>...We have many students who can indeed learn math--even traditional
>mathematics, but not (the way) we math teachers in general
>learned it and thereby teach it.
Most of us who are successful in math learn with an abstract delivery:
o read the concept
o think about it
o replicate it on your own paper a few times
and voila! you understand it and move on to the next topic. The
successful ones become teachers, engineers, etc. and even writers of
new textbooks that perpetuate the approach.
But well over half the population struggle with this abstract
method--many finally falling back to "math anxiety" as the explanation
(right or wrong).
At CORD we are writing curriculum with concrete, activity-oriented
teaching methods that stress real-world applications (following advice
from many teachers). We hear many, many testimonies from teachers
about students who enter their class as math failures ("never any good
at math"), but find that they CAN understand the math when it is taught
concretely. Admittedly, it is more work for a teacher to organize
equipment and groups to perform a measurement activity to convey
solving simultaneous equations, quadratic equations, exponential
growth, etc. But it is worth it when you see students OVERCOME that
sense of failure and anxiety. Here's a recent report from a middle
school teacher of at-risk students:
"The most difficult 'at-risk' student for me to work with
is the one who is so defined because of a poor attitude,
an angry attitude, an 'I don't really care attitude.' It
just seems like that they not only do not choose to do
any work but they find great pleasure in sabotaging the
efforts of others, mine and their fellow students.
"I am seeing progress with these type of students--slow,
but very sure. One today told me as he went out of the
classroom: 'Gee, Mr. Davis, this is really getting fun.'
He is one year removed from special education and can
barely read. He sits on the front row and he has gone
from a sullen, negative influence to one that is constantly
responding to questions, whether he is right or wrong.
He has gone from a 40 on his first major test
to a 93 on his last one."
Yes, middle school is far removed from post-secondary (and with a whole
different set of problems), but this probably describes many of your
students 6 to 7 years ago. Can we admit that students can learn math
with different learning styles? Can we teach math with different
styles? I think you already are, but there are few texts that help you
do so, and little to encourage new teachers to pursue this.
C - O - R - D
John Chamberlain Phone 800-972-2766 601 Lake Air Dr
CORD Senior Associate Fax 254-772-8972 Waco, TX 76710
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