Fast Food Math (Week 10)

Have you seen the following picture floating around social media this week?

It seems to be going faster than hot cakes, shaking up the internet. (See what I did there?) Apparently the fast food aspect makes math much more edible!

You may want to try it and write down your answer before you read any further. Spoilers below!

 

 

 

(This space purposefully left blank)

 

 

 

When I first saw it, of course I was super happy to jump in, being a math guy and all. I did some quick calculations in my head and confidently verbalized my answer to the screen… 17!

Then I saw that someone had already posted 17 and been told they were wrong. Phew! Good thing I didn’t memorialize my mistake online yet! I looked a little more closely, saw that pesky multiplication sign on the last row (which I had just assumed was a plus sign before), and recalculated. The answer this time… 25! Sweet!

Except it wasn’t. I was wrong again. can you see my mistake? For the second time, I didn’t look closely enough. In the second row, we see that the fries are each worth 2, but in the last row there is only one box, meaning that it only equals 1.

Correct answer… 15. Really.

Yes, I did post that it took me three tries. Remember I told you a few weeks ago we all should be okay with making mistakes because they were a growth opportunity?

I used this picture at a training with teachers this past week. They made some of the same mistakes I did, and some different ones as well. To me, that was the point: to show that we all can learn to look at things differently, grow from mistakes, and learn a conceptual understanding. The experience was a great and exciting object lesson. It was fascinating to me to watch their thought process.

It was also interesting to read hundreds on comments by people online about the picture. Some had the right answer; most did not. Some tried to learn; others tried to minimize or blame. Here are some that caught my attention:

•  “And this is why I failed math”
• “Apparently I’m old and didn’t realize that no matter where in the equation multiplication is before addition so the answer is 15“
• “Now let’s just have a honest moment… who asked a kid for help????“
• “Well seri says it’s 25. So I suppose I need to learn math lol”
• “Looks like they are fineally preparing kids for a job at McDonalds after they receive a college education “
• “everyone is saying that it’s 15 even doing pemdas it doesn’t work out to 15 to me. help me out what am I missing?“
• “my kids told me not to help them with math anymore”
• “definitely common core”
• “This is dumb. Who decided an order of operation? If you say it aloud from left to right its first 5+1 (6) then x 10 (60).“
• “Ha, yes now I see it! That is tricky for sure!“

I don’t post any of these to fault or make fun. I share them because they help reveal where our culture stands. I love the ones that show interest and a desire to learn and be challenged. I am saddened by the ones that attack math or downplay effort.

Take and use this in your classes and in your homes for a fun activity and a great discussion. You can use it as is, or you can change the numbers to match the level of math skill the student or adult is at. You can even go to the restaurant and try it out for hands-on practice and a treat! But whatever you do, don’t let people perpetuate negative beliefs about math or themselves as they attempt it.

~~Remember, math skills won’t improve until math attitudes do!~~~

We can make a difference. We have to make a difference. It might be in our family, it might be in our students, it might be in our community, and it might even be in ourselves.

Here’s to our efforts!

Cheers,

Adam

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Help me out! Try this out and let me know your experience!

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You Win the (Math) Internet! (Week 5)

#MathMotivationMonday

I just had to share the work of some amazing teachers who are #ChangingMathAttitudes with everything they do!

You made a mistake… Congratulations!

Last week I wrote about how it is okay to make mistakes in math, and how we can improve from them. Hopefully you utilized the great resources!

Coincidentally (or maybe not!) I was in a classroom observing some technology use, and it just happened to be a math lesson (dividing fractions… an area that is traditionally misunderstood on so many levels). Naturally, I was doubly intrigued! The students each did their own visual model on paper, and the teacher went around and took a few pictures of their work to put on the board with the Apple TV. Each student came up to the front when their problem was on the board to explain their answer and reasoning about how they solved it. The first student got the answer right and had modeled it effectively. The class cheered for a job well done, and she sat down. Then the second student came up.

He was wrong.

He explained his reasoning, which was fairly sound and mostly correct. In fact, he had just done part backwards. He was very close, but “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” right?

Wrong. The old way of teaching math was only about the right answer. That’s not how we do things now-a-days.

When the mistake became apparent, the teacher praised the student for his effort and for the things he had done well. Perhaps most importantly, she praised him for sharing his mistake with the class so they could all learn from it and improve. I thought, “what a supportive teacher, helping him to feel better about what he did wrong so it didn’t ruin him.” I was honestly worried that it would, especially in front of the whole class. But what happened next floored me.

The teacher asked the class to cheer for the student and his mistake. And they did. Genuinely.

Waitwhat?

Yes, they cheered for him for making a mistake. And it was a positive experience.

It reminded me of the scene from “Meet the Robinsons” where Lewis is devastated at a failure with fixing the peanut butter and jelly blaster, but the family unexpectedly celebrates him. Check it out… it goes a long way for helping him to change his mindset:

I am sure this classroom culture didn’t happen overnight. I am sure it took repeated practice and over-the-top reinforcement to change those attitudes. I am also sure that the teacher choose this student to come up on purpose because she noticed the mistake. It was all worth the effort.

Amazing work, Allison from Kaysville Elementary. I was honestly giddy watching a master teacher at work!

#HowIUsedMathToday

Here is another one. I didn’t see it in person, unfortunately, but the teacher sent me pictures to prove that it actually happened.

The teacher started with a writing prompt on the board after a 4-day weekend. The students were to write 2-3 sentences about how they used math over Fall Break (yes, writing in math is a great cross-curricular activity!). Apparently they started in their journals, but the excitement from the students was so real that it turned in to a brainstorming activity on the board. Here is what a few of her classes came up with:

Look at the diversity! And it is all interesting from someone’s perspective. Estimating parkour distances, deer hunting, swim laps, flooring, reps at the gym, speed of a baseball, number of people in an elevator, time with puppies, to name a few. While I certainly agree with my friend Sunil Singh who wrote a great article last week about the inherent beauty and joy in math (which I plan to give my take on in coming weeks), I also believe that there is a need for people to see math from a useful standpoint as well. Many of the things listed above can be both useful and enjoyable, and in a number of cases one causes the other. We would both agree that the ideas generated by the students are authentic, not contrived on a test or worksheet. What a great list to draw from!

Wow, Maria from Mueller Park Jr.! Math is everywhere, and you have not only trained your students to look for it, but to be excited about it. Thanks for sharing!

_________________

These teachers are making a difference with their students. I know there are more of you out there doing the same. Please post some success stories with me below so we can highlight them!

(By the way, the picture at the top of this page is from Larae’s classroom at Washington Elementary. Little things like that statement can have a huge impact. Great work!)

We can make a difference. We have to make a difference. It might be in our family, it might be in our students, it might be in our community, and it might even be in ourselves.

Here’s to our efforts!

Cheers,

Adam

__________________

Be a friend and follow me!

WordPress: https://changingmathattitudes.wordpress.com/

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I did some homework with my son, and made a huge mistake (Week 4)

Math Motivation Monday is here!

Yesterday I was helping my 7th grade son do his math homework.

He is very smart, but doesn’t like having to do things that aren’t super quick and easy in his perspective. He also tends to be a perfectionist and struggles with anxiety if he gets behind on things. Right now we are playing a little bit of catch up for the end of the term (raise your hand if you are in that same boat!). We were working on a review and some missing assignments about substitution and evaluating expressions, distributing, combining like terms, etc. It has taken some practice on creating an growth mindset culture over the past few weeks, but all the prompting and reinforcing has been worth it. He did much better and got everything finished with a good attitude! Yay! It probably also helped that we are going to opening night of the local NBA team on Friday if he gets everything caught up. 😉

I am literally working to change math attitudes in my own home every day. You hopefully read my post last week with a nice note and success story from my daughter. It is a labor of love for my family and for math!

While my son and I were working, I made a mistake in my calculation on one problem. Can you believe it?!?!? And… he caught it. Of course, his first perspective was to assume I was right and that he had done it wrong again. I realized it was an opportunity to show him that mistakes are okay, and opportunities to learn from so we can be better! I told him that even math teachers and math enthusiasts are not perfect and make mistakes, and that is actually helpful. He was able to joke with me a bit, and then I reassured him that he should always check himself if he feels like something is off. I don’t think one time of that will change his thinking completely, but I am sure this won’t be my last mistake either.

I made this meme a few months ago to make for an easy way to share that it is okay to make mistakes:

Thank goodness Gob gave us the perfect model!

It’s interesting… math has typically been taught over the years such that there is only one right way to do things, one procedure to follow, and mistakes are not allowed. Now, finally, we are working to change that. “New math” is really “all-along math,” meaning that there are multiple approaches and ways to solve a problem, and those approaches have always been there. I love the renewed focus on standards now where teachers should teach multiple ways to solve the problem. As part of that, it is okay to make mistakes as we try because we can learn from them.

Maybe more problematic is the idea that while we typically tell our students it is okay to make mistakes, as adults we often carry the idea that we should be infallible. Maybe it is because we are seen as the math experts, or maybe it is because we are just adults and must be always right. I think one of the best ways we can work at #ChangingMathAttitudes is to learn to be okay with our own mistakes, improve ourselves because of them, and model for others how to do it gracefully. I wasn’t always like that; it has taken some practice. I also think this is just as critical for the students who are great at math is it is for those who struggle with it.

I am indebted to my friend Bethany (the “Math Geek Mama“) for sharing some great reasons why mistakes in math are not only okay, but helpful. Here is a list of what she says:

1. Making a mistake shows that you tried
2. It’s a workout for the brain
3. It gives ownership of learning
4. It shows what doesn’t work
5. You might notice a concept or pattern that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise
6. You understand and can talk about the problem a little bit better
7. Understanding WHY a method didn’t work can lead you to the correct solution
8. Mistakes make the moment you finally solve it that much sweeter

For more specifics on each one, go give her website a look at http://mathgeekmama.com/8-reasons-making-mistakes-in-math-is-a-good-thing/

Even now while I am writing this, I had the idea to have my son make a poster with the 8 items to hang in his room. Woot! I will take a picture and let you know how it goes!

Another one of the best ways I have seen to help create a culture where making mistakes is okay is in the YouTube video called “My Favorite No:”

In her daily routine, this amazing teacher has the students do a warm-up problem on an index card, then collects the cards and sorts them by yes and no. She then looks through the “no” stack to find her favorite to discuss with the class. She says: “Everyone makes mistakes. We’re gonna see your mistakes, you’re gonna see my mistakes. But, a mistake is your opportunity to share with my how much you understand.” If you listen carefully, she also debunks “all-or-nothing” thinking by showing that although the answer is wrong, there is some good math along the way.

This is so fantastic! I am sure it didn’t happen over night. I bet it took weeks to create a safe culture in her classroom where the students were truly okay with sharing their learning. In that class, its about the process, not just the right answer at the end.

What have you done to model for your kids, students, or peers that it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them? Share in the comments below!

I hope we can all create a safe environment for math (and all) learning within our homes and classrooms, in person and on social media. All people, including ourselves, will make mistakes, and how we handle them matters. This is critical for all ages, all levels of confidence (or anxiety), and all ability levels. We can’t change math attitudes without it.

We can make a difference. We have to make a difference. It might be in our family, it might be in our students, it might be in our community, and it might even be in ourselves.

Here’s to our efforts!

Cheers,

Adam

__________________

Be a friend and follow me!

WordPress: https://changingmathattitudes.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1653035008300751/

Did you like this post? What would you like to hear about in the future? Let me know below!