Math is perhaps the most feared subject in school. It’s a subject that we all encounter early on, and those experiences often dictate whether we like or hate the subject. You might have a student (or you might be a student) that can relate to the dread of approaching math.
Over the last 20 years I’ve had the privilege of working with students and families in Math, English, and Social Sciences. Certain patterns consistently emerge which you might find very relatable! For that reason, I’m starting a series where I will let you in on the inner workings of my classroom. I think parents and students alike can always use more tools to get through school. Now that we’re isolated under a pandemic, I think the need for help is greater than it has ever been. With that, here is the first approach I use with my students whenever I teach a math (or any quantitative course).
#1: Paying attention to my student’s emotional state
I first check for fear, stress, apathy, or any other blocks. A quick lesson on the brain explains why I do this.
These fear reactions take place in the amygdala, a part of the brain linked to fight-or-flight and emotional memory. When this part of the brain is triggered, it interferes with any activity in the prefrontal cortex. When I teach math, I am engaging your student’s prefrontal cortex because that part of the brain engages with language, decision making, complex cognition, and more.
Don’t you think it’s reasonable, then, to make sure that this part of the brain is turned on while I am teaching your student?
And yet, so many of us don’t address this at all!
Ineffective teachers beeline towards the answers, bulldozing over students who are struggling. The students who don’t have a negative reaction to math might do okay. The result is more of the same. The students who do well will continue to do well. The scared students try hard and wonder why they can’t make it through.
Ineffective parents do the same thing. They just want their kids to get to the answers. But it doesn’t happen. Everyone gets stressed. Parents try to bottle it in, but fail to realize that their students can sense their inner frustrations anyway. The stress begets more stress. Arguments begin. (If this is you, don’t worry, you’re being human doing the best you can. We’ve helped thousands of families in the same spot, and we intend to keep doing it for a long time!)
So how do any of us diffuse the negativity?
#2: We let our students make a ton of small, inconsequential mistakes.
Math is often about getting the right answer. That works in elementary school when you have problems involving simple arithmetic. At the high school level and beyond, math is really a process which arrives at the correct answer. In other words, students often need several right answers before getting the right answer, so to speak.
In any complex process, we have to actually help our students fail into their success, but for now, I’ll save that for a future post.
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