tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post2501116868295358246..comments2024-03-26T07:07:14.304-07:00Comments on Teacher Tom: What If We Taught Art The Way We Teach Math?Teacher Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-31075200846475599532015-10-28T08:07:50.673-07:002015-10-28T08:07:50.673-07:00See Lockhart's Lament.See Lockhart's Lament. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-88429110709727693872015-10-28T02:13:59.870-07:002015-10-28T02:13:59.870-07:00This is a very important way to think about how we...This is a very important way to think about how we teach Maths. A very similar analogy has been made between the teaching of Music and the teaching of Maths in "A Mathematician's Lament." https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf Marinanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-5314755483457195912015-10-28T02:04:13.408-07:002015-10-28T02:04:13.408-07:00I like the analogy!Well done. If you are intereste...I like the analogy!Well done. If you are interested, we have done a distillation of an extensive literature review of how the brain learns - to sum that up Art, Sports science, social sciences the other soft subjects are soft because they are taught well Maths & Science are hard because they are taught extremely poorly. Here is a link where you can download the summary of that research free of charge - all the best with your work with those fortunate kids!<br /><br />Mark Treadwell www.MarkTreadwell.com/free_downloadMark Treadwellhttp://www.marktreadwell.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-39559953707968025062015-10-27T15:16:42.161-07:002015-10-27T15:16:42.161-07:00I couldn't agree more. I teach in the Primary...I couldn't agree more. I teach in the Primary school sector in New Zealand and I think attitudes towards mathematics is fairly similar. About 15 years ago, we introduced "The numeracy project". This was a massive change to how number was taught, as it had been identified that basic number skills such as mastery over the 4 operations was in a steep decline. The approach was to allow students to 'discover' solutions and methods for themselves, through a series of carefully guided and structured lessons, using very particular language. The intent of this was an acknowledgement that there is often more than one way to discover an answer. Play and games were encouraged to solve problems. As your colleague stated, "Maths is messy". Personally, I found a light going on in my own head, and I discovered that actually, I have quite a capacity for working with quite large numbers in my head. Of course parents struggled with supporting their children with this as they only had learned, with varying degrees of success how to complete algorithms. <br />About the same time that this method was introduced, or certainly shortly after, pressures were put on the system, that meant that the time required to mater any of this was put under serious threat. Unrealistic Standards that had been plucked out of the ether were imposed and basically, all of the potential of this system was negated in one fell swoop. Essentially, it has largely been abandoned in favour of rote learning that has little understanding or other old fashioned methods that led to the general disdain with which we hold mathematics learning. I cannot wait for the pendulum to swing back! Sandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16831838300040641353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-76925138826346245912015-10-27T08:54:40.202-07:002015-10-27T08:54:40.202-07:00Great post! This captures the frustrations I have ...Great post! This captures the frustrations I have had with math. Not counting the crappy teachers that have ruined numbers for some, but why can't math be taught in a fun and unusual manner? We would have a lot more people understanding and enjoying the subject instead of dreading it all the time. I cant even tell you how many times i have heard a person say they "don't do math" when trying to figure out a tip. We can be better than this and it is high time we treat math better. This coming from someone who hates geometry. LolMissFifihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09948141818594611257noreply@blogger.com