Know Thyself

Hypothetical:  A child in your class says, "I hate math! I'm not good at math, and I never will be!" What experiences do you think this child has had in his/her life that contributes to this child's feelings about his or herself, math, and his or her relationship to math?

I think some students who say things like this have been made to feel like “I can’t” is a good excuse.  They’ve heard and used it so many times (and found it to be an acceptable excuse), that it is just easier to say “I can’t” than to just “do.”  Instead of being awed by learning a new subject or topic, the child has it “tuned out” before even trying his/her hand at it.  This is not always the case.  Some children who grow up in environments where an education is not a premium, may be told that they aren’t “smart enough” or are made to feel like being interested in learning is not high on a list of priorities . . . so why try in the first place?  I also look at it from my point of view as a student.  When I was younger, I used to think that I could not do math . . . “I just wasn’t a math person.”  I liked to read and write, and that was it.  In all honesty, I was lazy and didn’t want to take the time to do my work.  Since I barely did my homework and daydreamed through class, I did horribly on tests.  It was like a self-fulfilling prophesy.  I said I can’t, and when I didn’t . . . it was reinforced.  I did just enough to get by all through high school.  Even my first few semesters of college . . . I was more interested in having a good time than doing my work.  It wasn’t until meeting my first wife, that I took education seriously.  She was a biomedical engineering major, and she was brilliant.  I remember telling her how poorly I had performed in school up to that point and being so ashamed.  When we started dating, I made it my goal to prove to her (and myself) that I was not a bad student.  I simply applied myself, and the light came on.  I stopped thinking of math in terms of “problems” to be solved . . . I started thinking of it as a puzzle to be solved.  I know it’s just semantics, but it worked for me.  A problem sounds like something I want nothing to do with, but a puzzle . . . I can wrap my brain around that.  I’ve never looked back.  When she passed away, I left school, but I never stopped trying to learn new things.  I wasn’t learning in an academic setting, but I found independent study and research to be just as rewarding.  When my daughter was born, I was bound and determined to help her realize the joys of learning.  It is my hope that my new-found (relatively in the grand scheme of things) love of education and edification will somehow spark that love in her.        

(Here's a short song that this post made me think about . . . enjoy.)