There is some evidence that teacher candidates in elementary and special education are generally weak in mathematics content and are anxious about the responsibility of teaching mathematics (Timmerman, 2003; Kimmel, Deek, & O'Shea, 1999). Many of their own experiences with math in school were not enjoyable and their teachers rarely emphasized concept understanding or meaningful applications. When asked about memories of math class, many teachers and teacher candidates did not hesitate to mention the following negative teacher behaviors (Gurganus, 2005; see also Oberlin, 1982; Martinez & Martinez, 1996):
modeled their dislike for math
never showed students "why"
verbally abused students for errors
insisted on following the text page by page
gave lots of homework every night
didn't give feedback on student work
didn't show how the topic was relevant
told students they must work all problems their way
made students correct all mistakes
used lots of worksheets
skipped the applications and hands-on activities
treated math as a set of facts and operations to memorize
withheld instruction (I'm only going to explain this once.)
isolated learners (There will be no talking.)
used extra math work as punishment
One teacher recalled her third-grade teacher who administered a multiplication test each day before recess. All students scoring less than 100% on the one-minute test were required to stay in from recess and write the facts over and over until the class returned. There were quite a few students who didn't have recess for weeks. This teacher never taught multiplication as a concept or explained how multiplication is related to addition. She didn't even show students strategies and relationships such as the commutative property (2×3=6 and 3×2=6). Students were expected to memorize 100 facts on their own.
