Part 2 - The Unspoken "Elitism" of Mathematics ...

What is it about Math?

It often seems to be the subject that everyone loves to hate. And that attitude is generally acceptable to most people. The conversation goes something like this ...

Person #1 ... "I hate Math."

Person #2 .... "Oh yeah, me, too!"

Person #3 ... "Not me, I love Math!"

Persons #1 & #2 in unison ..."Ewwwwww ... what are you?? Some kind of GEEK or something?"

And everybody moves a little further away from Person #3.

Yet if you were to take Person #1 aside and ask him if he would like to be able to do Math and understand Math ... he would admit that, YES, he would LOVE to be able to do Math well. Same thing with Person #2. Same thing with almost everybody.

So where is the disconnect? Everybody would like to be good at Math, but not many people are. Think back .... when exactly did Math become a problem for you? Was it in 1st grade? 4th grade? Middle School? Was it Algebra or Geometry?

Almost every adult had to take Algebra and some form of Geometry while in High School. Very few took more than that. Why?

If you are one of those people who would like to be good at Math, but only took what was required of you in High School, I would like to hear from you. When did Math begin to be a struggle for you? Was it the Math or was it the teacher or was it because of issues in your life at the time? Maybe it was a combination of these things?

I have my own theories on this ... but I would like to know how things worked in YOUR case. Please feel free to comment on this post or you may email me at MathMatters@verizon.net.



(to be continued ...)

The Unspoken "Elitism" of Mathematics ...

Are you good at Math? How good at Math are you? How does the following question make you feel?


50. Which of these equations describes a relationship in which every real number x corresponds to a non negative real number?

A. y = 2x

B. y = 2x ^2 (2 times x squared)

C. y = 2x^ 3 (2 times x to the third power)

D. y = -2x

Does it make you want to sketch graphs and figure it out? Or does it make you want to run screaming into the closet?

It's okay .... come on out of the closet .... I'm not going to make you do this problem and I am not going to judge you in any way if you have no idea what it even says. I promise. (However ... if you do want to know the answer, please Click Here.)

My guess is that out of 100 people polled, at least 80 would bow-out or back away from this question. Roughly 20 would try it .... and of those 20 maybe 11 will get it right? Maybe?

But what I know for sure .... those who get it right would be PROUD. Proud of their ability to do Math. Proud to know more than about 89% of the general population. And many of the Proud would be Math Teachers.

Knowing how to do Math is a wonderful thing. In a way, it is kind of like knowing how to do magic. People who can do magic are very happy to perform it, but almost always unwilling to share their secrets. And sometimes the performance of a Math problem looks like Magic to many ... only not near as entertaining as, say, sawing a Math teacher in half and then putting him/her back together again.

How many of you have ever tried to do a Math problem, been unsuccessful, and then heard someone say, "I can't believe you don't know how to do this! You should have learned this in Sixth Grade!" Okay, Okay put your hands down. Now ... how many of you have had a Math teacher say that to you? And how many of these Math teachers looked smug/disgusted when they said it?

Okay ... Okay ... put your hands down. And please stop imagining your Math teacher being sawed in half.

Yes ... there is a feeling of pride in being able to do something that "most people" cannot do ... being able to do something that actually scares most people. And sometimes there is a feeling of wanting to keep your secrets close, so that you are one of the few who can do it and do it well.

Mathematicians are often this way. Maybe not intentionally, but many Mathematicians seem unwilling to share their special talent with the general public. You either know it, or you don't ... and if you don't, too bad for you. Or maybe many mathematicians are the type who can do it well, but are unable to teach it in a way the general public can understand?

Everybody knows somebody who can do Math really well, but who cannot teach it worth anything. Often it is your architect Dad, or your engineer Uncle, or your honors achieving Sister. They can do it ... and do it well ... but they simply cannot explain it to you.

Enter Math teachers. It is their JOB to explain Mathematics to you in a way that you can understand. It is their job to teach this generation of high schoolers Algebra One and Geometry and Algebra Two and Pre-Calculus and Calculus and so on! And teach it they do. And teach it and teach it and teach it.

Yet colleges are still complaining that students don't know any Math. And 40,000 students didn't graduate from Texas High Schools in 2007, mainly due to the TAKS Math Test.

What is it about Math?

To be continued ...

In Praise of .... Schooling ....

Being in the business I am in these days, it is very easy to step on toes. Or to be "judged" as stepping on toes.

I am a Private Math Tutor. I tutor in my home in Lewisville and I see students Mon-Thurs. from 9:00am-9:30pm.

My students come from many different educational philosophies. I tutor/teach Homeschoolers, Unschoolers, Private Schoolers, Public Schoolers, and College students. I also tutor/teach students studying for their GED, SAT, ACT, or trying to pass a Math Test at work. My evening hours are dedicated to the Public and Private Schoolers .... my daytime hours go to everyone else.

I love Math. I love teaching Math. I love working with people who want to know Math. I honestly do not care what educational philosophy my students come from. That being said, I sure can get myself in trouble! So let me make myself perfectly clear .... ALL Philosophies of Education have their wonderful points. ALL Philosophies of Education have their problems. NONE are Perfect!

I taught in the Public School System for 22 years. My son is now a Senior at Lewisville High School, having spent his entire educational career so far in Lewisville Public Schools. And I dedicate my evenings from 4:30-9:30 Mon-Thurs to Public Schoolers. Yet .... I have recently been told that there is a rumor going around the Lewisville Independant School District that I am "anti-Public Schools". Hmmmm ....

Homeschoolers were afraid to trust me because I taught in Public Schools. I am still working on overcoming that. I know Math. I can teach Math. Math is not religious nor political (at least it shouldn't be). Math is totally objective. The most subjective part of Math would be an opinion of what should be taught in an Algebra One course. I have taught several Homeschoolers. I think their biggest issue with me is my fee.

Then there are the Unschoolers. What? You have never heard of "unschooling"? Google it. Read up on it. I think you will find it very interesting.

Here is the bottom line .... Home, Public, Private, Un ... SCHOOLING. Make sure your child gets an education. It is a tough world out there and it is up to you to arm them with as much education as you can get for them. If you don't think they are learning Math, let me help them. If you want them to learn more Math, I can help. If you want them to learn to LOVE Math ... I can even help with that.

Heck .... I can even help YOU like MATH. Look me up!

Education Quotes I like ....

"I touch the future. I teach." -Christa McAuliffe


"I have learned silence form the talkative,
Toleration from the intolerant,
And kindness from the unkind;
Yet ... Strange,
I am ungrateful to those teachers." -Kahlil Gibran


"One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, or what kind of house I lived in or how much money I had in the bank, but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in a child's life." -Author Unknown


"One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of a child." -Carl Jung


"Whether you think that you CAN, or that you CAN'T, you are usually right." -Henry Ford


"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." -Albert Einstein


"The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results." -Norman Vincent Peale


"A teacher is the candle that lights others in consuming itself." -Giovanni Ruffini


"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." -Henry B. Adams


"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes." -John Dewey


"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." -Albert Einstein


"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds." -Albert Einstein

Some Interesting Sites ...

I have interests in Math and Physics and Universal Questions ... and these are some things which I find to be very interesting .... be sure to click the Back Arrow after visiting each site so you can come back here ...


Powers of Ten and the Universe ....

Imagining the 10th Dimension ... be sure to watch the Flash presentation ... it is fascinating ...

Realtivity Slide Show .... Must be able to see Photobucket Shows ...

Night and Day ... world map showing darkness and light over the Earth ... be sure to explore other ways to view the map on this site ....

Mathematics Portal ... Gotta love Wikipedia

Stephen Hawking's Universe ... Pretty much what it says .....

I will add more to this soon ....

All the Good Things ....

I first saw this story in Reader's Digest ... it made me cry then.

Then I saw it in the very first "Chicken Soup for the Soul" Book by Jack Canfield ... and it made me cry again ...

And this past Tuesday I read it out-loud to my 6th and 7th grade students at BridgePoint Academy ... and it choked me up twice ...
.
I guess it is safe to say that this story strikes a chord in my soul ...

ALL THE GOOD THINGS

by Sister Helen P. Mrosla

He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary's School in Morris, Minn. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, but had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving: "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" I didn't know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.

One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice-teacher's mistake. I looked at him and said, "If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!"

It wasn't ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, "Mark is talking again." I hadn't asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it.

I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark's desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a big X with them over his mouth.

I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me.

That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark's desk, removed the tape and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, "Thank you for correcting me, Sister."
At the end of the year I was asked to teach junior-high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instructions in the "new math," he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in the third.

One Friday, things just didn't feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves--and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish the assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, "Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend."

That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and I listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" I heard whispered. "I never knew that meant anything to anyone!" "I didn't know others liked me so much!"

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again.

That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip--the weather, my experiences in general. There was a light lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and I simply said, "Dad?" My father cleared his throat as he usually did before something important. "The Eklunds called last night," he began.

"Really?" I said. "I haven't heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is."
Dad responded quietly. "Mark was killed in Vietnam," he said. "The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend."

To this day I can still point to the exact spot on I-494 where Dad told me about Mark.

I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me.

The church was packed with Mark's friends. Chuck's sister sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water.

I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who had acted as pallbearer came up to me. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. "Mark talked about you a lot," he said.

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates headed to Chuck's farmhouse for lunch. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded, and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that" Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."

Mark's classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put this in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary."

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet, and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said without batting an eyelash. "I think we all saved our lists."

That's when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The original story appeared in Proteus. Condensed in the October, 1991, Reader's Digest. Also compiled by Alice Gray in Stories For The Heart, 1996, Vision House Publishing, Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After I read this story to my students, I passed out papers with the names of all their classmates and teachers already filled in, and I asked the students to write some nice things about each person.

They groaned and moaned, but got right to work. I then took the papers home and compiled a sheet for each student ... (I used to do this by hand ... thank goodness for the computer and WORD!!)

On the last day of classes before Summer break, I gave each student and teacher their list of Good Things which the students had written about them. The effect was the same as in the above story. Simple words like "Smart", "Pretty" and "Kind" peppered the sheets. Other words like "Thoughtful" , "Hard-working" , "Complicated" , "Sensitive", and "Hilariously sarcatstic" were used. Teachers were described as being "Funny" and "Caring" and "Merciful" and "Forgiving".

It doesn't matter how old you are ... it is nice to read how people feel about you. It is especially nice to read Good Things people have written about you.

It was a good way to end the school year.

Will EOC Testing be any Better?

The Texas Legislature is considering replacing the High School TAKS tests with 12 End Of Course (EOC) Tests.

No .... these are not the Final Exams of your memory.

The Final Exams of your memory would be Exams which were written by your teacher covering the material your teacher had covered in class that semester or year. The teacher taught the class, the teacher wrote the tests, the teacher graded the tests.

The EOC tests will be standardized tests written by PEARSON Educational Systems ... the same people who wrote the TAKS tests. (Can you say "another big contract for Pearson"?)

EOC's are not new concepts. For several years there were EOC's being given to 9th graders for Algebra I and for Biology. These tests were given IN ADDITION TO any final exams the teachers gave. My opinions of EOC testing are based on my experiences with the Algebra I EOC test several years ago.

Just let me say this .... it isn't gonna get any better, folks.

A teacher can follow the curriculum and teach exactly what is supposed to be taught ... and be totally blindsided by the "End of Course" tests. It has been my experience that instead of testing the curriculum, the EOC DROVE the curriculum. Teachers, of course, were only allowed to see the test AFTER it was given ... and it often turned out that the things on the test just weren't the things of Algebra I ... at least not what the teachers thought were Algebra I.

We teachers always seemed to be at least six steps behind!! We would focus our teaching on the things that were tested on the last test only to find that the newest test focused on different things. The Algebra I books became totally worthless because the test was testing things often beyond the considered realm of Algebra I. Teachers had to create new worksheets and totally new lesson plans in an attempt to cover anything that might be asked on the next EOC. Algebra I courses became a mish-mash of old EOC tests and areas of weakness on those tests.

Meanwhile .... Algebra I was not being taught. At least, not the Algebra I we learned years ago. Principals and Math Coordinators only cared about the EOC test results ... no one seemed to care if the students could actually do any Algebra I!!

Geometry teachers began to notice severe weaknesses in their students Algebra I skills. So Geometry teachers had to start doing more remediation in Alg. I ... plus teaching the Geometry. And now the state wants to give an EOC Geometry test?? Plus an EOC Algebra II test??
Talk about a Math teacher nightmare. Makes me very happy to be on the private tutoring end of things. My business should do VERY well.

The DMN printed this article about the legislative moves on EOC Testing ... and it contained this quote ....

"We are extremely disappointed with what the House did," said Mr. Hammond, now president of the Texas Association of Business. "While we support the move to end-of-course exams, the House bill would make those tests meaningless."

He noted that when Texas had an end-of-course Algebra I exam a few years ago, virtually all students passed the course, even though as many as 90 percent were failing the end-of-course test each year.

90% of the students FAILED the EOC Algebra I test???

Did anyone stop to question the validity of THAT test?

Yikes ... I am beginning to sound like a broken record.

Any of you who think the move to End of Course testing is a move in a positive direction ... you are going to find yourselves to be sadly mistaken.