Chapter 23: A Story of Teacher Growth: Making a Difference

Unfortunately, I did not get the results for which I had hoped. My efforts seemed to have little impact on the students and I knew they were not really learning mathematics. They made few connections between topics and because of low retention I felt I constantly had to re-teach what I thought they should already know. They were doing the least amount of mathematics they needed to get by. Worst of all, many students were “giving up.” Nothing I did seemed to have any effect on their attitudes and their learning. With little or no sustained success I was becoming very frustrated. I was not making the difference in students’ lives that had brought me to teaching. I needed a better way of teaching and engaging my students.