Something that we have just recently learned in Math for Elementary Teachers is a technique for problem solving.
Polya's Four Steps to problem solving. (This can apply to more then just math)
Step One - Understanding the Problem
Ask yourself do you understand what is being asked?
If you do not know what a word means look it up, or ask your teacher to clarify further.
Step Two- Devise a Plan
In step two this is where you choose your strategy to solve the problem.
Step Three- Carry Out the Plan
This is the step in what you are doing.
Step Four- Looking Back
In this step of the process you review or evaluate your outcome. This part involves more then just finding the answer, and this may take more then one time.
I have found that this process is very important in some problems I have encountered in math. By making sure I understand what is being asked then I know that I am going to answer correctly (or I am at least on track). When devising a plan I found it important to break the problem down into smaller parts and working from there (carrying out the plan). By looking back on what I have done I can see what I have and have not done correctly and what little mistakes I have made.
Another important thing I learned from our teacher Amy Del Medico is, Never erase your work. For example if you have a very long math problem with many steps and you get to the end of it and you do not get the right answer, if you do not erase your work you can look back at your work and see if you made a simple mistake. If you erase your work and you made a simple mistake you may be doing a lot more work then you need.
I learned a lot from Ms. Del Medico that day too. I have never been good at math. The highest grade i ever got in a math class was probably a 79%. When i did my homework or class work, i always erased the problems that were wrong. I can't count the number of times that i made the same mistake. It is amusing that the smallest advice can have such an impact. Common sense would tell you not to erase your work because you don't want to keep making the same mistake. I guess i never really thought about that till it was mentioned.
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