I think one of the strongest strategies I have for teaching math is utilizing the students in the classrooms as tutors and teachers themselves.  I have several students who I know work well in groups and with their peers and I often make a point when assigning practice exercises to roam the room checking on their progress, knowing that if they have mastered particular material they will be certain that their peers around them learn the material as well.

Teachers know that children learn best when they have an opportunity to teach what they have learned to another student.  Thus, when I stretch to reach those students who will become my “tutors” I know that those particular students will be served doubly, first in learning the material, and then in the reinforcement of that material when they teach to their peers.

I also know that many of my students are easily frustrated by teachers and traditional learning.  They don’t learn well from a direct instruction approach, and instead learn much better in smaller, more relaxed settings, where they have a peer showing them how to complete a particular problem or master a particular skill.  Thus such an approach truly serves these students well too.  They first see me present direct instruction, but then have the opportunity for the material to be made clear as their peer tutors helps them work through the material.