Mathematics is a subject that keeps many students up at night. But a positive attitude about the topic is one key to higher achievement, according to researchers at Stanford University. We asked a handful of educators who are shaking up math instruction to share their tips for dispelling students' fear, increasing curiosity and self-esteem, and countering a mindset that often paints math as impossible for the average person.
Keep It Simple
We've made it seem like teaching in ways that are conceptual and engaging and relevant to children is a big deal, like you need to write your own curriculum. It's the small things you do with any curriculum you have: Provide kids opportunities to ask why, let them have access to tools and talk to each other, let them wrestle with a problem. We haven't done a good job of talking about how you can do those things no matter what curriculum or assessments you use.
—Corey Drake is a professor and the director of teacher preparation at Michigan State University and a former middle school special education teacher.
Pay Attention to Presentation
No matter what you're teaching, it's the presentation. I turn every day into a name that catches their attention for a warm-up activity. Monday is "Mathoggle" Monday—like Boggle but with integers. On "Tweakin' Tangeo" Tuesday, they get a tangram puzzle. On "Wuzzle What's Up" Wednesday, we discuss what's up in their life while figuring out a math puzzle. On "Thirsty" Thursday, we roll a 10-sided die and use combinations of the first five numbers to create the day's date. And on "Fridab" Friday, we talk about the good things that happened that week and create a four-line poem about a math concept. We "rap it up" with freestyle about what we learned.
—Kimberly Thomas (@kimthomasILSTOY) is a math teacher at Peoria County (Ill.) Alternative School.
My belief is that mathematics itself is a very beautiful, joyful subject, but we as math teachers need to do a better job of sharing our passion. Many times, I hear students will think or say out loud, "If my own teacher is not excited about the learning we're doing, why I am supposed to be excited?" Whereas in many science, technology, and engineering classrooms, teachers are openly excited about the work.
—Matthew Beyranevand (@Dr_Beyranevand) is the K–12 mathematics department coordinator for Chelmsford (Mass.) Public Schools.
Keep It Real and Relevant
One of the first things we do in Algebra Nation's online learning platform videos is provide real-world examples. I had an interaction at the end of the school year with a student who remembered the first video he watched, a mathematical expression problem about Mario and Luigi buying video games. Students have probably bought a video game or understand the concept, so it sticks in their head. We want it to be engaging in a way that reminds them of real life.
—Darnell Boursiquot (@DarnellB29) is a study expert at Algebra Nation, an online-learning platform of instructional videos.
I love movies and television and found it easier to connect standards to movie themes: The Avengers, A Wrinkle in Time, Black Panther. We also use a lot of board and video games that relate to math concepts. Some of my favorites are A Tangled Web, which uses circle theorems and angle concepts, and a math/English game called DimensionU, which is sort of like Fortnite with math. I can pick which Common Core State Standards I want students to address.
—Valerie Camille Jones (@drvcjones) is the department head of mathematics at Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Ga.
How do we teach math in ways that engage students and help them think about their communities? There are three basic ideas for culturally responsive teaching:
- Create high expectations for all students;
- Develop cultural competence and teach math in ways that are not divorced from who students are, and;
- Teach math for a purpose. What if you use math to alleviate the conditions of suffering? To question inequity? We do this by changing the kinds of tasks we put in front or children—tasks that have them focus on mathematizing issues like wealth inequality, food deserts, housing, communities, and justice.
We've created a culturally relevant rubric for assessing mathematics tasks (which is free to download). We help teachers take tasks they already do and filter and transform them through the rubric's lens: more problem-solving; more culture and community connections; and more critical, open-ended questions.
—Lou Matthews (@loumatthewslive) is the cofounder of InspireMath, an organization committed to increasing math engagement.
Responses edited for length and clarity.
