Are you one of the many adults who suffer from "arithmophobia" or "numerophobia?" While it may sound funny or appear that I am being sarcastic, these are real clinical phobias that affect a surprising number of adults. The fear or hatred of math runs deep for many adults.
Why does this matter and how does this affect our youth? Unfortunately, this negative bias towards math has a big effect on how our students perceive math. Have you ever heard a child say, "I hate math, this is hard, or when will I ever use this?" These comments are often followed by a biased adult saying, "just try to get through it and when you are done with school you won't have to use math anymore." This statement couldn't be further from the truth. Our world is filled with everyday math and to have a negative bias towards it, puts students at a huge disadvantage.
As educators, we have our work cut out for us to help change this negative bias towards math. We will have to work double time to help overcome the many negative views and comments that students hear about math from adults and other role models in their lives. To help show the lack of enthusiasm and retained math knowledge from adults, I have inserted a video clip that drives home this point.
In the video clip above, several adults and teens are asked the simple question, "What is a rhombus?" Sadly, no one was able to answer that or similar questions correctly. The questions being asked were part of 3rd and 4th grade curriculum. However, when the interviewer started to recite numbers from a popular 80's song, the teen was able to quickly and correctly say the numbers.
This solidified the fact for me that as educators we need to make learning fun, interactive and filled with repetition that builds and deepens understanding. If adults and teens have a "what does it matter" attitude, so will our students. We need to be role models for today's youth and get them excited and confident in their understanding and application of math.
Rocking the Standards is a great way to excite and engage children in math education. The premise behind it is that music makes learning fun. Tim Bedley the creator and lead drummer of the Rocking the Standards band is a 4th and 5th grade teacher in California. With over 20 years under his belt and his passion to help students succeed in school, he was able to mastermind the success of this band. Please view the video below showing the excitement and engagement of the students while learning about shapes.
For more information on math phobias and the negative bias it creates please read the article below.
Negative Math Bias
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