I Was Told There Would Be No Math

(headline from Slate magazine re: NYTimes new puzzle KenKen)

Is Sudoku's promise of "no Math" essential PR for promoting number puzzles? A not-so-positive relationship with Math can be left over from school days and can undeliberately be handed down from generation to generation.

KenKen creates another opportunity to engage people with numbers.

The many rewards of Math include critical thinking skills, broader career choices, discipline, focus and confidence for academic, professional and personal success (plus the "aha" of a solution)

http://fray.slate.com/discuss/forums/2097086/ShowForum.aspx?ArticleID=2211595

The SAT Question of the Day…price: free!!

The SAT Q of the D is short , sweet and wallet-friendly as well as fun for brain fitness at any age (I have learned a LOT of grammar!!). Sadly, only 1 out of every 3 is Math (the other 2 out of every 3 is Verbal…sigh).
You get immediate feedback upon clicking your answer along with a pie chart showing how respondents have scored and the question's difficulty level.

A workout at the gym increases physical fitness...
The SAT Q of the D improves mental fitness.

Forbes Magazine's Article on Remedial Math

Like sports coaching, academic coaching can help people improve their knowledge, skills and attitude to develop to their potential. Kumon’s back-to-basics philosophy is attractive to parents who would like their kids to be more knowledgeable and self-dependent. By learning the standard Math algorithms, students reduce their dependency on the calculator while improving their grades and gaining confidence.

This comment posted on forbes.com
http://rate.forbes.com/comments/CommentServlet?op=cpage&sourcename=story&StoryURI=forbes/2009/0302/095_remedial_math.html

Comment on www.nytimes.com re: Value of an Education

The value of an education goes beyond what is learned in school. The most important part of education is learning how to self-educate. As a Math educator, people often ask me “When am I ever going to use this Math?” which is posed as a challenge rather than a “Wow! This is cool! When will I get to use it?”
Below is a list of benefits of studying Math:
Strengthens critical thinking and reasoning skills
Broadens career and educational choices
Instills values of discipline and excellence
Improves self-awareness, focus and attention
Builds confidence for academic, professional and personal success

While not as interactive as a college class, reading the great literary and philosophical works (as well as studying Math and other technical content) is available to anyone with a spark of curiosity and a library card or the Internet.

Robin Schwartz
http://www.mathconfidence.com/
http://www.mathconfidence.blogspot.com/

Link to the original article
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/books/25human.html

Previewing a Real PSAT…$3 – can you go wrong?

Many students will benefit from seeing the format and content of the PSAT especially the grid-in questions on the Math section. They are $3 -- just got 10 of each for the 2008 administration (Wednesday and Saturday).

The two biggest surprises seem to be
1. “20 questions in only 25 minutes?”. High school courses may or may be preparatory in terms of content or time management.
2. The grid-in questions that are not multiple choice where the student writes the answer and bubbles it in on the test form.

Order of Difficulty
The Math questions are arranged in order of difficulty based on field testing. So #1 and 2 should be easy and by #17 they are challenging.

However, on the Math section with the grid-ins
(the first 8 questions are multiple choice and the last 10 are grid-in)
Questions 1-8 (multiple choice) swing through the Easy/Medium/Hard
and the first few grid-ins (they start at #9) start back at Easy
so do not spend too much time on questions 6 - 8.

Being familiar with PSAT format and timing will help students on Test Day (given only once a year in October) and oh, just make you smarter anyway ;)

Adding Character Building to the Dialogue on Grades and Effort

Huge Response to NYT Article re: Student Expectations

The New York Times published seven letters today relating to last week's article (which was the most emailed article for at least a day or two). Most of the letters were focused on the reward of effort with a grade.

The reward of effort is the character building and internal self-confidence that are boosted by hard work and perseverance. It would be terrific if the dialogue on this topic would include the non-grade related payoff. When I have posted about effort and learning are among the top benefits of technical content, grades have not been mentioned.

There is a great visual in the NYT OpEd next to these 7 letters that says:
90 - 100 A
80-90 A
70-80 A
60-70 B+
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/opinion/l23grades.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Last week, I posted the distribution of grades in engineering courses...(see 2/18 blog below)...oops, I forgot to mention how much grades depended on the class average (usually far below 50). This hardens the learner as the 'easy' A is just never there and the payoff is looking longer horizon toward the degree, job possibilities, life lessons...rather than embarassment, a lot of camaderie was constructed by exchanging test score information (that were so LOW). You hoped for a C but sometimes, a D was for diploma -- you got your 3 credits toward your degree...Engineering schools do this on purpose to build mental toughness and it works although some drop out not because they are asked toleave but rather because they are used to getting As.

Thanks Syracuse University L.C. Smith College of Engineering!

Testing is an Opportunity

Testing has often been viewed as a threat rather than an opportunity. Multiple choice can be excellent for developing reasoning skills as knowing why what’s right is right is as important as knowing what’s wrong is wrong. Many common Math mistakes and misconceptions can be diagnosed through the use of multiple choice since they are intentionally designed with “good wrong answers”. By studying old or sample exams, much learning can be achieved along with focus and attention to detail that is so important on tests and in life.

New York asks for Feedback on Testing

This survey asks which months should be considered for New York State testing plus whether tests should be multiple choice and/or open-ended questions.

Parents, students, teachers, interested citizens click on the title and give your feedback on Grades 3 - 8 New York State testing. Because of No Child Left Behind, states have required testing in Math and ELA (English Language Arts).

First and foremost, constructing tests is a challenge – it is for me with only a few dozen students whereas the state has millions!!!

The state would like feedback on the format of the test -- multiple choice vs. open-ended questions. While the open-ended questions provide an opportunity for partial credit, some are tricky because they would like an explanation for Plain Old Math.

Click here for old exams and other info on testing in NYS:

General NYS Testing page
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/

Specific Math NYS page
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/elintmath.html

Response to Teach Your Children Well HuffPost

Confidence is often a result of effort and mistakes.. As a Math peak performance coach and a parent, my role is to help people to build their Math Confidence through knowledge, skills and attitude. Self-esteem in any discipline can be heightened by taking risks and making mistakes -- thereby growing wiser.
The huge attitudinal component associated with Math is twofold:
1. a grade of A is usually harder to achieve in Math than in other subjects. It is tough to be perfectionistic and be a Math student.
2. "When Are We Ever Gonna Use This Math?" is not posed because they so eager to use it, it"s a you-can't-make-me type of question?rather than "This is so cool " I can't wait to use it!!"
People confuse utility with critical thinking skills -- maybe the curriculum should be Excel spreadsheets. For now it's Algebra and Trig. Why did we read "The Odyssey"? It's just plain good for you like gym and vegetables.
Looking beyond grades and focusing on learning and effort is a great life lesson for students, parents, teachers and society at large.

The Easy A vs. Learning & Effort

(click on the title to see the New York Times Education article)
"Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes"

A de-emphasis on grades helps learners, parents, teachers and society focus on effort and learning which are the true goals of education.

Well-intentioned parents can unintentionally discourage students from furthering their studies in Math and Science as technical courses tend not to be easy As (or even hard As). In engineering school, many professors distribute the grades as follows: 10% A, 20%B, 40%C, 20% D, 10%F. Getting used to the possibility of a C is an important life lesson that speaks of effort and learning.

Teacher Education, Content Exposure and Test Prep

Just like students, student teachers benefit from content exposure.

By including the Regents, PSAT/SAT, 6th/7th/8th grade state tests and SHSAT in their training, teachers will develop tangible and memorable problem-solving strategies for their students. Many Teacher Ed programs focus on the undergraduate Math while underemphasizing the secondary Math that teachers will need in their classroom.

Through the process of mentoring and supervising secondary teachers, the philosophy and methodology of Math Confidence will be a powerful tool for instructors to have in their repertoire.

Cell Phones for Learning and Teaching Math?

What role should technology play in the classroom and in life?

This article sparked 46 reader comments. Some felt that the phones were a distractor to the content...others felt that it might be engaging for the students.

I have found that varying the delivery of content keeps students engaged. Perhaps the smartphone as one mode of instruction might supplement other techniques and devices (group work, teach back, TI-83/4, Excel, etc.).

Many students of Generation Text have come to depend on technology perhaps too much -- although coming from the Dinosaur Age of learning without calculators (because they were not available), it is hard to imagine growing up with these types of technology.

'Fuzzy Errors' and Math Scores

Math scores often do not accurately reflect student knowledge and skills.
Test-taking skills and attention to detail are as important as the content.
Following directions and answering the exact question (sometimes they ask for x + 2 instead of x) is a key component of test-taking.

Studying multiple choice questions (with 'good wrong answers') increases self-awareness of the thinking process and alerts students to the potential for error. Viewing the studying and test-taking process through this lens enhances the learning process, reduces 'fuzzy errors' and helps students (and their families) to build resilience and persistence.

One of the best take aways from Engineering school (after multiple 7% test scores): Learning and Effort are more important than Test Scores!!

Exchanging Ideas and Strategies for Math B Success

On March 14th in Middletown, NY at the Ten County Math Educators Association annual conference, "Exchanging Ideas and Strategies for Math B Success" will debut. The workshop is a forum for teachers to share techniques for student learning and retention of the complex and lengthy nature of the Math B Regents curriculum.

Maximizing the usage of the TI-83/4 for better understanding and test performance will be a highlight as will the potential overuse of this tool.
Rounding will be discussed as the Math B's Part II, III and IV emphasizes this important skill.

Study Groups Lead to Metacognition

In engineering school, Math is an assumed skill set. Strength in fractions, rounding, unit conversion, scientific notation, trig functions will help students in problem-solving. Conversely, it is easy to get the wrong answer by miscalculating or making an incorrect assumption.

Study group discussions (debates!!) helped refine the thinking process as you had to defend your answer in front of a crowd. This process was very effective and important in building metacognition skills as well as recognizing common errors and the potential for what could go wrong!!

The College Board has a very similar post:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/50432.html

Math Facts and Math Confidence

Does memorization of Math facts promote Math Confidence?

Is the opposite true?

Is Mental Math as valued a skill as it once was? (I learned to deal with counting money and making change as a young girl in my Grandpa Dave's store in Brooklyn on a register that did not calculate the change for you!!)

Math Confidence and Calculators

Do Calculators Increase or Decrease Math Confidence?

The students in Math for Elementary Teachers campaigned to use calculators on their exam. To get their feedback on this subject, we had a discussion board on line (where they could post anonymously if they wanted). All student posts were in favor of the calculator.

On Thursday, 2/12, they were allowed to use a calculator during the last 30 minutes of the 75 minute period. I noticed that some students who had supported calculator use finished without calculators.

Although some of the bias may be generational of the calculator vs. non-calculator, I posted New York State guidelines for Grades 3 - 8 (only Grades 7 and 8 are allowed to use them on the non-multiple choice sections). It will be interesting to get feedback from these learners next week.

On this exam, the average was above 90.