Changing Math Stereotypes (Week 9)

THE BAD

Here is a sad but true #MyMathStory for you:

Once upon a time, a young girl was great at math. She was in gifted and accelerated classes, loved to learn, and very confident in her abilities. This was her attitude and ability in elementary school and most of junior high school.

Then something changed.

One day in math class, she didn’t understand a concept. This was a very rare thing for her; she didn’t know how to be wrong or fail. After some deliberation, she finally got up the courage to ask her teacher for help.

His response was that she was just a stupid girl and would never be good at math.

Ouch.

Even after years of success and confidence, this one experience ruined her with math. Completely. Twenty years later, she still admittedly suffers from math anxiety, and it absolutely stunted her math growth for the rest of her schooling and beyond.

I could talk here about resilience or overcoming failure, but none of that was the case in this situation. What baffles me is that a teacher said that. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt that he was just joking, the damage was the same. Someone in a position of mentorship like this (teacher, parent, etc.) should never say something so terrible. Ever.

I wonder where he got his attitude? I wonder if it was something he developed himself, or if it was passed on to him by a previous parent or teacher. I wonder if he had females in his math teaching program in college. I wonder if he had female math teacher colleagues in his department. I wonder if he had been bested by a girl at some time. In other words, I wonder what math baggage he had personally that contributed to his belief.

Seeing him from this perspective humanizes him just a bit, doesn’t it? It’s not an excuse for bad behavior, but it might be a reason. And it might give us a clue on how to combat such beliefs.

Many stereotypes have changed over time, but others are absolutely in full force. Some are political and outright, while others are more subtle.

Here are a few unproductive stereotypes that have to be changed:

• girls are bad at math
• people with disabilities will never be able to do math
• parents who are bad at math will have kids who are bad at math
• math isn’t necessary for life
• old math is better than new math
• the way I learned math years ago is better than how it is taught now
• you are either a math person or you aren’t
• math abilities are fixed and cannot be improved
• if you are good at math you are a nerd

And the list goes on.

The bottom line: part of #ChangingMathAttitudes is changing math stereotypes.

But what can we do?

THE GOOD

Since I don’t want to be all doom-and-gloom, I am excited to share something positive that actually prompted me to write this post. I was at a movie with my family, and one of the trailers before was of a story I had never heard of before. “Hidden Figures” is inspired by a true story about a woman named Katherine Johnson who quietly did the math necessary to send (and return!) the first men safely into space. Here is the trailer:

Not one to believe everything Hollywood puts out (winky face!), I did a little research to find out how accurate it is. While the plot might not be perfect, the main point seems to be legitimate. I found a great bio about her on the NASA website. Additionally, below is a little featurette documentary:

As an African American woman, she had a whole bunch of stereotypes to fight against. Why haven’t I heard about this story til now? I don’t know, but I am glad it is coming to light. I can’t wait to see the movie, and I am hoping to read the book soon. If you already have read it, please let me know what you think!

The point is that Katherine Johnson was certainly not “just a stupid girl who would never be good at math.” The teacher I talked about in the beginning must not have ever heard her story either.

Thank you, Katherine, for smashing so many stereotypes.

~~~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! What are some other stereotypes I have missed? What are some examples you have seen? What can we do to combat them? Please share this story and post in the comments below!

#MyMathStory – The most significant post I have written (Week 7)

One day when I was 6th grade, I was sitting in Sunday School of all places, when something happened that shook me to my very core. For some random reason, the small talk turned to math, and someone wrote a math problem… with letters… on the board.

LETTERS.

I was shocked… I asked what the letter meant, and they told me it could be anything. Then they responded by writing more problems with more letters on the board. It was too much for my concrete mind. I didn’t get a straight answer, so I quit pushing. But I was scared to death of this new concept called “algebra.”

I continued on in 6th grade and did very well in all my classes, including math. I had always been great at math, not only the calculation side, but with problem-solving as well. I was competent and excited about it!

Until the first day of 7th grade. I got my schedule and went to my first math class. It was algebra. Wait… I had signed up for pre-algebra! What was going on here? I cowered in the corner away all the 8th and 9th graders who obviously had proven themselves. Why did I, a lowly 7th grader, get placed there? I spoke to the teacher afterwards, and she said it was likely based on a recommendation from my 6th grade teacher along with my test scores.

It didn’t matter. I was convinced it wasn’t the place for me. I went to the counselor’s office and changed my schedule back to pre-algebra, where I should have been in the first place. I was much more comfortable the rest of the year with mostly my fellow 7th graders. I learned quickly and continued on as a great math student. I even learned about how letters are an important part of math (and no, they were not put there by Satan!).

In fact, I was great at math for many more years, clear into high school. I worked hard and learned well, and when there was a challenge I overcame it. I was one of the better math students, and even took honors and Advanced Placement classes.

But… that one choice in 7th grade came back to haunt me. Because I backed up one class, I had put myself on a track that didn’t allow me to take the higher math class in 12th grade that I really wanted and needed.

How could that one conversation give me so much math anxiety, despite my years of confidence and success? It was so uncomfortable and debilitating. I hadn’t experienced it before and didn’t know how to handle it then. It created a crossroads in my life and I wish I would have chosen differently.

This is #MyMathStory. Yes, even I have experienced math anxiety.

I think most everyone has some math baggage. I think that is why our culture has such a problem… because of that baggage, it becomes easy to downplay our good math abilities or cover/excuse our low math abilities. We hide our math anxieties with uneasy humor and direct it on other people. The cycle continues.

I believe that if we are going to change math attitudes, we need to be brave enough to unpack our math baggage and help others do the same. When we are open and honest with ourselves and others, we will find more commonalities and less reason to hide behind a fixed mindset. In fact, Brene Brown would tell us that such vulnerability can lead to true self-improvement and greater opportunities.

What is your math story? I asked a few Facebook friends and got some great responses. Here are a few:

“I wasn’t much of a math fan in elementary, jr. high, or high school. I only took two math classes in college, just what I had to take to get by. My high school counselor assured me that “girls don’t need math!” But when I started teaching sixth grade, and I watched kids get excited about math, I started to love it! Now, it is my favorite thing! We are now teaching teachers to help kids talk, problem-solve, and think mathematically! It is a blast!… Worst advice I ever got. I sure could have used it as a mom and a teacher.” – Diane

 

“The first time that I remember having any feelings about math was when I was in Algebra. It was SO hard and I was SO confused. Thankfully I was blessed with a Father who is an engineer and has the patience of a saint. For months he helped me with my math homework every night (and I wasn’t always nice to him). I remember crying and yelling and being SO frustrated. BUT, he got me through it and by the end of the year, I started to like it because I realized the power behind mathematics. It was empowering to realize what I could now do. From there on out, I had a love for math. I loved Geometry, Trigonometry, and even Calculus (again that was HARD, but by the end of the year, when I really got everything it was an amazing feeling). College Calculus (delta / epsilon proofs, anyone?) eventually did me in and my math career came to an end. BUT, I still love math and don’t feel intimidated by it because I’ve conquered those mountains. Not only did I come away with a knowledge of mathematics, but it helped develop the logical, analytical part of my brain, which helps in millions of daily tasks.” – Amber

 

“Apparently, when I was in fourth grade, I had a teacher who told me I wasn’t good at math. After that, I wasn’t. Until 10th grade. The class was geometry and I was doing my usual C work until we moved in the middle of the school year. When I checked out of my old school, we were at the beginning of a term, so all of my teachers gave me A’s to transfer with. When I checked into my new school, they were at the end of the term, so took my grades and weighted them heavily in assigning grades for that nine week term – so, straight A’s for the first time in my life. In geometry in my Ohio school, we had been a little ahead of where this Texas school was, so I seemed to understand everything we were going over, so helped my classmates on their homework, had the answers for questions in class, etc. I was dubbed the kid who was really good at math.  And after that, I always was.” – David

 

“I liked math but kept having hints and comments throughout middle and high school and somehow got it into my head that math was too hard for me. I did as far as required to graduate and quit. Looking back, I LOVED the feeling of doing math and figuring out an answer. Wish I had believed in myself. I’ve spent lots of time doing math concept activities with my kids and want them to know that if they keep trying and practicing, they will love math.” – Malea

 

“I use to hate math with a passion! Because I would learn something then forget it over and over. Then on my first day of  high school I got an amazing teacher who made all the difference. He took the time to teach and make sure I was getting it. It changed my life forever now everytime I think of math I think of him and how fun he made it. I now feel very different about math.” – Steph

Insightful. Humbling. And incredibly empowering!

I am glad each one of these had a good ending. Unfortunately, not all math stories do. There are many people out there (children and adults) who didn’t have a teacher/parent/mentor/experience that helped them recover, who are still mired in pain and anxiety. Too many.

I want to build this project. Please help me share the #MyMathStory concept. Post your story on the comments here, on your social media page, email me, or click on this anonymous survey link I created. Also, share it with your students, friends, family, kids, or anyone else who will listen. Use the hash tag and we can all connect with each other.

Don’t be afraid. If someone makes you feel judged or uncomfortable, they probably have their own math baggage they are dealing with. Give people the benefit of the doubt, be kind, and let’s make a safe environment for this cultural change. From here on out, I am going to post one story each week, so I am counting on your help and contribution!

 

~~~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

__________________

Be a friend and follow me!

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

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

 

 

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/

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!

 

 

 

 

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!