The typical response when I tell someone my major is usually along the lines of, oh my goodness, why would you ever want to do math for the rest of your life? I am currently working towards achieving a major in mathematics for secondary education but it's not because I am some math wiz. There was never a time that I just sat back in math class and aced my exams or quiz. I did well in math classes but it wasn't because I was super smart, it was because I worked hard to understand the concepts and studied a lot to do well in the classes. In my opinion, one of the biggest misconceptions in math classes is that you either you either have a math brain or you don't. That's the farthest from the truth, I wouldn't say I have math brain at all, I just know how to work hard to understand difficult topics; something anybody can learn. If you believe that you have the ability to understand a topic, you will understand it to a much further extent than someone who believes it's much too hard. In the book, Mathematic Mindsets, it talks about being gifted vs having a growth mindset. Everybody is born with the ability to learn math and the stereotype that only "gifted" people can learn math ruins the mindset for everyone else. On the flip side, people might grasp topics faster than others, but essentially we all have the ability to learn and understand math; no one is superior in learning. If people approached math with the right mindset, I think it would change people's experiences with it. Just believing that your brain has the ability to grow apposed to some people having gifts could be a big step in the right directions. I will play the devil's advocate because I know it's not all butterflies and rainbows if you work hard at something. There are a lot of people who just don't enjoy math and it's difficult to work hard at something you don't enjoy which essentially leads to people doing poorly in the class. In general, math can be very difficult and take a lot of practice which takes patience and hard work. I know that's not fun for everyone and especially when it takes longer amounts of time to grasp concepts; it's easy to get frustrated and give up. Here's the great thing about math, it can be applied to many real life situations, it's just not always portrayed that way. If math was taught in ways that were interesting to the class, it might be a little easier for them to work hard. Instead of just throwing numbers and practice problems on a white board, we could show the importance of what we're learning by applying it to the real world. Here's a quick video to give you an example of what I'm talking about... Instead of writing different equations on the board and showing different examples of parables you could show this video. This would be a perfect practice problem but gives students interest in what they're doing and keeps them focused on learning. Another really awesome resource is desmos. Desmos is a great tool that allows students to do hands on learning and gives application to what is being learned. Here's an example of a desmos activity with linear equations: This is the set up to the problem and get's the students interested in what problem they are going to try to figure out. I think it would be a good idea to bring the class in some Oreo's to snack on while they do this problem, it will allow math to become something real and tangible. You can flip through the slideshow below to see the rest of the problem. As they flip through the questions they can make predictions and it allows them to make and correct mistakes. At the end of the activity you can bring it together as a class to reflect on the things learned and discovered. This breaks up the amount of lecture time and keeps the class interested in what is being learned. It gives students the opportunity to learn on their own and then you can still bring it back and have a discussion. Just like the youtube video shown above, it gives students practice and they're not just listening to you talk about different types of graphs and functions.
To bring everything together, you see that with the right mindset and interest in what you're learning you can learn anything! As an educator, being creative in teaching as well as allowing students to have open minds can help set students up for success.
4 Comments
9/25/2016 02:07:57 pm
Your devil's advocacy shares some points with a recent Carol Dweck article! http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset.html
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Corey Smykowski
9/27/2016 06:11:21 pm
I agree!! We should have the oreo lesson in class so we can get a little snack!
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Kelsey Monahan
9/28/2016 05:39:53 am
I really liked how you started this blog by giving your personal story. I think it will allow people to see that they too can be good at math if they have the right mindset. Definitely being creative in the classroom and discussions about mistakes and students' learning experience will allow their minds to grow. I also loved the Oreo activity. I really liked how you talked about what it would look like in your classroom if you were to do this activity. Great blog!
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Shirley Walcott
10/2/2016 11:56:45 am
I enjoyed your personal story. It showed the importance of a growth mindset and that hard work is the most important part of learning anything.
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AuthorLauren C. Grimes Archives
November 2017
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