Promote Positive Math Relationships

"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is." ~John Louis von Neumann

Here’s an update to the progression of my research and the narrowing of my focus area:

Yesterday I met with an old professor of mine, Jenny Maguire, who was my Mathematics: Curriculum and Instruction in the credential program. She is one of my all-time favorite teachers who perfectly depicts Saint Mary’s constructivist approach to education. She is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable in the field of math, so I thought she could be a great resource for me as I narrow my focus for my research. I told her all of the areas I wanted to look into – math phobia, math-gender stereotypes, inequity in mathematics, representation of different cultures in the field of math, strategies to be an effective math teacher, etc. – and she helped me narrow my focus so that I could become an expert in a particular area and possibly make a REAL contribution to the field of mathematics and to teaching in general. I want to charter in untraveled waters, not just restate what has already been done.

I decided I am going to look into how to give access (both mental and physical) to underrepresented types of learners, cultures, and women in math. I want to look into “relatability” in math and how to promote positive math relationships, not just positive math attitudes. I want children to engage and have a relationship with the math, so my goal is to come up with a small handful of strategies that teachers can use to accomplish this. She also gave me a couple of ideas for experiential sources for my research that I am going to check out – namely, the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley and the Exploratorium in SF. She said that both have fun, hands-on math activities to engage children.

I am a firm-believer in field trips and outside of the classroom experiences to enhance and expand children’s understanding of a topic, but for my project I think I am going to focus on what can be done in the classroom to give access to students.  Since many schools do not have the resources to take field trips or they are not allowed to, I want to provide those teachers with some specific strategies to use to make math engaging.

I have started reflecting on using games to teach mathematical principles.  I know a lot of educators (especially the “old-school” ones) have a hard time swallowing when children are playing games in the classroom and looking like they are having too much fun.  In the crazy world of standardized test preparation based curriculum, administrators want to see kids cramming and drilling math principles and problems, but who says that is the most productive way to get the information across?  In fact, many studies are starting to show that the extensive time spent on test preparation in the classroom is not only robbing kids of the opportunity to engage with the information and really understand it at a conceptual level, but is not even raising the test scores like it is supposed to. 

Being such a passionate and strong-willed person has its benefits, but I am worried that I will have to be a “yes man” the first few years of teaching before I get my tenure…  I want to make changes to some of the common strategies (or lack thereof) used in our education system.  I hope my passion continues and stays strong but in a manner that is acceptable to administrators because I can’t change much if I lose my job in the first few years of teaching :/  … Just something that’s been on my mind lately…