I failed Algebra II in 11th grade.
This confession may come as something of a revelation to gentle readers who have suffered through my many postings about the glories of math, both practical and exquisite. I have written (endlessly, it could be argued) about how much I enjoy “mathemagical” mind reading tricks, about how much fun math is, how important mathematical literacy is. I’m not taking a step back from any of those columns. I still believe it’s critical for our children to have a deep appreciation of any number of critical math inspired skills: the time value of money, (don’t borrow on credit cards,) amortization, the expected value theorem (read: why the casino cost $350 million dollars and your house doesn’t.) Innumeracy can be expensive.
And in addition to practical, math can be beautiful. Think Shostakovich without the expense of all those enormous brass instruments. Or Monet and you don’t have to scrap paint off your hands or find parking at the museum. Plus the dopamine hit that comes with solving a tough problem in a novel and unexpected way is awesome. Something to be said for being part of what Einstein meant when he said that, although he wasn’t particularly interested in the specifics, he did want to know the mind of God.
But as a junior in high school, I flunked math. I won’t bore you with details of my minor spatial learning difference that made it hard for me to tell less than from greater than in second grade or the x axis from the y axis in 10th grade. I won’t blame the teacher whose pedagogical style was perhaps an imperfect match for how I learned. I believe strongly in “no blame, no shame” and moving forward half a century onward. But I’m not gonna lie, it was a miserable year. If I had a proverbial nickel for every time I heard, “He’s so smart, why is he failing math?” I would have a substantial pile of nickels.
I do want to suggest a couple takeaways for loving parents. And I’d like to give each member of my community of readers a gift to make math, at least for a few hours, totally fun. First the advice: Once a student falls behind in algebra II, playing catch up is brutal. I’ve taught math now for over 40 years, as a tutor, as a classroom instructor, individually, and in groups. I’ve trained teachers. I’ve worked with a wide range of ability and motivation--with high school students who needed to know their multiplication facts and with eighth graders breezing through calculus. A lot of math instruction is sequential. (If math triggers you, feel free to skip to the next paragraph.) It’s hard to use the quadratic formula effectively if you’re having trouble factoring trinomials. It’s tough to factor trinomials if you don’t understand how to multiply ( x + 3 ) times ( x – 5 ). With 30 kids in a classroom many of whom are rushing to get to the next level, to the qualifying exam (as well they should be) some kids are going to be left behind.
You’re not going to learn how to speak Swedish just by being in a room with fast-talking native speakers. Each new word has to have a “place to rest,” a nest of other now-familiar expressions on which to build. It’s the same with math instruction. New concepts have to land on that which is familiar.
Don’t be fooled by an early semester “I have an A.” Of course your kid has an A. There haven’t been any evaluations yet. My advice is: don’t let them fall behind. Figure it out. Why are your kids struggling? What do they need? Study buddies? Professional support from a math tutor? An early ride to school to see the teacher for extra help? And eyes on the prize: understanding is more important than grades (long term, honest.) Motivation is more important than ability.
Lastly, “do as I say, not as I do” is no more effective than “do as I say, not as I did.” If you struggled in math, go ahead and admit it. Be sensitive, be supportive, be understanding. And who knows. Maybe down the road you children too will stop strangers on the street asking them if they’d like to learn a mathemagical mind reading trick. In the meantime, your own personalized and absolutely free prime number can be yours just by clicking here and typing “EDUCATOR” in coupon.
There is all kinds of cool math stuff here, links that families at all levels can enjoy. Again, free. Just for fun.
Enjoy. I promise that A Prime For You will be extraordinarily enjoyable compared to flunking math in 11th grade.
