I need to get something off my chest. For the first eight years of my teaching career, I absolutely dreaded fraction units.

Every January, when I'd flip to that dreaded chapter in our math textbook, my stomach would drop. I'd look at those innocent little numbers stacked on top of each other and think, "Here we go again. Six weeks of confusion, tears, and me pretending I know what I'm talking about."

The worst part? I could see it in my students' faces too. The moment I'd write "1/2" on the board, half the class would shut down. And honestly, I didn't blame them.

Why Fractions Feel Like Teaching Martian

Let me paint you a picture of my early fraction disasters. Picture this: me, standing in front of 28 fourth graders, trying to explain why 1/4 is smaller than 1/2 when clearly 4 is bigger than 2.

I'd wave my hands around, draw circles on the board, and use all the "teacher voice" enthusiasm I could muster. But inside? I was dying. Because deep down, I didn't really get why fractions were so hard for kids.

Then little Marcus (not my son, a student from about ten years ago) raised his hand and asked, "Mrs. Santos, if pizza is cut into more pieces, don't you get more pizza?"

Ay, dios mío. The kid had a point, and I had no idea how to explain why he was wrong without confusing him more.

The Lightbulb Moment That Changed Everything

My fraction breakthrough didn't happen in some fancy professional development workshop. It happened in my own kitchen on a Sunday afternoon.

I was making flan for my family (because yes, even teachers need comfort food), and my daughter Daniela asked if she could have half. Then my son Marcus wanted "just a little piece," so I cut his half in half again.

As I'm cutting, Daniela pipes up: "Hey, that's not fair! Marcus gets two pieces and I only get one!"

And suddenly, it clicked. She was seeing the number of pieces, not the size. Just like my students do.

That's when I realized we've been teaching fractions backwards. We start with the abstract concept instead of the concrete experience.

Starting With What Kids Already Know

The next Monday, I threw out my fraction lesson plans. Instead, I brought in a bag of Oreos.

"Who wants a cookie?" I asked. Every hand shot up.

I gave Sofia one whole cookie. Then I carefully twisted apart another cookie and gave each half to two other students.

"Who got more cookie?" I asked.

The room erupted. "Sofia! She got the whole thing!"

"But wait," I said, holding up the two halves. "If we put these back together, would it be the same size as Sofia's cookie?"

You could see the wheels turning. This was concrete. This was real. This was something they could see and touch and taste.

The Three Game-Changers That Saved My Fraction Units

1. Always Start With Wholes

Before we ever write a fraction, we spend days just dividing things. Pizza slices, candy bars, pieces of paper, you name it.

We don't call them fractions yet. We just cut and share and compare. Kids need to see that when you divide something into more pieces, each piece gets smaller.

I keep a stack of paper circles in my desk just for this. Every time a kid gets confused, out come the circles. "Show me with the circles," I'll say. Works every time.

2. Use the "Pizza Party" Rule

Here's something that revolutionized my fraction teaching: I tell kids to imagine they're at a pizza party.

"If the pizza is cut into 8 slices and you eat 3, you ate 3/8 of the pizza. The bottom number tells you how many slices the whole pizza was cut into. The top number tells you how many slices YOU ate."

Suddenly, denominators make sense. They're not just random numbers. They're telling you about the size of the pieces.

3. Make Equivalent Fractions Visual

Remember that lightbulb moment with my kids and the flan? I recreated it in my classroom.

I use fraction strips (just strips of paper folded into different sections). Kids can literally see that 1/2 is the same as 2/4 because the strips line up perfectly.

No more memorizing rules they don't understand. They can see it, so they believe it.

The Mistake I Made for Years (Don't Be Like Me)

For way too long, I thought I had to make fractions "fun" by turning everything into a game. Pinterest was my enemy, honestly. I'd spend hours creating elaborate fraction activities that looked amazing but taught nothing.

Here's what I learned: you don't need fancy activities. You need clear thinking.

Kids don't need fractions to be entertaining. They need fractions to make sense.

Now my fraction lessons are simple. We use real objects, we talk through our thinking, and we connect everything back to what they already know about sharing and dividing.

When It Finally Clicked for Me

The moment I knew I'd turned the corner was when Jasmine, one of my most math-anxious students, raised her hand during a lesson on comparing fractions.

"Mrs. Santos," she said, "1/8 has to be smaller than 1/4 because if you cut something into 8 pieces, the pieces are tiny. But if you only cut it into 4 pieces, each piece is bigger."

I almost cried right there. She didn't just get the right answer. She understood the why behind it.

That's when I realized fractions aren't the enemy. Rushing through concepts without building understanding is the enemy.

Your Fraction Teaching Survival Kit

If you're where I was ten years ago, dreading your next fraction unit, here's what I want you to try:

Start with food. Seriously. Bring in something kids can actually divide and share. Let them argue about who got more. Let them figure out how to make it fair.

Use your hands. Have kids hold up fingers to show fractions. "Show me 3/5 with your fingers." It's simple, but it works.

Draw everything. Every single fraction should have a picture next to it, especially in the beginning. No naked numbers allowed.

Talk it out. Ask kids to explain their thinking in complete sentences. "I know 1/3 is bigger than 1/5 because..."

It Gets Better, I Promise

Teaching fractions still isn't my favorite unit (that honor goes to multiplication, but that's another post), but I no longer dread it.

My students don't shut down when they see fractions anymore. They grab their fraction strips, they draw pictures, they talk through problems with confidence.

And you know what? When they head off to fifth grade, their teachers always comment on how solid their fraction foundation is. That makes all those years of figuring it out worth it.

So if you're struggling with fractions, give yourself some grace. It's one of the hardest concepts we teach. But with the right approach, you can help your kids not just survive fractions, but actually understand them.

Trust me, if this Cuban teacher who used to panic at the sight of 1/4 can figure it out, so can you.