I can remember the exact moment my attitude about math
changed. It was 7th grade and my teacher, Mrs. Brown, gave a test on
the first day of school. My mind was still in summer camp mode, dreaming of
Lake Potanipo and my bunk of friends. It certainly was not on the paper
sprawled in front of me. Not taking the test too seriously, I answered about
half of it in the time allotted. Mrs. Brown saw what I did, and she made an
assumption. She figured that I was not a good math student. I did not answer
everything or do well on what I did. She never asked me to retake the test or
any questions about my math thinking. She never knew I earned a medal in the 3rd
grade Continental Math League for being one of the top students in the state
for math skills. She made a decision to move me from math 2 to now what I know
as an educator to be remedial math. That one decision affected my whole math career
as a student. I was always behind my classmates, bored out of my mind. When I got
to high school I had to advocate taking honors classes with other grades when
none were available to me. I taught myself out of the book to learn more than
what I needed to know. I always regretted the math decision my teacher made,
and in the years in between becoming an educator and that fateful day in
seventh grade I lost my passion for all things numbers.
Flash forward to the year 2016 where I love math and
figuring things out with my students. I enjoy presenting them with math challenges
and watching them learn to understand the process behind the concepts. I love
how I can assess students against standards and not a grade made up of
homework, quizzes, and test scores. I never wanted them to experience what I
did. I wanted my students to gain an appreciation of mathematics concepts,
marvel at the wonder of how math is everywhere, and apply concepts to new ideas
like coding. As I watch my own students
grow up and go through their math world I begin to see their excitement for
math turn into frustration over their grades. I understand the need for test
grades given at the middle and high school level, but I feel what is really
being assessed on most of these tests is an increased anxiety level, lack of
following directions, and careless errors made because the student has 45
minutes to take a 20-40 question test with multiple steps and parts. I see
students’ confidence shattered over things out of their control. Students who
get 68% on tests and Ds and Cs on their report card begin to feel that they do
not understand things, that they are struggling, or they will never learn the
material. Learning theory 101 talks about mental readiness, but that door is
being slammed shut. I believe any
educator can tell what their students know and understand in 5-10 problems, by
an exit card, or just talking to them. We do assess students a lot, and I am
beginning to wonder what for. What is this data used for? What do we do with it
that effectively changes our teaching? Who does this really benefit?
I challenge educators
to think about assessments and what is best for students. Try a collaborative
project, inquiry based learning, or ask students to create something that
applies their thinking on the topic. You might be surprised at what you get. I
wish my seventh grade math teacher asked me that. I probably would have been
moved to the advanced class instead! My math attitude would have improved, and
I would have seen myself as a girl who can understand math and develop a love
for numbers and how they work. I am glad I got my math mojo back!
