How I Wish I Had Taught Maths: Reflections on research, conversations with experts, and 12 years of mistakes

Great book, lots of practical strategies for improving math instruction. I am looking forward to implementing many of these techniques.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend in mathematics education, away from direct instruction, toward allowing students to "discover" the math through exploring relationships or solving problems by themselves or in small groups - often with disastrous results for many students. In _How I Wish I'd Taught Maths_, British educator Barton examines a wide range of neuroscience research, looking at how students actually learn math and why the discovery approach is not effective when students are learning something new. He then explains how to apply these research findings in the classroom. His approach offers the potential to reorient mathematics education in the best possible way, with great benefits for many students. I've been a secondary math teacher for many years, and I believe this book is one of the most valuable and important contributions that has been made to mathematics education in recent decades.

I would recommend this book if you want to think about how you might be teaching correctly or incorrectly. It is not a light read, but Barton does a fantastic job of making it much more easily digestible than it otherwise could have been.

So much good examples of how to apply evidence based teaching techniques in the classroom. If your a math teacher get this book.

Very insightful and gave me a lot to think about as I move forward teaching kids math.

Extremely important and valuable experience for math teachers, but with interest for other teachers as well as people interested in education. It's much more than a simple debunking of romantic and outdated theories on education. it's a practical explanation about the importance of the curriculum, structured teaching and knowledge. Instead of talking about "XXI century competences" and similar empty buzzwords, it helps all of us to do good teaching!

This is a very deep dive into the meta-cognition of teaching mathematical problem solving. Every math teacher ought to read this book... and perhaps every high school math student as well.

This has really made me think about how I'm going to be teaching my lower division classes going forward. I look forward to making some changes at the start of next term!

Good read for teachers of maths. Lots of reassurance that things I’ve noted and things I’m doing match someone else’s ideas. Also interesting as a primary teacher to gain insight into aspects of secondary teaching. Some things I see slightly differently but other things that have really made me think. Like the way the book is set out, making it easy to read. And all the links to research and references so I can read further. I had to read it with a notebook beside me to jot down all the things I wanted to return to/look further into/think about. Def recommend to anyone involved in mathscteachung and learning.

Coming to the end of my ITT year and I can honestly say of the 30+ books on mathematics and pedagogy I've read, HIWITM alone would have been worth the £9k in uni fees. Cannot recommend this book enough for ITTs. Fast tracked me through a bunch of bad practices which felt instinctive to a novice teacher. (Plus it is packed with further reading for those sweet sweet citations!)

This book most definitely changed how I thought about teaching secondary school mathematics. Perhaps that's not surprising for a current trainee teacher (we're still learning, and apparently that never changes!) but I kinda expected the university to be doing that job and not a paperback reference book. I managed to read this entire 450-page book in about four or five seatings, because I found it to be written in such a light and accessible style, filled with humourous anecdotes and observations from Craig's years of teaching. I honestly did not expect to be this engaged and entertained by a book about evidence-based teaching.What I absolutely love about this book is how it covers a broad range of topics specifically related to maths teaching, each of which I felt with well-reasoned and well-researched arguments that persuaded me to try some of Craig's ideas in my practice. This book also succeeded in explaining to me why Cognitive Load Theory is important to consider when teaching, something my university told me was extremely important yet failed to convince me underneath all the science-y jargon, before then dropping the topic altogether after the first week of the course. So thank you Craig for sharing all your hard work for a measly £20 (or even less!) and pointing me towards the research, resources and ideas that I should be paying close attention to as I start my career.

Having taught and led maths for 9 years in secondary & 7 years in primary, I would highly recommend this book, without reservation, to all teachers across the full age range. The prolific talent behind Mr Barton Maths Podcast and Diagnostic talent, Craig Barton has interviewed key people in the field of education and mathematics, conducting over 100 hours of interviews, producing over 1000 powerpoint slides and reading well over 200 books and research papers.'How I wish I taught maths' is an insightful, extraordinary, user-friendly book. Each chapter has highly relevant sub-headings where Craig describes what he used to think, a list of his wide-ranging sources of inspiration including podcast interviews and research papers to allow further reading, his take-aways - the key golden nuggets that he gained from his research and what he does now.If you are reflective in your practice, keen to understand the very best education research has to offer or looking to inspire a department, this is the book for you.

I go on and on about this book to anyone who will listen. It is amazing and has changed the way I teach maths. I am a primary teacher, and although this is aimed at secondary, I found it useful. Prepare to question your beliefs and prepare for plenty of epiphanies and light-bulb moments.It's also very well-written and enjoyable to read.