ONLY YOU WILL KNOW

ONLY YOU WILL KNOWAuthor(s): HELEN CUNNINGHAMSource: The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 70, No. 5 (MAY 1977), pp. 462-464Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27960884 .

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ONLY YOU WILL KNOW

Three quizzes designed to provoke the mathematics teacher to self-analysis.

By HELEN CUNNINGHAM University of Louisville

Louisville, KY 40208

THIS is not an article on mathematics but on mathematics teaching. As teachers, you want your students to think, con

template, and pursue their own ideas about mathematical concepts. Do you take time to study your teaching? Do you con

scientiously analyze yourself as a teacher? The next decade may be labeled "the age

of accountability." Institutions, profes sions, and the people in them will be judged according to specific sets of criteria. Must teachers wait until they are forced to exam ine their professional performance?

How would you describe your instruc tion? What are your outstanding attributes?

Are you labeled "great" by your students? Are you an "exciting" teacher? Profes sionals should be conscious of their own

strengths and weaknesses. This article will

help you to evaluate yourself in terms of

your scholarly approach to teaching, your creative ability, and your awareness in gen eral?criteria frequently used by students for judging instructors. It consists of three

quizzes of ten thought-provoking questions each to use for analyzing yourself as a mathematics teacher. Consider each ques tion carefully and record a yes or no in the blank provided.

QUIZ 1

Do You Encourage Creativity?

What kind of a teacher are you in terms of creativity? Mathematics is a

subject in which there is a great opportunity for creative thinking. Is this evident in your teaching?

- 1. Do you believe that all students have some creative ability? - 2. Do you feel that creativity can be developed? - 3. Do you think that the mathematics classroom is a place to encour

age creativity? - 4. Do you give your students an opportunity to discover mathematics

by themselves? - 5. Do you allow time for your students to try several approaches to

the same problem? - 6. Do your students feel that mathematics is an exciting and challeng

ing subject in which they can use their creative abilities? - 7. Does your classroom reflect creative attempts at problem solving,

projects, mathematical discoveries, and so on, by your students? - 8. Can you name two creative mathematical activities that you have

used in the past week? - 9. Do you formulate problems from interesting news items or statis

tics?

-10. Have you created a new proof for an old theorem, or tried a new

approach to solving a problem?

462 Mathematics Teacher



QUIZ 2

Are You Aware?

Good teachers are aware of many things. They recognize the different interests and needs of their pupils. They know that pupils do not want to feel that they are mere numbers in a computer age. The importance of the human element in teaching mathematics cannot be overstated. At the same time, teachers are cognizant of the many unusual conditions and changes in the world that affect their students' lives.

How aware are you? Do you relate the real world to your students and your mathematics classes? Does your awareness change your teaching? How are you

viewing your students, yourself, and your community in relation to the chang ing world?

-11. Are you aware of the diversity of the needs, goals, abilities, and interests of your students, and do you use this knowledge in design ing their mathematical activities?

-12. Do you communicate to your students that you see, Jiear, and know them as individuals?

-13. Do you recognize effects that changes in social, economic, and

political areas could have on the interests and concerns of your mathematics students?

-14. Do you recognize problems of the world in areas such as ecology, population, and communication, and do you use them in your classes?

-15. Are you aware of the role in present-day mathematics played by minicalculators, computers, and scientific technology, and do you

incorporate this awareness in your teaching?

-16. Do you try to anticipate uses of mathematics for your students in

the year 2000 and help prepare them for the next century?

-17. Does your teaching reflect your consciousness of being a scholarly, ethical, moral, and social model for your pupils?

-18. Do you analyze aspects of your teaching in which you need to be more flexible and try to change?

-19. Do you recognize and work to correct weaknesses in your teaching and your relating to students?

-20. Do you continuously analyze your teaching in attempting to be come a better teacher?

QUIZ 3

Are You Scholarly?

What do your students think of your competence as a scholar? Do they consider you a mathematician who is determined to be a good teacher? Are

May ?977 463



you a scholar who is fascinated with mathematics and the teaching of it?

-21. Have you read anything new on mathematics in the past six months?

-22. Have you solved a challenging mathematics problem or puzzle or

proved an interesting theorem recently? -23. Have you incorporated in your lessons in the past month some

mathematics history (fact, story, date, word, etc.), or introduced an

interesting item about a mathematician that was new to you? -24. Do you attend mathematics workshops, seminars, in-service meet

ings, courses, and so on, whenever possible? -25. Has your reading of professional journals such as the Mathematics

Teacher or the Arithmetic Teacher changed your teaching in any aspect?

-26. Can you name any mathematics books written for the layman that

you have read in the past year? -27. Have you, in the last month, consulted another textbook, a methods

book, or a mathematical journal for ideas in planning lessons?

-28. Have you done research recently on any mathematical topic that

you are teaching? -29. Have you recently incorporated in your teaching new ideas, meth

ods, presentations, or activities that resulted in improved learning experiences for your students?

-30. Have you been involved in some mathematical production?writ ing, speaking, designing curricula, or teaching an in-service course?

Now you have completed the three quizzes and can tally the yes or no answers. Which predominated? Decide what rating you would use to describe a

"great" teacher in contrast to an "average" or "poor" one. What did your scale denote about your teaching? Only you will know the results!

Answer to

Algebra

Word Search

(from p. 423)

464 Mathematics Teacher



ONLY YOU WILL KNOW

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