Understanding what you are learning

Although there were no classes today, I learned a lot. After today, I realized that I am not the only teacher having difficulties. Then again, it's naive to say that no one else is having problems. It's just that outside of these professional development days, no one is discussing their problems.

Today, while presenting our unit plans in our house collaboration, I found out that another teacher is experiencing students that do not understand what they are learning. I am experiencing the exact same thing in my math classes. What's happening is that our students are applying concepts, but they do not know what the concepts are. For example, if you ask them to solve for x in the equation x + 5 = 2, they know to subtract 5 from both sides of the equation resulting in x = -3; an equivalent equation. However, if you ask them what the addition property of equality is, they do not know.

I do realize that I am partly to blame. I mean, I did teach them the definition of the addition property is, but I could have given it some more importance. It's also because for 9th graders, it's hard to understand abstract concepts. They are naturally inclined to subtract 5 from both sides rather than apply the addition property to get an equivalent equation.

I am happy to report that I think the steps I am taking to address this are the right steps. The teacher I mentioned before is adding questions to his tests that assess students' understanding of concepts. I am applying more importance on the definitions and understanding of the concepts and the interconnectedness of the concepts. I am also planning on testing them on this, in addition to testing them on the application of a series of steps.

All in all, I'm glad that the unit plan I earnestly completed over the weekend is a step in the right direction. I only wish I had started emphasizing the understanding of the concepts earlier in the year.