitate.

Now that you’ve read this, go back to the top. Click on the graph of the circle, it’s the shortcut to the links.

Harry is always pumped about effective teaching!

Fred’s smile hides the tenacity of an alligator as an effective teacher!

... And Ron Rohac is not just another physics teacher / tennis coach!

Klem Kadiddlehopper, my favorite childhood comedy character.

You’ll have to read some stuff before I let you get to those links!

x2 + y2 = r2

“Math teachers survive in spite of all the problems they have.”