Blog Post #2 - Week 3

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my math blog and my second ever blog post! This post (and each of the ones that follow it!) will contain some of my reflections, thoughts, and reactions to course content be it lectures, readings, videos we’ve watched, and more! I will use this space to really express what I’ve learned so far and how I feel about it! With that being said, let’s get started!!

One of the most important and impactful things we discussed in class this week is that there is no such thing as a “math brain” or “not having a math brain”. This is a discourse that is unfortunately so prevalent in our society and in our schools. I can recall so many of my classmates who refused to put in their full effort in math because “they just weren’t made for it” and worse yet teachers who wouldn’t believe in students or push them to succeed once again because they felt that math just wasn’t their strong suit. The discourse goes the other way too and being a student who succeeded at math, I remember peers discrediting the effort I would put in because they felt I was “just made to do math”. As our conversations in class concluded, these discourses are harmful to students because they truly limit their chances of success and reduces the outcome of possibilities they have in life. Instead of believing in this “math brain” illusion, we as future educators need to approach math with a growth mindset and do our best to instil it in all our students. That is, we need to encourage our students that they CAN do math, they CAN problem solve, and they CAN overcome challenges if they are prepared to embrace them and view them as an opportunity for growth and improvement.  

Here’s a short video that explains growth mindset by contrasting it with fixed mindset which is where thoughts like “not having a math brain” originate.

Another valuable discussion that we had in class this week was around the idea that we shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes in front of our students, to admit to them that we don’t always have the answer right away, or to let them know that we are learning alongside them. I think this can go a long way in helping to establish positive relationships with students. Being open and honest with them allows them to see you as human and more likely to trust you, in my opinion. I know personally, I always connected and learned best under teachers who were transparent with me. The other key takeaway for me was that when you make mistakes in front of your students and are honest about it, it models for them that making mistakes is okay and that they are opportunities for growth. By seeing teachers make mistakes and approach them with a growth mindset I think it is more likely that students will experience less anxiety when they make mistakes of their own and even begin to adopt a growth mindset of their own!

I am excited to keep learning in this course and I am confident that my development as a future math educator will continue. Thanks for reading!