Finding your Math Power : Concepts in Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers

Finding your Math Power: Concepts in Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers helps pre-service teachers become more effective problem-solvers so they can better teach their students. This manual features practical suggestions and tools that transcend rote procedures and emphasize methods that work best for students. 

After a brief history of math education and an examination of current standards, the book discusses different areas of instruction and how to teach them effectively. Target skills include sets and Venn diagrams, whole numbers, fractions and decimals, percent, integers, and real numbers. Readers learn various ways to approach and work through the problems to meet the varied needs of their students. 

The second edition features a new chapter on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division utilizing the Base 5 numeration system, fresh review problems throughout, and new problem-solving content in Chapter 7: Problem Solving Revisited. 

Finding your Math Power helps readers increase their abilities and embrace their math power. The book is appropriate for elementary and middle school education programs for pre-service teachers. It is also an excellent reference for teaching professionals seeking to improve their skills as math educators.

Karla Karstens is a senior lecturer and Kroepsch-Maurice Award winner at the University of Vermont. Karla taught high school mathematics in Elk River, Minnesota, after graduating from the College of St. Benedict. She then continued her studies and earned a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Vermont. Upon graduation, she was hired by the University of Vermont to teach math to prospective elementary and middle school teachers. For nearly 30 years, Karla has instructed future educators in the math they need to know in order to be successful in their classrooms.