Scared of Math? Kids aren't Scared of math!
Well, of course they are!
The simple way we frame mathematics to kids scares them off before we even begin to teach the "hard stuff" (read: abstract) like trigonometry or calculus. I firmly believe that everyone has a story from their childhood where some adult or older kid they knew told them "math is hard" or "I'm no good at math". Before we even set foot in a classroom with complex mathematics on the syllabus, we've developed a predisposition.
"Adults I trust think it's hard."
"Adults I trust think it's scary."
Kids mirror the thoughts of the adults in their lives.
Then, these young students arrive in our classrooms. We put papers in front of them. We call them "worksheets" or a "workbook". Kids don't want to work, they want to play! On the worksheet, the one we tell them is full of problems, we tell them to show all of their work.
From their perspective, it looks like everything the adults told them is true. Work, Problems, papers, lots of writing...what seven-year-old wouldn't be afraid?
It's not just the young kids though. Math Anxiety is a real thing, and it affects adults and teens too! Often times, this anxiety can start as early as first grade, and the processes we use in our classrooms can absolutely make it worse.
But we don't have to make it worse. Words are powerful things, especially in the concrete and literal mind of a grade-school child. And fortunately it's completely free to switch up the ones we use!
Instead of introducing math to our youngest kids as "problems", exchange that word for a neutral or positive phrase. It's not a problem, call it an equation if there's an equal sign present, or if not, just a "number sentence".
For harder math (according to age, ability, and grade level), get more positive to counteract the perceived difficulty. It's a challenge or a quest for an explanation! Kids love challenges!
One of the most influential notes I've taken during my undergrad is how much I hate the word "work" in math. Math is about critical thinking, not work. Replace the word "work" with "thinking" in any place, it's not about just doing work...it's about thinking! So have the kids demonstrate their thinking!
Outside of language, a little bit of unconventional can elevate even the mundane to a more interesting level. While doing intervention on subtraction with a group of third graders, I decided that the standard algorithm was a bit too boring all on its own...so we decided to practice it "by the campfire" instead. I present to you: Torch Subtraction!
(It's an LED lantern, no actual fire was produced in the school building)
These kids loved every minute of this. Mind you, this was an intervention group...some of these kids came to me at the beginning struggling to count backwards from 20 to 0. One of them got teary-eyed when faced with subtraction with two digit numbers! We built our way up in basic skills, then when it came time to re-introduce the standard algorithm, we called it the "Capture the Algorithm Challenge" and since "the Standard Algorithm for subtraction is afraid of bright lights, third-graders, and pineapple on pizza (last one was their words, not mine), we had to be sneaky and work by firelight, lest it runs away!" We practiced this exactly the same way we would have under fluorescent lights. The lesson itself was no different. The atmosphere was what set the tone for the day. Not one student was stressed out or overwhelmed, they had a blast doing basic math, and all that was different was the tone and atmosphere. The math was scared of them!
Words and methods do matter to the kids, it's not that hard to adjust and have fun with it! We can't control what kids hear from other people, but in the classroom, we can cultivate a math-positive mindset, starting with how we talk about math!
What routines, words, and processes in your math instruction are scaring the children? Can you think of other ways to cultivate a Math-Positive Mindset in your classroom?
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