Math mistakes are a learning opp!

I already incorporate this idea of "mistakes are a learning opp" into my teaching having read Dweck's book which confirmed my instinct on my teaching style.  This was formed in engineering school in college as mistakes are so prevalent.  You get used to getting low scores and working hard for them.  When the average on a test is an 18 and that is a C you can take the mindset approach although we did not know it was called that and just work harder next time.  It was a bit crazy staying in Electrical Eng as my GPA was a 2.138 but it made me persistence and a good problem solver and it totally helps me to relate to my students!!!
Open and challenging problems are not necessarily the cure-all
You can learn a lot by studying and taking multiple choice tests
especially compare/contrast and also good wrong answers and why they are wrong!!!
Persistence is key -- that is how I got thru engineering school and I share this with many students as it was not easy nor GPA friendly but ppl love to hire engineers b/c we have been trained to be thinkers and persist!!
LOVE some of Prof Dweck's statements like:
"We should make kids feel cheated if the work is too easy for them"
"I can grow my Math brain"
"Math makes you work hard"
"Challenge is the new comfort zone"
but I disagreed with reminding teachers to keep track of progress b/c they probably already do this :)
3.7
Faster is not necessarily better but it sure helps with a lot of things
Obviously Laurent Schwartz did not know his own strengths
It would be great to interview someone who either has had a great experience with Math
and/or "the man/woman on the street" to get away from the academia perspective
Perhaps these interviews are meant to help the viewer feel empathy and connection but what about the student who has studied enough for the GRE to make it into the grad school of their dreams
How can you practice skills and knowledge if tests are too far apart?
Students learn while they take tests
It is not the testing culture -- ppl have felt this way abt Math for generations

How to Learn Math Do you think you can get smarter?

Question for students (and parents):
Do you think you can get smarter?

I ask this of my college students and at the end of the semester about 1/2 of them say "yes"
We think IQ is fixed when it is actually malleable.  This attitude may not take a learning disabled student to an Ivy League university just like some people are not likely to play professional basketball. But if you throw 100 free throws every day you will improve and if you do Math every day, you will also improve!

https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Education/EDUC115N/How_to_Learn_Math/about

Master Teacher Mindset by Robyn Jackson

Jackson outlines strategies for teachers and students to enhance learning and maximize student potential and performance. Her philosophy incorporates key ideas from Mindset by Carol Dweck and The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano.

Here are her seven principles:

Start where your students are
Know where your students are going
Expect to get your students to their goal
Support your students along the way
Use feedback to help you and your students get better
Focus on quality rather than quantity
Never work harder than your students

Mindset and Success according to Indexed (blog)

This is very reminiscent of Carol Dweck's book Mindset.
http://www.mindsetonline.com/

Women in Science...Mindset for Success: Average = C

Like poster mav62, my high Math SAT landed me into a technical discipline. While there were many more men than women in Electrical Engineering, we studied in groups in public places rather than by twos.

Stephanie Pfirman of Barnard mentions that getting an A- or B+ doesn’t spell the end of your career – it is important that women (and men) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) majors are aware that most introductory technical courses have a C average. http://mathconfidence.blogspot.com/search/label/mindset

PS Glad you were able to use trigonometry on the job ;)

http://fray.slate.com/discuss/forums/thread/2859080.aspx?View=Flat&ArticleID=2219701

Motivation and Mindset

Motivation is an important component to Math success -- an interesting book related to education and effort is Mindset by Carol Dweck. She divides the world into two basic categories -- Ability vs Effort.
A study of Stanford freshman Chem students (the average grade is a C+ and many of these students have never gotten less than an A) -- the students who were ability-oriented thought they were just not smart enough and dropped Chem.
In contrast, the students who were effort-oriented stayed the course and developed and implemented a plan so they could improve.
http://www.mindsetonline.com/