I hoped increased experiences with problem solving and Polya’s four simple
steps would help students become more confident in their abilities to reason and solve
problems, communicate processes and solutions, as well as make deeper connections
between percents, decimals and fractions. Developing the habits that made a person a
better problem solver occurred with more practice. The habits I was interested in
improving were similar to those observed in mathematicians and articulated by Math in
the Middle (reference the Math in the Middle Web site). Someone who possessed a
rich set of mathematical habits of mind did some, if not all, of these things: