Here is the link again
www2.macleans.ca/201203/13/have-you-finished-your-homework-mom
So I read this over the Spring Break and had a curious variety of reactions that have left me reflecting on all things math and learning and teaching from my various roles as a mother, a teacher and as a student of math myself!
I went to school in Scotland in the late 60's early 70's. Yes, I am in my 50's now and have been involved in education as a teacher for 30 of those years. I can hardly believe that myself.
I do not think my experience as a math student is much different from many girls of that era. Math and Science were male dominated academic areas and I don't ever remember being encouraged by anyone to think of myself as math smart or competent. There was one female math teacher at my high school in a department of 12 and she was so strict she scared the Scottish accent right out of out of me and many of my fellow classmates.
At elementary school (called primary school in Scotland) 'math' was called 'arithmetic'. I was the grade three student who had a difficult time trying to understand the abstraction of subtraction using the 'borrow 10 and replace method'. I really could not grasp where or how I was able to 'borrow' from. I didn't understand and was afraid to tell anyone (not that they didn't notice!). In grade four I found learning division demanded all the skills adding, multiplying and subtracting and it took me forever. Math for me meant anxiety. I was embarrassed that I wasn't as fast as the other kids and I developed a fear of failure which meant I worked hard but still struggled. I worked even harder at trying to cover it all up and pretend my arithmetic was fine thank you very much. The worst was when my parents tried to help me. I was a 'bag'. It was usually a big drama.
Fast forward to high school (secondary level).
Quick facts that you might not know- in Scotland high school students in the 70's were 'streamed' which meant we were assigned classes according to the results on an I.Q. test written in the last year of elementary school. Somehow I manged to be streamed into the top 20% (the future university/college stream). My grade 8 classes were named 1G2 (which stood for first year (1) high school girls (G) 2nd set of top results on the IQ (2). Can you imagine what the classes that were streamed 1G6 were like? Pretty brutal and you'd better believe that the caliber of teachers changed too! We had classes separate from the boys until grade 10.
For my first two years of high school, I managed to work hard and do well in math due in large part to the fact that one of my close girl friends had an older brother who was a high school math teacher (in another school). That was my saving grace. However, my secret success backfired on me because by the time of the national O'level exams, I was assigned into the top percentile math class with all the geniuses and a teacher who had no patience for girls and especially girl's with no abstract reasoning. What can I say I was a practical thinker. I floundered that year while writing lines such as "I must not call my teacher a vegetable" (yeah, don't ask)
I did a brief stint with a math tutor that my dad found for me but I was a real 'bag' to him too and he told me I was stubborn and difficult to tutor. At the time I didn't care anymore.
I failed the exam- a D. It was a shock. My worst academic result. I registered to write the exam again and the second time I managed to pass with a C. Still my worst academic result. I probably should have written it again but I was running out of years!! I reasoned that as I had already been accepted to university on the strength of my other results and was not (no way) pursuing math that it didn't really matter. But it did. I just didn't understand at the time how much it mattered.
So where is this going? As a student I would have very much liked to have had the opportunity to learn a number of different methods, strategies or 'tricks' to help me deal with my inability to grasp abstract ideas. Perhaps with a bit more personal control over the way my mind/brain operated, I might have been a more confident learner of all things math. I didn't know then that there were many more ways to 'attack' math problems and find solutions. The empowerment that comes in being able to recognize that if one method isn't working then I'll try another is priceless. Recognizing how numbers work and that you can work them and manipulate them builds both confidence and competence personally and in all learning. Add a bit of perseverance in keeping going until you find the elusive solution and you have all the skills you need to be a successful learner in any academic area.
As a teacher who has been teaching grade 7 math for about 10 years now, I have come to love and respect math (I just fixed the typo 'meth' now wouldn't that make a good story?). I believe I have become more proficient and passionate math teacher because of my personal experience and because I have had control over my professional development choices. I just need to observe a student's body language or see that far away look in their eyes to know what is going on in the brain. I can detect math phobia five desks away. My experience and full understanding now has helped me understand what my students might need. It is part of my professional duty to learn how to use resources and strategies including traditional algorithms to reach them where they might be open to learn. That is easy to say but so much harder to realize!
Ooops I have just realized that I am getting into my 'teacher' interpretation of the article. I think you have been reading long enough. I'll keep the teacher reflection for another day.
Hey, thanks for reading. Please feel free to let me know if you understand what I am trying to share with you here. I'd be delighted to find out what you thought about the article or what your experiences are with your child and math learning.
Over and out
Actually, no
Quick what's 54 x 93?
Consider the following and keep in mind there are many more ways to manipulate the numbers and get an accurate answer
1. 54 x 93 = (50x90)+ (50x3)+(90x4)+(3x4)
= 4500+150+360+12= 5022
OR
2. 54x93= 3x4 =12
5x3 = 15
9x4 = 36
5x9= 45
5022
OR
3. traditional algorithm 54x
93
162
4860
5022
Initially we all feel more comfortable with what we know we can control and what we know that we know but once we learn other ways to think about numbers, a whole new world opens up and it becomes very exciting and this from a former math phobic little girl!!
Goodnight.
I'm done.
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