Featured Teacher: BetterLesson Interviews Jason Armstrong on Teaching

Jason Armstrong teaches 6th grade math at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Boston, MA.  Read our interview with him below and sign up or login to check out his amazingly detailed and rigorous curriculum materials.

1. Three words that describe your teaching persona:
Serious, nerdy, rigorous

2. Why teach?
Simply put, America needs each generation to be well-educated. 

More selfishly: a phrase I learned while taking Latin in high school was "Disco docendo," which means "I learn by teaching."  I think it's quite true: I understand math better as a result of figuring out how to get others to understand it.

3. What do you do to optimize student engagement in class?
One school-wide gesture we have at Roxbury Prep is silent applause, which involves raising both hands and shaking them to show excitement or appreciation without interrupting somebody with noise.  This has morphed these last two years into students wiggling hands or fingers in someone's direction if they agree with that person or if they want to show support while they think of an answer.  It's a great way to engage the class while using wait time.

4. Coffee, tea, or caffeine-free?
Caffeine-free

5. Describe your classroom management style in a few sentences.
I use primarily direct instruction and individual practice work in my classroom.  I try to be as explicit as possible about my class rules, and I think my class runs best when students know what is expected of them at each time.  My goal is to become better at making room in class for student discussion, where I talk less than they do, but it's something that I need to work on.

6. Is teaching a science or art?
Teaching has elements of both.  I put on a performance in my classroom every day, and that certainly makes teaching artistic.  At the same time, there are many things I've come to "know" about teaching (the root of "science" means "know"), things which can be practiced and analyzed.  Either way you see it, there is always room for improvement.