I suck at math but it's okay.

“Your best teacher is your last mistake” - Ralph Nader

Welcome back, my friends. This week I learned something that should be heavily implemented in the classroom. It is something that I feel not many teachers understand as something that is positive. It’s an unpopular saying and it goes along the words, “MISTAKES ARE IMPORTANT!”

If you’re unsure of this saying, I highly recommend the video below. In the video, Jo Boaler states that the brain grows from making mistakes. It is important to allow students to make these mistakes since it actually allows them to grow as learners. In fact, when a human being makes a mistake, their brain grows. These mistakes allow for deeper thinking - students can think back to their problem and break it down to find the solution

In addition to this, mistakes allow students to challenge themselves in a good way. Students can continue to practice math. By repeating steps and going back to one's mistakes, a student can find multiple ways to solve a math problem. It promotes a questioning attitude, problem solving skills, and critical thinking. When a student gets a question wrong, they will backtrack and try to understand what went wrong and then find a solution to get the correct answer. All in all, mistakes are seen as "brain exercises." We need them to grow and further develop our skills.

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After learning about this mindset, I started to explore some online resources to find out how an educator can implement this mindset into the classroom. According to Thinking Through Math’s “Mistakes Are Okay!”, all it takes is a growth mindset and good mentoring.

The rule is to normalize mistakes in the classroom. It is absolutely crucial for students to learn that everyone makes mistakes. Students should use mistakes as an opportunity to learn rather than an opportunity to regret and dwell on. In order to normalize mistakes, teachers should give students an adequate amount of time to solve math problems. Being under pressure, while also stressed, may hurt the students. In addition to providing more time, the source suggests that teachers should continuously remind students that it’s okay if they struggle with math.

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Besides learning more about having a growth mindset, we learned about using typical gaming objects and turning it into a math game. Many teacher candidates used board games but my partner and I used a fun math trick using 3 dice and then asked students to use math to figure out how the trick was done. It's a great trick to show the students and allows students to collaborate with each other and find different ways to solve the math problem.

Step 1: Roll dice on flat surface.

Step 2: Stack Dice.

Step 3: This step is the actual trick. In this situation, the students cannot see 5 total faces (underneath the white dice, and the top and bottom of both the red and blue dice). These 5 faces, including the one that is visual should always equal 21 (this is your secret!). Tell your students that the faces they cannot see equals 20 (to get this answer, subtract the top face from 21).

It is your students' job to find out how you got this answer. The best method is to distribute a set of 3 dice to each table/pair so they can try it out for themselves!

Great news! Math can be exciting!

Hello friends!

Welcome back to my math blog. During this week’s class, we started with another card trick. However, there was something different about this card trick. We were told from the start that the deck was rigged but we were challenged to solve how to rig it to get the results you want. Confused at first, my table group got together and tried different techniques to solve it. Turns out, it’s the magic of math.

I found this trick to be quite fascinating because it proves that math is everywhere especially in situations where we least expect it. This week’s class taught me how to make mathematics fun for students in a way that is very unique and exciting.

After doing some research, I found some great resources for teachers to use in order to make the subject more fun for their students.

The first one I’d like to discuss is Oxford’s Learning 6 Easy Ways to Make Math Fun For Kids. This would be a great source for teachers to understand the basics of making math fun for students.

Step One: Make it a game.
Kids are drawn to exciting games, especially those that are hands-on. Turning math into a game can have its benefits since it increases student engagement and healthy competition.

Step Two: Puts screens to work for you.
This is guaranteed to make the subject more fun for kids since today’s youth is obsessed with technology and all the new devices available!

Step Three: Show them the relevance.
Show kids how math can be useful in real life. For example, they can find math useful when in a financial situation (shopping, saving, etc.).

Step Four: Watch your words.
Personally, I find this step to be the most important. Use this step to encourage students to want to learn math. This directly relates to having a growth mindset for your students - encourage them to take on challenges.

Step Five: Access one of the best resources you have - your child’s teacher!
This step requires teachers to collaborate with others and bounce back ideas. You may also suggest ideas to a student’s parent in order to reinforce math in the home environment.

Step Six: Connect math and language.
Make math cross-curricular, especially for students who are more drawn to the arts. An example would be to read a book that talks about math.

Another resource that I found really useful is Mr. Elementary Math’s 30 Ways to Make Math FUN for Elementary Kids. In this resource he makes some suggestions like:

• Make it hands-on
• Use picture books
• Encourage math talk
• Make it about the kids
• Get up and move
• Add cheers
• Celebrate special math events

And there’s so much more. I highly recommend this resource for teachers to explore.

After exploring these resources, I feel like my mindset on math has slowly transformed into the growth mindset. I find myself to be more confident in teaching the subject and open to the challenge of making math exciting for the students. I hope to use these resources and implement it in the classroom.

Being used to the traditional classroom, I found math to be dry and lacklustre. I believe if my teachers had made it to be more hands-on and relatable, I may have potentially excelled in the subject. My past experience with math drives my need to teach math in a way that will always result in a smile. I hope my fellow teacher candidates will feel the same after this math course.

1 + 1 = 3, right?

The first session of our math class was something that was quite interesting and out-of-the-box. Our teacher requested for us to gather around a table and watch a demonstration of a card trick. Amazed and bewildered by the card trick, the entire class began to ask questions on how it was done.

We were then asked to separate into groups and try to figure out how the trick was done using our prior math knowledge. To be honest, the only word that popped into my head was “probability.” After trying the trick a few times, I got frustrated and gave up without thinking carefully of what my teacher said during the trick.

Similar to last year’s math class, the number one reason as to why neither of us could figure out the trick was because we were over-thinking everything. It ended up not being quite related to math itself but listening to instructions very carefully and then thinking about how one can get the same result. The card deck ended up actually being rigged - it challenged us to think about how one can solve a problem.

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The web modules that were assigned this week gave us, teacher candidates, to view math in a different perspective. We did not learn about how one can teach math, but, instead, how we can view math ourselves in order to teach it confidently and allow one’s students to feel confident.

The first module involved a few people (including students) briefly discussing their views on math. I found it to be relatable, but, at the same time, I found it to be quite sad since they appeared to feel incompetent when it came to the subject.

Just about every single person in the video feels something extremely negative about the subject. They say that they don’t like numbers, it makes them feel stupid, or, simply, they just hate it. I feel as though this mindset needs to be changed and transformed into something much more positive. Math should be seen as something that is challenging yet exciting at the same time. I remember learning math in elementary school - it was challenging and only challenging. After learning some math in last year’s class in such unique ways, I found it to be entertaining and easy to learn.

In addition to this negativity, it appears that media has deeply perpetuated the idea that math is “lame”, “nerdy”, or “boring.” As a teacher, we need to avoid this negative mindset of the subject and demonstrate to students that the subject can be something amazing.

One of the last videos of the math modules was one that discussed the myths about math. I found this video to be the most interesting and relatable video thus far. It talks about (surprise) myths about learning math and debunks them. Some famous myths include:

• Some people are just born to excel in math
• Math cannot be learned at a later age. It must be taught at a young age

I remember being younger and truly believing that people are born to excel in the mathematics and sciences while others are born to excel in the arts. With this mindset, I found myself struggling with math and slowly giving up on it.

This is something that teachers need to remove from the classroom and their minds. We must realize that ANYONE can learn math. However, it is our job to do so and do it in a way that will guarantee student success.