Gloria Merrier Summary

Gloria Merrier, a Floridian Math teacher develops a new method to help her students pass the FCAT. She utilizes Math, Dance, Art and Music to encourage her students to learn and captivate the lessons. Additionally, she starts by teaching the lessons which her student might struggle in first instead of the easy lessons. Gloria’s method seems appropriate for all grade levels. It is something that most classroom teachers might use to motivate students.

Utilizing music to help students’ motivation in math is a great strategy. Too often students find math to be challenging and complicating. When students find something familiar in a complicated subject, it becomes not so challenging but rather interesting. Music entices the memory, therefore, it makes easier to remember. The subject suddenly becomes less complicated

Art is the illustration or presentation of human creative skill and imagination, usually in a visual form such as painting or sculpture. Its purpose is to produce works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Art also involve geometry. Geometry is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, surfaces, solids, and higher dimensional element. Many people fail to realize that Art is related to Math. It is impossible to be a great artist without mastering the basic skills of Math.

These methods can be used in the classroom with younger students. Younger students have a lower attention rate. Therefore, lessons need to be entertaining and interactive. As a result, most teachers from early learning often use music, dance and art to teach students. Students learn best with hands on method. The ABC is best learned through song and so does the 1,2,3. When students find something repetitive with rhythm and beats, something they can use a dance move to, they find it easier to captivate. Additionally, by drawing, they learn to master counting and the basic of