Hello Jane,
How have you been? How are the kids? I am overwhelmed with work and demands at home. My daughter has been struggling with math and asked me for help. So, I remembered some of the ways we learned this stuff. Do you remember Mrs. Smith? She did such a great job at breaking down really complicated concepts and took the time explain things step by step how to do things and how they relate to one another. My daughter's teacher seems to emphasize the importance on how to perform these calculations, meanwhile kids have no idea what they mean. I also remember how she always reviewed the background material at the beginning of the lesson, that really helped me follow. Most of all I found those anonymous question at the end of class that we leave for her very helpful, so if I did not get something and was shy to ask I could just write it down. So, if there were enough people like me she would go over the concept the next class or simply write the note back with simple instructions on how to understand the problem better.
I have to go help my daughter with homework now.
All the best,
Sarah
I like the idea of letting students ask questions anonymously at the end of class. It might get some of the shyer students to ask questions they would have been embarrassed about otherwise.
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