Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not everyone can do that I know I can't myself it's not because I've been duped into believing it I know I can't I tend to freeze up when I try.
That is a conditioned response. I deal with students every day who just can't seem to try. If I can get past that mental block they do ok. Many won't let go of it though. They've convinced themselves they can't so they can't. Believing we can't do something is hard to let go of. It requires risk and the willingness to fail repeatedly while we learn to overcome obstacles. Many people take it personally if they can't do something the first time. They think they're stupid. Rather than face failure they'd rather not try. Hence freezing up.
This is why I suggested going to khan academy and going back to math that's easy then working forward. You need to build off of success. Right now I'm trying to retrain 9th graders who have been conditioned to believe they can't. I know they can but getting them to try is a painful process.
Good point. When I used to tutor for the high school exit exam here, we always used money as an example with negative numbers. The students instantly understood that. The "rules" for adding and subtracting negative and positive numbers are hard to remember and not logical--unlike the rules for multiplying and dividing negative and positive numbers--so it helps to use logic....or at least something that they can remember without memorizing the rule.
Using thermometers or the concept of digging a ditch for negative numbers did not seem to work as well for them.
Kids get money. Especially when it's owed to them, lol. If you can do it with money you can do it with x's and y's but it takes a while to make the connection. I find my students have a math mental block. For some reason they don't see calculations with money as math .
Negative numbers are bills that are owed. Positive numbers are income. That works for most of my students but they forget to rephrase the problem in terms of money.
I use the exact same type of example! Or, another one that works well is the temperature: "If it's 14 degrees below 0 and goes down 44 more, what is the temp now?" They'll almost always say -58.
We hear it all the time. And we’ve had enough. Because we believe that the idea of “math people” is the most self-destructive idea in America today. The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career. Worse, you may be helping to perpetuate a pernicious myth that is harming underprivileged children—the myth of inborn genetic math ability."
That is a conditioned response. I deal with students every day who just can't seem to try. If I can get past that mental block they do ok. Many won't let go of it though. They've convinced themselves they can't so they can't. Believing we can't do something is hard to let go of. It requires risk and the willingness to fail repeatedly while we learn to overcome obstacles. Many people take it personally if they can't do something the first time. They think they're stupid. Rather than face failure they'd rather not try. Hence freezing up.
This is why I suggested going to khan academy and going back to math that's easy then working forward. You need to build off of success. Right now I'm trying to retrain 9th graders who have been conditioned to believe they can't. I know they can but getting them to try is a painful process.
Sounds like some of teachers I had telling us we were dumb because we couldn't grasp math. Sorry but some of us DON"T get it like some don't get science, etc. Do you think those of us who can't understand it like it?? I'm 50 and I've had to deal with this all my life. It's not that we are being conditioned we don't get it.
I would give anything to get it my life would of been a hell of a lot easier.
Sounds like some of teachers I had telling us we were dumb because we couldn't grasp math. Sorry but some of us DON"T get it like some don't get science, etc. Do you think those of us who can't understand it like it?? I'm 50 and I've had to deal with this all my life. It's not that we are being conditioned we don't get it.
I would give anything to get it my life would of been a hell of a lot easier.
I'm dyscalculic as crap and can't maintain even basic math skills without constant practice. I was never told I was dumb. I was told I had a high IQ and needed to stop being so lazy.
It's kind of weird that people call it math. The word is mathematics. It's in plural also in greek.
We study mathematics. Some people like them, but they are very difficult for other people. (Do you use the plural pronoun?)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
