In order to be an effective math teacher there are four areas that need to be taught in all areas of the math curriculum: computation, procedural skills, conceptual understanding, and problem solving (Geary, Siegler & Stern; Sophian). All four are necessary and are interrelated. Teaching how to add a fraction (computation) without understanding what is happening and why will lead to short term learning. Whereas, if they understand exactly what is happening (conceptual understanding) behind the straight addition the learning curve goes up, and they retain the knowledge over a much longer period. Likewise, what good is learning to add a fraction if you do not know when or how to use it (problem solving). That’s the whole reason we learn math is to be able to solve our own problems throughout our lives, isn’t it. We teach procedural skills whenever there is more than one step to solving a problem. What do we do first, second, and so forth. Like the clown who is juggling, effective teachers are able to juggle and keep going all four of these areas in the mathematical curriculum. What should this mean for you as the math teacher? As you plan each math lesson make sure you are covering each of these areas and that will put you right at the top as an effective math teacher.