Making math more appealing
Published:Thursday | July 1, 2010 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The Gleaner's editorial of June 12 touched on some salient points as to the state of mathematics in our schools and referred to it as a "patient in extremely poor health", sadly this is the case, as all the evidence points to that. Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Audrey Sewell, in a speech at the National Primary Schools' Maths Competition Awards, said that "the Ministry of Education recognises the dilemma that we are in and we want to fix the problem".
Now that the ministry is aware, what are the plans to tackle this problem since, the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate exam results are pending and other students are preparing to sit their exams January or May-June 2011? As a teacher in training, I propose the following practical steps that can go a far way in helping educators, parents, students, school administrators and the Ministry of Education to be highly effective in the teaching of math:
Let us strive to teach for understanding of mathematical concepts and procedures, the 'why' something works, and not only the 'how'. The relationship between the 'how' and the 'why' - or between procedures and concepts is complex but students can be taught how to apply math to their lives in a complex world.
The goals of teaching math should not only be able to finish the book by the end of the school year or make sure the students pass the test but to ensure students can add, simplify and multiply fractions or even divide by 10, 100 and 1000.
The tools a teacher use are important in the classroom and the teacher should equip him or herself with the required tools for a changing classroom to meet the needs of the students. These include texts, workbooks, measuring tools like those used in the kitchen to give a more practical feel to the concepts.
You are the teacher; do you love math, and are you enthusiastic about the subject? These will show up in how you teach and students will pick up these signs instantly and can be motivated or loathe the subject.
Use simple everyday activities and pictures in your teaching. Almost all mathematical concepts can be illustrated with pictures, charts, etc.
Parents and teachers must communicate to discuss a child's strengths and interests and how they can be used to enhance his or her math skills and motivation to complete assignments. Also, if a teacher teaches math one way and parent(s) takes another approach in explaining it, it may confuse the child.
Students in Asian countries have been doing extremely well in mathematics not because they are more mathematical than us, but mainly due to their practicality like learning tables from an early age and using the abacus, which creates a collaboration between finger movements and the brain that creates a pictorial memory in the child's mind. Can we then make math more practical to our students?
I am, etc.,
RODWIN GREEN
Siloah P.O.
St Elizabeth