Math Rebels

A Hooligan Offers Help: Even A Seasoned Rebel Can Learn Math

December 20, 2007

I attended what is called a “laboratory” elementary school. In a lot of ways, lab schools are exactly what they sound like; teachers and students alike exist within a bubbled, yet controlled, experiment. In my case, the elementary school was on a college campus, affiliated with the university’s undergraduate and graduate education programs, and followed the ideas of the educational philosopher, John Dewey. We’d eat lunch in one of the dining halls, parade (duck-like, single file) past the classroom buildings and sorority houses on our way to gym class, and traipse along the long sidewalks built for 20-year olds trampling anything that was fair game …We were just part of the scenery, really. Except to the education majors.
See, for better or worse, all undergraduate education majors had to teach at least one grade level of lab school kids at least one subject, for no less than eight weeks. It was an unjust fight, really: naïve, unseasoned college students taking on a classroom full of children who had learned, as part and parcel of math, science and reading, to get the best of the fresh meat rotating in and out like fast food. We could smell vulnerability like Thursday pizza. In all fairness, most of them never had a chance. Looking back on my early twenties, I’d have to confess that I wouldn’t have.
Math was the worst subject to draw. Like most elementary classes, half of us didn’t get it, and the other half just didn’t care. If the student teachers could get us interested, though, if they could excite us, if they could somehow engage us with the materials (in spite of our best efforts), then they had prospects. If we were having fun, if we were getting somewhere – if we were understanding it –then somehow, tricking our victims into explaining the same concept over and over (and over and over) again to avoid math homework wasn’t nearly so important. Stimulation is a most effective distraction from the same old social warfare. How did the good ones do it? If I could figure that out, then maybe I would have some answers for parents struggling to offer their kids math help at home…and, later, algebra help, geometry help, calculus help…
To find a few answers, I went to my alma mater’s host university, Northwest Missouri State University, to ask the experts. A small state university, Northwest is known for its devotion to instructional excellence and commitment to turning out promising young teachers. Dr. Christine Benson, an associate professor at Northwest, earned her interdisciplinary Ph.D. in education and mathematics from the University of Missouri; she also earned a Master of Science in Education, taught math at public schools for eight years, and has been teaching math method courses at Northwest for the last twelve. She was kind enough to offer her advice. Here are her top three recommendations for good instruction, which can be utilized by teachers and well-intentioned parents alike.

(1) Introduce new concepts within contexts meaningful to the students – not just the teachers. New material will mean a lot more to learners (and look a lot friendlier) if they can immediately apply it to something of which they already have an understanding.

For example, teaching high schoolers how to calculate the interest rate on a car loan (something attainable for them in the near future, and probably a major goal) is much more effective than trying to explain the concept in terms of a mortgage.

Similarly, don’t allow students to focus only on the formulas. While formulas should yield answers, obsessing over the processes, without understanding the concepts behind them, might just make an unprepared pupil panic when they encounter a test question that doesn’t precisely fit the standard model. The context must come before the formula, says Benson, not the other way around.

(2) Let students play with theories and applications so they can independently discover their meanings. “Set up a problem situation where students can discover, through inquiry, the concept for themselves,” said Benson. It’s important students get “hands on” experiences for such abstract ideas. Discuss what they learned, clarify the concepts, and introduce new vocabulary that might be appropriate. Then, give learners situations in which they can practice and apply the material.

(3) “Bridge manipulatives with abstract notions,” Benson recommends. In layman’s terms, that means use concrete objects students can “manipulate” in order to better understand concepts. A classic example of this is teaching a child to count with household items. “One apple, two bananas, three pears,” etc.

If only math were always as easy as “1, 2, 3.” It gets complicated to learn, to use, to understand, to even want to understand, but, hey, knowing how to calculate your mortgage rate comes in handy…so does figuring out your return on that retirement account, which benefits packages are worth it, risks on the stock market…

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