There is No Such Thing as a Math Person

I have been teaching math for as long as I can remember. When I student taught my mentor teacher, Mrs. Jenkins from the CP Smith School in Burlington, handed me her MathLand teacher guide on day 2 and said I was ready. Nerves filled me to my inner core. I never took a how to teach elementary math class at UVM because I placed out of it since I took Calculus my freshman year. Mrs. Jenkins believed in me, so I believed in myself. I worked hard to find ways to reach all students, whether it was drawing race cars with headlights to teach multiplication, acting out a Valentine’s Day Problem, or creating a math geometry book.

When I graduated I felt confident enough to share my love of math with students. I have seen students disheartened because they were not math people.  They were slower than their peers and problems were frustrating.  I have heard parents tell me they did like math or did not get it growing up either so they are no help to their child. I am here to tell you there is no such thing as a math person.

Over the summer I read Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler, and that book opened my mind to a new way of teaching math. We have started our math program by diving into the world of understanding our brains, how they grow, and the power of having a mathematical mindset instead of jumping into Envisions.

I started our lesson today asking students to think about math class and write down what comes to mind. Using a padlet wall I was able to capture their thinking of those students who wanted to share their ideas. Students love math, found it boring, and were frustrated by the way it has been presented to them.

I shared a true story about my seventh grade math experience. I was placed in math 2 (remember tracking?) and on the first day of school was given a pre test. I BOMBED it. I could not understand who gives a math test the first day of school. That one test scarred my math career in Sharon for life. My teacher decided to move me to math 4 because without talking to me she assumed I did not belong in math 2. I was always a year in math class behind my classmates. When I got to high school I wanted to take honors classes and had to advocate taking them since they were not with my peers. Needless to say I was granted my wish and as a junior took honors algebra 2 with freshman. This was humbling but something I carry with me every year. I truly understood the power of a mathematical mindset then, but did not know at the time.

We watched a video to better understand our minds when it comes to math and ways to think about approaching math.

Students discussed things they learned about the brain. They did not know mistakes cause their brain to grow. They discovered we have synapses and every time you learn something you get a new one. We even heard about a person whose brain grew back! Their minds were opened to a whole new way of thinking. I then asked them to think about the comment below.

Who said you have to be a GENIUS to learn math? Let me break the news to you. YOU DO NOT need to be a genius to learn math. TRUST ME! Now that is a genius idea.

We read a story about a Chinese migrant worker who, with no professional math training, solved a complex math problem that amazed mathematicians around the world! (We did discuss how CNN was a great source to use as it is important to always check the source.) Tomorrow we will be creating math memes about how students want to feel about math this year and how they can accomplish this. Students are going to work on building their mindset around math over the course of the next few days. I look forward to growing and learning with your math student.