Teaching Math Conceptually

I have been teaching for 24 years, including a 4 year assignment as a Math Coach working with teachers and students in Kindergarten to grade 8 across our district. I am currently a special education resource teacher, helping teachers support their students with learning disabilities.

My goal when working with students is to help them develop a deep conceptual understanding of math concepts based on reasoning, problem solving and real life experiences. For early primary students, this means understanding that counting is much more than saying the numbers, and operational sense is much more than being able to fill out worksheets. For junior and intermediate students, this means providing them with a program that includes all of the components of a successful math program: a focus on conceptual understanding, problem solving, manipulatives, mental math, small groups instruction, large group consolidation, partner work, math games, differentiation (low floor, high ceiling tasks), mathematical modelling, ongoing formative assessment and independent practice. For these reasons, the materials in my store provide both the math theory and research, and activities that promote curiosity, engagement, problem solving, reasoning, growth mindset and a deep conceptual understanding. Please reach out if you have any questions! I hope to slowly build my store with the materials I have developed over my years supporting teachers. Check back soon!

In 2018, I was asked to speak at the 'Teaching Math Through Problem Solving 2' Conference in Toronto, Ontario: https://event-wizard.com/teachingmaththroughroblemsolving2018/0/welcome/ Here is a link to my speaker page! https://sites.google.com/view/otffeomath/session-facilitators/chris-smith What an amazing time, connecting with like-minded educators from across Ontario!

Growing up I HATED math. It was a ridiculous subject that simply required you to memorize formulas and plug numbers in. It was dry. It was boring. It was a waste of time. That all changed 20 years ago when I picked up a book by John A Van De Walle entitled 'Elementary and Middle School Mathematics - Teaching Developmentally'. This book changed my life, and opened the doors to conceptual understanding in math. Suddenly, math was beautiful. It was everywhere. And it explained the world around me. Over the years I have seen the dramatic difference that teaching conceptually can make in the life of a child, and this has inspired me to share this love through being a Math Coach in my district, and now here, in this forum.

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