Ways To Improve Math Attitude.

I read articles on helping students change their mindset from closed to open because they learn better but sometimes it is difficult to do this, especially when they tell you that their parents couldn’t do math either, or they just aren’t smart enough.  I finally found some suggestions that can relate the theoretical things with reality.

For instance, we tell students that it is fine making mistakes.  When we make mistakes we learn but we don’t always share anecdotes with our students where we learned from our mistakes.  This is important because it shows students that their teacher is not the all-knowing math person rather they are just like them.  

It is important to share times when you miscalculated the wood you needed for a project and didn’t get enough.  Out here in the bush of Alaska that can create a problem because you can't just pop over to the store and pick it up because it has to be ordered in.  In addition to sharing the mistake, it is important to talk about how much it cost you beyond what it might have cost if you’d calculated it correctly in the first place and how you might have done it properly the first time.

Not all math teachers excelled at math when they attended school.  I didn’t.  It was only after teaching math for a few years that I became really good at it because I kept learning more every time I taught the material. I also take time to talk about how some students learn the material faster than others  but many times the ones who take longer to learn the material will remember it way longer. 

In addition, when students start getting frustrated with the math, suggest they take a short break to give them time to relax before trying it again.  Take time to ask the student what they’ve tried and ask them if there are other things they could try or what did they do so far?   Questioning helps students understand their choices better and often helps them see a way to complete the problem.

Finally, try to make each  lesson engaging so students want to do them.  Students get tired of the same old same old, here are the notes, here is the assignment, do it.  I like adding activities that still require students to solve  a bunch of problems but I put the problems with answers around the room but the answers listed are not the answers to the problem they are with.  They are from another problem, so students solve a problem, look for the answer.  If they find the answer, that means they have it right but if they don’t they go back and work on it till they get the correct answer.  My students love this game.

These are just a few ways to help students develop a positive attitude in math.  Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear.  Have a great day.