Pupils performance lies on the expertise of a teacher. applies to classroom setting, expertise connotes the effectiveness of the teacher to attain the objectives of the lesson, the willingness of the teacher to provide varied learning  activities to the pupils for , cooperative learning, and the initiative of the teacher to ask questions that develop critical thinking skills.

    Under the K-12 Curriculum, the classroom teacher plays a vital role in Mathematics teaching. The teacher has to foster creative and critical thinking among his/her pupils. O do this, he has to:

1. 1.Use the structured cooperative learning. It is the best way to achieve the development of critical and creative thinking and the present goals of education.
2. 2.Free the classroom from restraints based on time, material and task. Provide/ give several options for the pupils to make their projects or solve math problems in different ways.
3. 3.Encourage and reward ideas—show positive attention to pupils who think critically. Accept the ideas that are outside the norm.
4. 4.Withhold criticism while pupils are working on a project or assigned task. Encourage the students to evaluate their ideas and solutions by posing questions to help them to focus on an area of difficulty.
5. 5.Choose activities that are appropriate and interesting. Select according to the age and grade

level of the pupils. Choose materials that can be found in the community and relevant to the topics to be discussed.

1. 6.Encourage questions and new idea. Ask open ended or divergent questions.
2. 7.Accept ideas that look at problems in different
3. 8.a poster or bulletin board displays at will enhance learning.
4. 9.Brainstorm both the class and in small groups. Guide to think together, elaborating ideas, correcting misconceptions, introducing new ideas and a like.
5. 10.Emphasize with the perspective of others. Take all feeling into account. Do not discount different perspectives as ill informed or irrelevant. Help students who disagree to find common ground.
6. 11.Use problems with multiple solutions or that require investigation and discovery. Prepare activities that will lead to a concept. Give the problems that lead to answers a pattern and which they can generalize.

According to Parker, teacher must possess the following characteristics in Mathematics in order to cause critical/creative thinking effectively to his/her pupils:

1. 1.Analyze their own thinking processes and classroom practices and provide reasons for what they do.
2. 2.Are open minded and encourage pupils to follow their own thinking and not simply repeat what the teacher has said.
3. 3.Change their position when the evidence warrants it, being willing to admit mistakes.
4. 4.Consistently provide opportunities for the pupils to select activities and assignments from a range of appropriate choices.
5. 5.Exhibit interest, curiosity and commitment to learning.
6. 6.Undertake the organization required to achieve learning goals.
7. 7.Seek imaginative, appropriate and ethical solutions to problems.
8. 8.Show sensitivity to the physical elements which contribute to a stimulating learning environment through the physical arrangements and displays they provide to facilitate.
9. 9.Allow for student participation in rule setting and decision making relative to all aspect of learning, including assessment and evaluation.

If every teacher can do his/her task  molding their pupils to become critical and creative thinkers we can be assured that the teaching-learning process will be  more effective and pupils performance both nationally and internationally will be improved in the mathematics test.