I decided that it's high time I got control of my math anxiety, and, rather than picking up a fractions drill book from the children's section, I got I decided that it's high time I got control of my math anxiety, and, rather than picking up a fractions drill book from the children's section, I got this. I want to understand WHY I can't do math.
And now I do. I do not have a learning disability in math. My teachers have had teaching disabilities. Math is a subject that is not taught well (from sources other than this book, I learned that it hasn't been taught well for a long time. Students taking advanced math classes have steadily dropped throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century).
I was from the "New Math" generation. New Math was developed by mathematicians who didn't know squat about child development. They attempted to teach complex formalized math concepts (set theory, whatever that is) to six year olds. They produced a massive generation of innumerate, math phobic baby boomers.
I learned from this book that word problems (the teaching mode from 1975 through the eighties) didn't work because the contexts presented were unrealistic and irrelevant. After that we had "fuzzy math" for a brief time, where you sort of kind of guess what the answer is and the teacher says, "close enough." In reaction to that, the math wars started. "Math wars" comprises a pretty vitriolic fight between people who think kids learn math best through drills and rote learning and those who think that it is important to teach the kids why math works the way it does. The author says she doesn't take sides in this debate, but it's pretty clear where she stands. Kids need to understand why math works the way it does. She demonstrates how teaching kids how can work and can get kids excited about math.
I found myself wondering about my own attitudes and understandings of math as I read. Math isn't what I thought it was. (Rote, useless memorization and drills.) That's a good thing....more
This completely revolutionized my understanding of how people learn. I'm not in that field anymore, but still.This completely revolutionized my understanding of how people learn. I'm not in that field anymore, but still....more
About teaching, and the politics of teaching. Right up there with "Teaching as a Subversive Activity."About teaching, and the politics of teaching. Right up there with "Teaching as a Subversive Activity."...more
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