It seems like every other week I have friends or family members come up to me and either ask about is going on with math in schools or more often, I have had them vent to me that they don't like what is going on with math in schools. Everyone keeps talking about how they just don't get this "new math." Or they are struggling to help their children with math homework because they do not actually understand the homework themselves. I just had a parent in a meeting the other day tell me that he doesn't know how to help his middle schooler with math.
This made me think back on my experiences with my father and math. I am realizing now that I think my dad was ahead of the curve. (Dad, if you end up reading this, don't let it get to your head!) I can remember in 2nd grade I really struggled with understanding greater than and less than. I just could not comprehend it. So I would ask my dad for help on my homework. Back then, math homework was always the same. All of the odd problems on a page the one night and then all of the even problems the next night. Actually, that was my homework from elementary all the way through high school. So my dad would start to help me, and he would begin by explaining the concept and then it would turn into why I needed to know this concept in order to understand the next level up, like if I could figure out that 5 was greater than 3, then eventually I would be able to determine that 3+2 was greater than 2+1, and then I would be able to figure out that x + y was greater than 3. Meanwhile, all I heard was wah wah wah wah wah...you know the Charlie Brown teacher? And I would repeatedly say to my father, or actually yell at him, "I don't need to know why, I just need to know the answer to this problem!" Now, 40 some years later, here I am, explaining to family and friends that we want our students to know why 5 is greater than 3, not just that the answer is 5 > 3. My dad was not teaching me "new math" back then. He did not have a math standards crystal ball that showed him what the future of math would be. He understood that in order for me to truly learn these math concepts, to truly understand the purpose behind all of those practice odd and even questions...I needed to be able to explain my thinking. I needed to be able to make sense of number sense. I needed to be able to break numbers down and build them up. But what I was taught, what most of us were taught, was to simply memorize steps and move on. How did I move up the math ladder? Well, I was a good student and I memorized individual steps and I aced tests. And then I moved to the next math class and did that all over again. I got to my senior year, and I remember being excited that I didn't need to take a math class. So for my last year of high school...no math for me! And that meant no more of the same conversation that I had been having with my dad for almost 10 years! And then I went to college and tested into an advanced Calculus class...not really sure how that happened. What happened during my freshman year? I just about flunked out of the class. Talk about a total shock to my system. I was a student who got all A's. I learned what the teachers taught me and then I spit it back on a test no problem. Suddenly, I had to supposedly apply all of these concepts...even from way back in 2nd grade, greater than and less than...and I had to actually think for myself to solve problems and I had to explain my thinking and I had to actually demonstrate higher level math thinking in a lab once a week. All of my "hard work" and completed homework assignments and perfect tests scores...well they amounted to nothing in that college course. I was not prepared for that class. So my answer to friends and family that ask...no, this is not "new math." Having kids solve thousands of problems by simply memorizing steps will not allow them to independently think on their own and demonstrate critical thinking skills. The research shows us that if kids are taught concepts, the why of math, they will retain the information much better. Clearly, what we were teaching before, how we all learned math, has not worked. As a country, we have consistently scored well below other countries who have taken a more conceptual approach to teaching math. I wish I had had the opportunity to learn math the way our students are learning it now. We, the adults who were taught in a very different way, need to make sure we aren't falling back on our experience with math instruction. Pretty sure, many of you reading this had the same experience I had. We need to engage our mathematicians in dialogue, encourage them to take risks and make mistakes and then learn from them. We need to do more starting with the answer and pushing them to figure out how we got there. We need to let them collaborate and build off of each other. And to my father I say, "Sorry dad. I should have listened to you." But I get it now, and I can't help but smile when I find myself saying to my own daughter...don't you want to know why this is the answer? (And the voice in my head says...you have become your father!) I may not have been able to admit it back then, but now I can say it...you were right dad! Here are some articles I have read recently about math instruction, math trauma, and helping kids (and adults) overcome math anxiety. 5 Ways to Overcome Math Trauma A Powerful Rethinking of Your Math Classroom Reinforcing Elementary Math Lessons with Movement
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