FIAE Chapter 2

Demonstrating through understanding like breaking down a math problem into component pieces, critique it against criteria, and being able to recreate math is demonstrating mastery of a subject and in this case math.  It is so important to fully understand the how’s and why’s of the ways things work is so much more important than memorizing the formula and not understanding why that formula actually works.  We as teachers need to strive to help students accomplish this.  Accepting one sentence answers like “Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.” Does not constitute mastery.  Elaborating why he freed the slaves and highlighting specific connections that can be made to why he freed the slaves would be a good demonstration of mastery.  Deciding what specific material to mastery as a first year teacher will be hard, but I will have plenty of resources at my disposal to assist me like my colleagues, profession organizations, curriculum guides, etc. 

            I want all my students to become masters of everything we cover.  When I was in school I just focused on memorizing dates, event, and formulas.  Never thought twice about the meaning behind it except that it would be on a test.  I want to make students want to know why things work they way they do and not just memorize it because I asked them to.  The more mastery the gain then the more they will be prepared for college level work.  Once I find out through implementation what works and doesn’t work, I won’t hesitate to share it with my colleagues because I know I will be relying upon them a lot as well.