Discussion
Sometimes I have a student who has to work much harder than their peers just to keep up with the mathematics. It could be that they have less experience with math, it could be that math is difficult for them, but it can be discouraging to work as hard or harder than everyone else and just get a C-
It can make you feel really small and not very smart. Even if objectively you know that isn't really true.
For those who have been that student what helped you to keep going?
@futurebird I was that student, and I still consider myself "bad at math." What helped was remembering that I'm strong in other subjects. If your struggling student is like me - more of a language arts brain, then they might be able to use it as an advantage; I understand science and math better when I can find good written explanations of concepts.
@futurebird i think the end goal always required me to complete the courses, so I just plugged away and it didn’t bother me to be scraping by. I just needed to make it. But in that sense I also wasn’t trying very hard. I had a lot of personal things happening as a teen, and, I didn’t talk about it at school. I skipped many classes. But an understanding teacher who didn’t make me feel stupid or bad was always appreciated. At least I felt comfortable around them and came to class.
@futurebird Most of the time - needing it for something practical I cared about. E.g. nothing will motivate you to learn linear algebra like wanting to write shaders.
@futurebird I wasn’t diagnosed with dyscalculia until my final semester of uni when I was on my fourth attempt at passing the basic college algebra pre-requisite for graduation with my BFA and BA degrees.
When a student isn’t quite keeping up *despite clear effort* it would be worth a serious look if that diagnosis comes into question. Because it’s a sneaky one that can really fly under the radar. Getting a diagnosis earlier and figuring out my accommodations would have been a life changer.
@futurebird honestly, I’ve just had to accept that certain types of maths (typically ones that require memorizing a lot of formulae and symbols) are going to take me much longer than everyone else. I take pleasure out of understanding the “why” of these areas and it’s the “why” that clicks my understanding. However, that’s what takes all the extra time.
@futurebird math is a good metaphor for effort. We're all neurodivergent in the house. My 16yo is like me, exceptional in reading comprehension, writing, art, science. But working with numbers is extremely difficult. We can do it, but we're slow and have to put in more effort than most. And that's a good thing! I tell her that no one is "bad" at something because it isn't easy for them. And just because something is easy or comes naturally, that doesn't make you "good" at it. All good things need the proper attention and practice. The application of mathematics is how we get to art and science, so having something that takes care and effort is so, so important. And so, when we're going over math problems, I always point out examples of real world application.
@futurebird I don’t know if my experience would be relevant because I have a very high effort score. I do not give up easily. But through trial and error I have found that working with other students helps me when books and lectures aren’t helping me get better.
@futurebird Oof, the maths-learning issue. Schooling was always effortless for me: top marks, class placement years ahead of peers, high output, and often my work ended up as the rubric example. Until calculus.
Calc 1 reversed everything. I'd work practice problems every night for hours trying, hopelessly, to crack derivatives. Through miracle or mercy, I managed to pull a 20% up to a C-. Calc 2 put me on academic probation (part-time university for a second bachelor's) and I quit.
I think my problem was instruction and evaluation. The profs worked problems on the board up to the "ta-da" moment. Like a magic trick, no explanation of process, no theory to contextualize the algorithm or its outcome, no material basis, just "answer".
Exams were 20-30 questions, a full sheet each for "show your work" and 90 minutes to work. The work never got marked up, just a top-line score on each, summed to a failure overall. Office hours were during my work day. Independent study got me up to a D+
@futurebird
If textbook samples do not work, find a well verves teacher or student and ask for their way of understanding the issue. It may not be the one that clicks with your though processes, but by asking more people you are more like to find one that lends to your learning skills and style. This is why diversity of minds and backgrounds is so important in education.
@futurebird once you get lost learning math you'll find yourself swirling the drain unless and until you backtrack, repair the damage then get back on the path. figure out when that happened and you'll be able to reboot the kid. worked for me.
Nothing, I stopped doing #Maths altogether ! 😐 cos I could not study or take Maths as a course any further after the shitty grades I got in college (highschool 🇺🇸 ) that's how it mostly works in my part of the world #Pakistan and I learnt it better from the internet, books and khanacademy later on just to satisfy my own curiosity (and to test myself)
@futurebird well, mathematics isnt my subject but the same happens for students who just don't think critically and leave logic behind. In that case I go back to the basics of Logic from deduction and induction when they get the understanding, their perspective changes
@futurebird in my chemistry class at 17 we had an exchange student who's first language was not English. To support them the teacher gave everyone a copy of her full class notes and all the equations for every session. In previous years she had written everything on the board while explaining concepts and expected everyone to copy it all down whilst learning. That year the whole class grade went up because she levelled the playing field for everyone not just the exchange student, people who struggled to write fast or copy accurately could focus on content. She carried on with the strategy in future years afterwards. If there's anything you can do to reduce demands and allow the student to focus on the maths (rather than writing or copying etc) I'd suggest that.
@futurebird On a semi-related note, that may or may not have anything to do with your post (but I think it does)...
I was friendly with someone a few years ago who joined a hiking group, for people of varying abilities, and found that when those at the front stopped to take a few minutes break while waiting for those at the back to catch up, those at the back would never get a break, because the group would set off as soon as the stragglers caught up.
This friend raised this with the group leaders, but they couldn't understand that, with her physical problems (arthritis in knees and hips, and asthma), walking for long periods was both slow and painful, and not getting even a few minutes respite occasionally made things worse.
Back to your post - I always found that maths came easily to me, I was always amongst the first to finish any assignment, and was racing way ahead of everyone else - but I also knew that not everyone worked at that pace, and they wanted a break as well after wrapping their brain around a new concept, so never pushed to go faster.
Hell, some of the people who struggled in maths lessons excelled in art, where I was the one struggling, so I knew exactly how they felt!
@futurebird I struggled Lots with math in school, until a teacher tried me on word problems and a calculator. Turns out I have a learning disability where I can't hold #s in my head, but I can grasp real-world applications well. I went up through Calc III in Uni, even though it wasn't required, because I loved it so much. For me, it was having someone recognize my disability and accommodate, of course, but also how they encouraged me to find my own way into the subject, that did it.