When I think about math .....

At the beginning of every course I ask students to write their names on an index card and complete the sentence, “When I think about math …” I then read the answers anonymously to the whole class. I do this to let everyone know that we are all in this together. This is a form of validation, that is, giving voice to feelings of distress about math and letting students know it’s ok to feel that way. This also lets students know that even though they may have negative feeling about math they can still do it.

This isn’t the only form of validation that I use in the classroom, but it is the most unique. And I know from my own experience this first day activity relaxes everyone which results in a more congenial atmosphere.

Laura Rendon first proposed the idea of validation being a viable technique in higher education in 1994 . Ms. Redon brought to light the effect that validation has on non-traditional students: racial minorities, women, first in family students, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, disabled students, and other non-racial minorities (Jews, gay and lesbian students and the like). The effects start with a feeling of greater engagement with the college or university, which leads to greater persistence – the likelihood that a student will continue going to school – which in-turn leads to completion.

In addition to the activity at the beginning of class, there are other validation techniques that I use:.

• ·         Taking time to learn students’ names
• ·         Give students opportunities to see themselves as successful learners – getting active feedback during lectures.
• ·         Becoming ‘partners in learning’ – classwork/groupwork in class
• ·         Telling students, “You can do this, and I am going to help you.”
• ·         Encouraging students to support each other.
• ·         Meeting with students outside regular office hours.
• ·         Working individually with students who need extra help
• ·         Demonstrating a genuine concern for teaching students
• ·         Being personable and approachable.
• ·         Treating students equally

In reading lists of what constitutes validation I came across “ensure that the curriculum reflects student backgrounds.” My first response was, “How the heck can I do that in a developmental algebra class where I’m trying to teach factoring?” The thing, I realized, was in any given list there may be ideas that are not applicable to my particular class, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t do everything that I can do to validate students.

Math class can be an intimidating place, and students often come full of fears and past failure. Letting them know that their feelings are heard and understood helps them move forward.

Stuck on Multiplication

One of the hardest things is teaching students who don’t know things that are “obvious” or things “they ought to know already.” This is especially true when teaching arithmetic to adult students. Watching them struggle with addition and multiplication tables can be very taxing.

I have a student who, even at the end of the quarter, has still not memorized multiplication tables, and struggles to do addition without counting everything on his fingers. This makes everything else, from decimals to fractions, difficult to do. I am working in the tutoring center this quarter, and have had a chance to work one on one with this student, but it is still challenging.

So, what to do?

First thing is to take a deep breath, as often as needed.

The department I am currently in requires students to get 100% on basic skills tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in order to pass the class, regardless of their overall grade otherwise. This may sound harsh, but having watched students struggle it seems to be the best way to stress the importance of this material.

As a tutor there are several techniques that can be used. They come down to “drill and kill.” This year I was introduced to is The Clock Method.

Start with a clock.

Then put the number that you want to multiply by in the center, and point at different numbers on the dial. Keep going back to the ones that students take more than a couple of seconds to get.

As students get better with basics, then you can start working with students to recognize patterns to aid when memorization fails, and to help increase speed of calculations. 

Things like:

·         What happens when you add nine to a number?

·         How can you tell when a number is divisible by 3?

·         What are tricks for remembering multiplying by 9?

While it can feel frustrating teaching students the basics when they are in college, I have found that it can be deeply satisfying. Often the only thing holding students back is their inability to do the basics. Granted it’s a big “only thing,” but once students get past it amazing things can happen. I have a student now who started in basic math and is now getting A’s in algebra, once she got past that one hurdle she has begun to shine mathematically.