Good Mathematicians Never Get Stuck. Right?
This is a common misperception: If you are good at math, everything come easily.
Good mathematicians know that getting stuck is a common occurrence. Being a good mathematician means you have learned how to be stuck without being frustrated and without giving up. You have developed good strategies to help you make progress even when you don't know precisely which way to go. You have learned habits of mind and habits of learning to help you get un-stuck.
These are things we work on all the time with students. An important topic in math education circles is the idea of "productive struggle", and this has been a focus at Mustard Seed since the beginning. Here are some of the things we work on to help students persevere:
Habits of Mind
Habits of Learning
Strategies
We help students develop strategies organically by asking, "What do mathematicians do?" This week and next, students will consider this question in math classes.
Some answers will be obvious: "They count."
Some will be profound: "They speak the language of the universe."
And many will contain strategies that help when a student is stuck:
Good mathematicians know that getting stuck is a common occurrence. Being a good mathematician means you have learned how to be stuck without being frustrated and without giving up. You have developed good strategies to help you make progress even when you don't know precisely which way to go. You have learned habits of mind and habits of learning to help you get un-stuck.
These are things we work on all the time with students. An important topic in math education circles is the idea of "productive struggle", and this has been a focus at Mustard Seed since the beginning. Here are some of the things we work on to help students persevere:
Habits of Mind
- connecting and synthesizing: applying prior knowledge
- creating: imagining, innovating, modeling
- thinking flexibly: adapting and changing
- questioning: who can help? what questions can I ask?
- reflecting: metacognition
Habits of Learning
- persisting: learning and practicing with perseverance, tenacity, grit
- self-regulating: using self control
- exploring: taking risks with boldness, willing to fail and make mistakes
- striving for accuracy, clarity, excellence, elegance
- using all senses and modes to gather information, communicate, represent
We help students develop strategies organically by asking, "What do mathematicians do?" This week and next, students will consider this question in math classes.
Some answers will be obvious: "They count."
Some will be profound: "They speak the language of the universe."
And many will contain strategies that help when a student is stuck:
- ask for help
- draw a picture
- make a chart
- look for patterns
- do research
- try a simpler version of the same problem
- take a break
Your children will be stuck some nights this year as they struggle with math homework or confront a challenging I Love Math problem. Help them enjoy the journey. Ask them what a mathematician would do? Feel free to share what you do when you hit a roadblock.