Week 1 Blog Post

Hello and welcome to my math blog, I hope you all had a great summer and ready to go again in our second year of teacher’s college. My first blog is going to focus mainly on our Module 1 reflection questions, as that is what struck a chord with me this first week. 

I really liked the online module as I believe that the themes and questions made us reflect on the effects of math stereotypes, myths and the way media often portrays math. It’s true that social media and entertainment plays a huge role in young peoples’ lives and, whether they know it or not, has a huge effect on the way they think, what they feel and how they react in various situations in their daily lives. Because of this I believe that it is important for educators to be aware of the messages being shared with youngsters in order for them to address and attempt redirect to student beliefs, behaviors and attitudes. The fact of the matter is social media and entertainment frequently not only disperses myths about math but also reinforces math stereotypes by depicting math in a negative light. The math module brought the movie ‘Good Will Hunting’ to mind; I remember that I loved this movie during my youth and watched it more times than I’d like to admit. The main character in this movie was a math genius that, with little effort, was able to solve complex math equations. I remember a particular line in this movie where he expressly said that the numbers just ‘spoke’ to him.  I didn’t realize it back then but this movie, despite how much I enjoyed it, reinforced many math stereotypes that need to be busted in the classroom.

 Here is a list of just a few:

1)           Math is for boys: the main character was a white Caucasian male drop out who was helping a female university student with her math.

2)           ‘You either get math or you don’t’: the main character just ‘got’ math and was able to solve equations that professors and mathematicians around the world were unable to resolve

3)           Math brain is something you are born with: This movie portrayed math in such a way that viewers are lead to believe that a talent for math is something you are either born with or not. You can’t get better at it.

Watching this movie again as an educator (especially one in a math class) is an absolute nightmare; however, messages like these are everywhere in western society. 

In my opinion, and from some discussions I’ve had with other teacher candidates, there are many ways that this problem can be addressed in the classroom. It can be addressed through the teacher’s attitude and approach to teaching math; in other words, have a growth mindset, be positive, be supportive, be helpful and make math interesting. Let student’s know that making mistakes is normal (even in math) and is even encouraged to help them learn and grow.  Make the classroom an emotionally safe place where students feel comfortable taking academic risks and, when possible, make math as inclusive as possible. What do I mean by that? When possible take the time to point out historical figures (for example) who challenge the ‘expected’ status quo. A good example of this is the movie ‘Hidden figures’ that I also mentioned in my reflection module. This movie is excellent to use in math class as well as in history and social studies because not only does it bust the ‘math is for boys’ myth; but it also shows African American Women who, despite adversity, rise past the social expectations of their time and excel in a place and field where they are mostly unwelcome.  

This first week, for me, was a great way to reflect on influences outside of the classroom that teachers need to take into consideration when attempting to engage students in learning. It also pressed the importance of having and instilling a growth mindset into students.

If you would like to know more about the movie Hidden figures check out the below link: 

Unknown. (2016). Hidden Figures. Retrieved from https://imdb.to/2CY25cC