Category: Problem Solving

Building positive teacher-student relationships are an essential part of education. When students feel connected with their teachers, they are more likely to become successful in the math classroom and on the basketball court. 

To build positive relationships with my students I do a number of things: 

• I attend students’ sporting events. They like seeing their teachers in the stands cheering them on. Students like to talk about the game the next day and you can comment on good things such as, “I saw that 3 pointer you made at the buzzer!” 
• I notice when students get a haircut, or get new glasses, or something else changes. This shows the student that I recognize them. Each student stands out in their own way; they don’t blend into the crowd. 
• I allow students to come to my classroom before school starts to visit. I get to hear what they did over the weekend or what they did last night. Sometimes students need someone to listen to them and that’s why my door is always open every morning. 
• I congratulate students when they receive an award. 
• This past September I ran in a 5k race with some of my students (and community members) because they like to see their teachers participate in things they enjoy. (pictured below)

One may ask, “How can you incorporate building positive teacher-student relationships into math curriculum and coaching?” Keep reading and I’ll tell you how. 

I teach in a rural community so I have several students who like to hunt and fish and I too enjoy both of these. It is currently deer season so to build relationships with these students I check up on these students asking if they saw anything or got a deer. Even if they didn’t get a deer they always have stories to tell me. To connect deer hunting to math curriculum we discuss how to score a buck’s antlers. I told a student if he gets a deer to bring in the antlers and we can score it. In order to do this, I would have to teach students how to read a measuring tape accurately. Students would also have to know or learn how to add and subtract decimals or fractions. When scoring a deer’s antlers, I would have the students work in groups of three to promote teamwork. Each student in the group would have a specific job, such as “the measurer”, “the recorder”, and “the calculator”. To help them in the scoring process, I would refer them to the website:  https://shootingtime.com/hunting/how-to-score-a-buck/ . By doing this activity, students would be incorporating computational math skills, problem solving, and teamwork all while building a relationship with their teacher. 

But not all of my students are hunters so I would transition my lesson to what they enjoy, such using Snapchat. I have Snapchat but it is very private and I only have close friends, NO STUDENTS! To build a relationship with my students, we discuss the benefits (and harms) of Snapchat. Students like to talk about all the cool things you can do with it and they end up teaching me new things. Students like when teachers are able to relate to what they like. I coach junior high girls’ basketball and they said they use Snapchat to remind each other of important basketball information; it is their main form of communication. To relate Snapchat to the math world, we discuss how Snapchat can be useful in solving math problems. There is now a new feature that allows you to scan a math problem and it not only gives you the answer but it provides you with the steps to solve it (shown below). If used properly this can be a helpful resource if students get stuck on their homework. The more connections you can make with your students, the better relationships you will make. 

Building relationships with students does not mean you have to be their friend. In fact you can’t be their friend on any form of social media; otherwise your digital reputation could be destroyed. Nor should you become friends with student’s parents because this can bring fuel to the fire if something would occur. If you want to connect to your students through social media it should be through a school site that only posts information about school related activities, such as school Twitter or Facebook accounts. Even when using these you need to act professionally when making connections to your students. Building relationships means getting to know your students but not only through the social media world. To protect your reputation, be aware of what you post on social media (even on the school site). Make sure that you have a student’s consent before you post student’s pictures on social media, there are many eyes looking at these posts so you want to protect the reputation of everyone involved. 

“When will I ever use this” is a phrase I hear on a daily basis from my students. Students think that they will never use the concepts that I’m teaching them. Look at sports- basketball for example. During the game of basketball there are many thoughts going through the player’s head. These thoughts require problem solving skills. Stats are being kept from the sidelines, which will then require calculations in order to find percentages. In my class I’m not only teaching problem solving and computation skills; I incorporate teamwork into my lessons as well. In the game of basketball winning can’t be done alone, it takes teamwork. Students think they don’t need the skills I’m teaching but yet they want to be good at sports, so let’s look at the application of mathematics in basketball. 

Math is used in basketball in a number of ways, from problem solving to geometry awareness. Even computations skills must be used in the game of basketball. For example, mathematical skills must be used when calculating the percentages, or the average of team or individual stats. Each year I make a list of goals for our team (pictured below). One goal is to shoot 85% from the free throw line. One must understand the concept of percentages and how to calculate percentages. My junior high team said, “We only missed 2 free throws tonight so we surely got that 85% goal, right?” I told them we only shot 6 free throws. Students need to understand that if we don’t shoot very many free throws then it only takes one or two misses to drop our percentage. 

In my classroom I use our team free throw stats to teach percentages. I also teach percent change by comparing last year’s win/loss record to the current year. When teaching these concepts in class I have students work with a partner or a small group when investigating these because it teaches teamwork, which is an important skill in basketball as well as in life. 

Geometry is one of the most important mathematical skills in basketball. Students need to become familiar with angles and degree measurements. This then leads to the next topic, the importance of the arc on a free throw or any shot on the court. In basketball the magic number is 45 degrees. A shot with an arc of 45 degrees will result in the most success. After students have a good understanding of angles then the more success they will find in the game of basketball. 

When teaching my players to run our press break, I tell them they must v-cut to half court at a 45 degree angle. Without a 45 degree cut to the middle, the press breaker won’t work for a couple of reasons. Making a 45 degree angle is the quickest way to get there and it keeps the floor spaced. Students need to know what a 45 degree angle looks like. Also, when making long passes one must determine the speed and distance to throw the ball. This all requires mathematical calculations and problem solving. I know the player does not physically calculate this, but it is a learned skill that is built upon problem solving in the math classroom. As a coach I find myself asking, why is #12 always getting open under the basket? As a team they must problem solve and figure out why this is happening. They must work together to stop that player. Basketball is composed of teamwork and problem solving; both of these components are needed to become successful.

Personally, I like to relate my math problems to game stats. Students are more likely to understand mathematical concepts if they can make a personal connection to it. As an educator, if you connect real-life situations to math concepts students will be able to answer the question “When will I ever use this?”  The following link provides additional examples of the application of math in sports https://www.slideshare.net/viru0913/application-of-mathematics-in-sports. Nearly every sport has mathematical concepts built into it and it helps students realize the importance of the mathematical skills they are learning. 

To read more about the connection between mathematics and sports check back next week because I will be writing about making math relatable to students to increase student engagement. Student engagement is essential and I strongly believe that the more connections you make with a student the more successful they will become in your class. Making connections with your students will build strong student-teacher relationships, which is a key component in a successful education.