Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review

Claudia Alvarez

April 14, 2019

National University

Professor Hart
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Abstract

The Five Principles of Extraordinary Math Teaching is a video done by Dan Finkel where he

shares his different ideology of how math should be taught. Finkel introduces his five principles

and explains why each of them is important to mathematical thinking. I will review the five

principles in this literature review.

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Math has been known to be a subject matter that either student love or hate. Students that

love math, are those students that automatically understand the concept. The students who seem

to hate math are those students who have difficulty in the subject. The problem is not whether

students love or hate math, the problem really is, how is math being taught. Math has been taught

as a subject where students have to do repetition and memorization. Students are expected to

grasp the idea and if they don’t, then they are not good at math. Math needs to be taught

differently in order for students to begin to appreciate it.

The first principle that Finkel introduces is, Start with a Question. Finkel explains that

mostly all math lessons start with an answer and then deduct to the ways to get the answer. We

see this in different levels of mathematics. He introduces the idea that if teachers begin with a

question, the students will have the ability to doubt, question, and refuse the question in order for

real thinking to happen. Students will be able to use their prior knowledge and creativity to

answer the question. Students need time to think of the question, this way the students can have

the opportunity to learn.

The second principle is; Students need time to struggle. Finkel states that, “thinking

happens only when we have time to struggle” (Finkel, 2016, 4:59). Students need to be given

time to struggle with questions. When students are given time to struggle they are given the

opportunity to use their curiosity, observe, and allow them to take risks. Students who struggle

become better at mathematical thinking.

The third principle is; You are not the answer key. Many times students want the teacher

to know all the answers. There are times when teachers don’t know the answers and this is a

good thing. This allows students to adventure through the learning process. Finkel mentions, “not
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know is not failure, it’s the first step to understanding” (Finkel, 2016, 7:36). When the teacher

stops being the answer key the students begin to question and collaborate to get to the answer.

The fourth principle is; Say yes to your students. By this Finkel is saying that it is good to

accept all of your student’s ideas, even the ones that you know are wrong. By accepting all of

your student’s ideas teachers are empowering their students. empowering students is a great way

to allow them to advance their mathematical thinking skills.

The fifth and last principle is; Play. Finkel mentions that, “Mathematics is not about

following rules it’s about playing and exploring and fighting and looking for clues and

sometimes breaking things” (Finkel, 2016, 12:54). Allowing students to play while doing math

we are allowing them to research on their own, which is a great way to teach math. By allowing

students to play with math teachers are opening the door to new ways of thinking and research.
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Reference

Finkel, D. [Tedx Talks]. (2016, February 17). Five Principles of Extraordinary Math Teaching

[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytVneQUA5-c