Maths has always held a certain fascination for me right from the start.
To begin with, numbers were easier to write and read than words -ten numerals versus twenty six alphabets made maths a whole lot easier for a four year old- and as I grew older, its simplicity, truth and ability to lend a helping hand to every other conceivable discipline around, made me respect it even more.
But of course, I hadn't thought this deeply about maths growing up - I just knew I liked mathematical reasoning - to me it seemed and looked like solving a puzzle- and every problem solved, gave me a certain buzz.
As I moved past primary into secondary and encountered Algebra and Trigonometry and Calculus and Statistics, I was blown away by how in its guise almost all of world's major decisions are based - from how countries are run to how bridges and skyscrapers are designed and built. How nature and galaxies rely on mathematical ratios and how beauty, perfection and design need a helping hand from mathematics too. Studying Computers in Uni, only renewed my deference for this boundless discipline.
Maths really is the Mother Teresa of all disciplines, it is a truly selfless subject, it is about all manners of things and about nothing at all in particular - it is like a clog that fits into all different kind of wheels to make them run smoothly. And its this innate selflessness, is what I admire about it the most -the ability to be a pivotal part of others success, but blend in the background, letting the spotlight shine on other crafts and trades and academia.
And yet, this wonderfully helpful, selfless subject, is the most disliked.
I hear it from students every day - "it's boring", "it doesn't make sense" and the classic "why do we need to find x?" is something every algebra teacher around the world has heard more than once in their teaching life.
And I know the reason why students say these things and feel that way- it's the way mathematics has been taught and still being taught - from textbooks, sterile, without context. I have come across brilliant students in maths, who are very good at it, but still are not fascinated by it, no where near the fascination I felt and still feel. Students can't see the relevance and who can blame them - the very quality of maths that drew me to this subject, is also it's downfall - it doesn't have a strong enough identity in its own right for students to sit up and take notice.
And the solution is simple as well- put it in context, don't tell them to find x, give them a real life problem where they feel the need to find x, without you pointing it out.
And that's what I try to do in my lessons, take a textbook problem, take the maths bits out and toss it to my students- how would they solve it? -and believe me, the maths soon follows, unprompted by me. They want to know, how to find the area of a cylinder, because if they knew that, they would be closer to the solution, and before long they are begging me to show them how it's done or searching on the net!
But these lessons don't come easy, they have to be carefully planned, you want the students to think they are in control- and in many ways they are, but really you are getting them to think (mostly) the way you want - there of course will always be one student that goes completely off tangent and tries to derail your lesson!
And then there is the perceived system too, that works against what you are trying to do- you have to have lesson objectives identified and met for every single lesson - which to me has always seemed bizarre and just pigeon holes students learning. To me teaching a student to do long divisions and memorize formula of area of a sphere by doing repeated calculations over and over again is such a waste of time - this generation does not need to memorize anything, they have all this information on their fingertips- what they do need is problem solving skills and practicing a logical, creative way of thinking ,reasoning, analyzing, deciding on calculations needed and making strategic informed judgments based on that - now these are the transferrable skills of the work force of tomorrow that will stand them in good stead.
So, my students have been golf players trying to figure out the perfect angle of their swing for a birdie, mountaineers trying to work out the inclines, pilots trying to work out the bearings on their flight path, stock brokers trying to work the percentage increase and decrease of their clients share price to make them the most profit and pocket a commission themselves, of course! I have had interior designers in my class trying to give in to the whims of their eccentric clients and lay a coin carpet in their living room - and the extension, a flashy sheikh needs his Range Rover covered in gold coins (This is the UAE, these things do happen here!)
And I am not alone in this, I get immense inspiration and ideas from other maths teachers who are trying to do similar things and posting their stories on the net - hopefully one day not to far off, we'll able to change the mindset of the young people we teach and make them appreciate the beauty of maths.
To begin with, numbers were easier to write and read than words -ten numerals versus twenty six alphabets made maths a whole lot easier for a four year old- and as I grew older, its simplicity, truth and ability to lend a helping hand to every other conceivable discipline around, made me respect it even more.But of course, I hadn't thought this deeply about maths growing up - I just knew I liked mathematical reasoning - to me it seemed and looked like solving a puzzle- and every problem solved, gave me a certain buzz.
As I moved past primary into secondary and encountered Algebra and Trigonometry and Calculus and Statistics, I was blown away by how in its guise almost all of world's major decisions are based - from how countries are run to how bridges and skyscrapers are designed and built. How nature and galaxies rely on mathematical ratios and how beauty, perfection and design need a helping hand from mathematics too. Studying Computers in Uni, only renewed my deference for this boundless discipline.
Maths really is the Mother Teresa of all disciplines, it is a truly selfless subject, it is about all manners of things and about nothing at all in particular - it is like a clog that fits into all different kind of wheels to make them run smoothly. And its this innate selflessness, is what I admire about it the most -the ability to be a pivotal part of others success, but blend in the background, letting the spotlight shine on other crafts and trades and academia.
And yet, this wonderfully helpful, selfless subject, is the most disliked.
I hear it from students every day - "it's boring", "it doesn't make sense" and the classic "why do we need to find x?" is something every algebra teacher around the world has heard more than once in their teaching life.
And I know the reason why students say these things and feel that way- it's the way mathematics has been taught and still being taught - from textbooks, sterile, without context. I have come across brilliant students in maths, who are very good at it, but still are not fascinated by it, no where near the fascination I felt and still feel. Students can't see the relevance and who can blame them - the very quality of maths that drew me to this subject, is also it's downfall - it doesn't have a strong enough identity in its own right for students to sit up and take notice.
And the solution is simple as well- put it in context, don't tell them to find x, give them a real life problem where they feel the need to find x, without you pointing it out.
And that's what I try to do in my lessons, take a textbook problem, take the maths bits out and toss it to my students- how would they solve it? -and believe me, the maths soon follows, unprompted by me. They want to know, how to find the area of a cylinder, because if they knew that, they would be closer to the solution, and before long they are begging me to show them how it's done or searching on the net!
But these lessons don't come easy, they have to be carefully planned, you want the students to think they are in control- and in many ways they are, but really you are getting them to think (mostly) the way you want - there of course will always be one student that goes completely off tangent and tries to derail your lesson!
And then there is the perceived system too, that works against what you are trying to do- you have to have lesson objectives identified and met for every single lesson - which to me has always seemed bizarre and just pigeon holes students learning. To me teaching a student to do long divisions and memorize formula of area of a sphere by doing repeated calculations over and over again is such a waste of time - this generation does not need to memorize anything, they have all this information on their fingertips- what they do need is problem solving skills and practicing a logical, creative way of thinking ,reasoning, analyzing, deciding on calculations needed and making strategic informed judgments based on that - now these are the transferrable skills of the work force of tomorrow that will stand them in good stead.
So, my students have been golf players trying to figure out the perfect angle of their swing for a birdie, mountaineers trying to work out the inclines, pilots trying to work out the bearings on their flight path, stock brokers trying to work the percentage increase and decrease of their clients share price to make them the most profit and pocket a commission themselves, of course! I have had interior designers in my class trying to give in to the whims of their eccentric clients and lay a coin carpet in their living room - and the extension, a flashy sheikh needs his Range Rover covered in gold coins (This is the UAE, these things do happen here!)
And I am not alone in this, I get immense inspiration and ideas from other maths teachers who are trying to do similar things and posting their stories on the net - hopefully one day not to far off, we'll able to change the mindset of the young people we teach and make them appreciate the beauty of maths.
