The teaching of math is something that I am always trying to perfect in my classroom.  I tweak things from year to year to better suit the growing needs of my students so that I can more effectively help them access the standards.  Over the years, I have found that my biggest problem when teaching math is the lack of thinking that happens.  Students can memorize rules and facts, but applying those rules to any given math situation is so difficult for them.  To combat this, I have had to take a look at how I teach math and change it. Yesterday I told you about how I use Head Problems in my class to begin the process of getting students to think and talk about math.  Another thing I use, which I find VERY successful, are "Two Ways of Problem Solving".  The Two Ways Problem approach is something that I have used over the years and have found success with over many grade levels and many classroom makeups, so I thought I would share it with you here. Th......