Sunday, September 16, 2012

Subtraction With Regrouping - An AMAZING teaching moment

We all have those great days in our teaching lives when we think, "THIS is the reason I became a teacher!"  I had one of those days last week when I was working on a subtraction with regrouping lesson.  I had about 6 kiddos who just couldn't get it, so we kept practicing and practicing.  I finally made it down to one little guy who just was struggling.

He was ready to give up, "I can't do this, I am stupid at math!" he told me.

"You are not stupid at math - you are smart.  You just need a little more practice and I will practice with you until we get you over this hurdle." I told him.

Problem after problem we practiced until the spark hit him and he realized he could do it!  Excited with his new ability he asked me to give him a harder problem.  We went from two digits to three, three digits to four until he was subtracting in the millions and billions.  Then we went to problems where he had to regroup more than once.

He BEGGED to take the whiteboard out to recess to practice.  My normally wiggly guy sat completely still during the entire 15 minutes solving problem after problem :)  Then he asked if he could teach the class!
Of course I obliged:
Here is a subtraction with regrouping freebie for you!



What great teaching moments have you had this week?

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