I can still remember the day when my eighth grade teacher grouped us for math. It was something that he had done before; however, this time was different. I was not in the top group. Of course, he didn\u2019t call it the \u201ctop\u201d group, but we all knew what it was. I was in one of the middle groups and I was distraught. I believe it was that day that I switched off from math. If I was not in the top group, it must mean that I am not a math person.<\/p>\n
Everyone can do really well at math. Wouldn\u2019t this be amazing if all of our mathematics students had this mindset? This was the principle behind my guiding question for my action plan: How can we change attitudes about Mathematics?<\/p>\n
A few years ago I had taken a MOOC (massive, online, open, course) through Stanford University. It was created by Jo Boaler, who is a mathematics education professor there. In a nutshell, the course presented new research that explained about how the brain works within the specific context of mathematics. The myth of some people are just \u201cmath people\u201d was dispelled.<\/p>\n
I wanted to further my understanding by reading Jo Boaler\u2019s book called, Mathematical Mindsets. This book continues to explain the research, but it also gives practical advice for teachers of mathematics. In addition, she has a website (https:\/\/www.youcubed.org\/) that gives more in-depth information about how to foster a mathematical mindset.<\/p>\n
This leads me to my action plan. If we open students up to the way the brain works and let them know that there is no such thing as a \u201cmath person\u201d – would this change their mindset?<\/p>\n
Steps:
\nCreate attitude survey to assess attitudes before.
\nPlan a week of inspirational math. (If you sign up for youcubed, there are some plans already there that will help to guide me through this process.
\nCheck with my headteacher to have such a week approved.
\nAssess attitudes afterwards.<\/p>\n
This is the immediate action plan. I believe that one week of information about having a healthy mindset is a great start, but this positivity must also be maintained. I would also like to present my findings to the other junior school teachers at The York School to see if it would be possible to plan a whole-school initiative for the \u201cWeek of Inspirational Math.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believe that there might be some teachers out there who have tried the \u201cWeek of Inspirational Math\u201d and I would very much like to hear from you to pick your brain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"