by Aaron Sandlin | Mar 2, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
One of my math professors always insisted on showing us around thirty minutes of why a concept works and how to get the formula that we use in the final product. Once he showed us the short cut (formula) the work went from ten minutes of calculating to ten seconds. Back then everyone groaned about the “waste of time” but now that we are free of his tyranny, we are coming into contact with the “formula people”. They are the folk who panic every time they have to use an old concept in a new way. Why are they so unsure? It is because they were told to take the math on faith. They were taught that “It just works” and that was okay for them. My math mentor would routinely go through some fake absurd process on the board and watch the majority of the room follow his false trail. He awarded bonus points to anyone who rightfully challenged him by understanding the concept and working it out for yourself. The sad thing is that for my entire education until now the teachers taught instead of mentored.
It wasn’t until I was 29 yrs. old that I finally experienced why any number raised to the zero exponent is one. See my short video explanation, Powers of 0 and 1. I had been told that it was one and sent on my way, just relying on my memory to retain that knowledge. After a long gap in school between high school and college, I had forgotten even that simple rule. I have often heard that math is not like riding a bike and I have said it myself. You have to keep it up or the knowledge melts away. Could we be wrong? When I think back to my trigonometric identities, I can’t remember them! BUT, I remember one concept that was experienced and I can reliably derive the rest of the identities from that one branch. Think about bikes for a minute. Did you get tested on the methods of balance? Were you drilled on the names of a bicycles parts and their purposes? Was everyone made to ride on standardized bikes and had to all learn at the same pace? Do you recall the physics class you had to pass in order to take your training wheels off? How is it that just about anyone who ever learned the difficult task of riding a bike can go for years without practice and still retain the skill? It is because we all experienced the process of learning instead of memorizing the concept. I bet a shiny nickel that anyone who had never learned how to ride a bike, but had studied it in a book, would not remember the necessary information needed to describe the process to someone else. Years ago I had memorized the algorithm for solving a Rubiks Cube. Give me one today and I can’t do it! I failed to develop the fundamental experience necessary to achieve mastery of that skill. If you want to learn mathematics instead of memorize formulas, you need to know the why that sadly is too often left out in s foolhardy quest for time and effort savings. So the next time a “teacher” asks you to memorize a formula, be brave, and ask “why?” and turn them into a mentor.
by Nicole Dowling | Feb 25, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Have you ever thought about your teaching from a student’s point of view?
Now that I am a senior at Kennesaw State University, I have experienced a plethora of time in the classroom. What makes a class period more enjoyable? How do we, as students, get involved EVERY time we enter the room? As many of you have probably noticed, there are effective ways that teachers teach…and not so effective ways. Lets be honest, when the teacher isn’t engaged in the topic he or she is monotonously speaking about, then why should the rest of the class be? What a waste of time for everyone. And let me share a secret: learning takes time.
How many have been frustrated with a teacher that doesn’t teach well, or worse, doesn’t teach at all??? Responsible students are, then, forced to be both the teacher and the student. And we’re not even the ones getting paid! Math that. Or how about this scenario: learning something wrongly and then having to go through the painstaking process of breaking that bad habit by UNLEARNING that something, only to have to go through even MORE practice to set the new good habit in its place. Whew! That’s an awful lot of work that could have been avoided simply by effective teaching.
Please enjoy the following experience from a fellow student, me:
I loved going into my Real Analysis course because my professor would get so enthusiastic about his subject that he spat everywhere when he went off on a tangent. (Ha, math jokes.) Sitting in front of his laptop, he would write his lesson right before our eyes. “Mathematics should come from the heart,” he would nearly whisper as he was deciding on which way to prove something. He emphasized that great mathematical writing comes from good grammar: “Mathematics is hard enough when written correctly. Proper grammar makes the math easier.” His tips on proof-writing bleed into all areas of my life because quite frankly I have little skill in the matter. But I digress.
Some days I just wanted to listen to a good story after a long day of rigorous studying, and his class was just the relaxing break I needed. As it always should be with learning: first, soak in new material; then, play around with it in one’s personal time. “The learning happens outside of the classroom, when you DO the mathematics” as my professor would say. For this reason he records all of his lectures with a video & audio software. Actually, he requires that NO ONE take notes.
How many have tried to fiercely write all of what the teacher said or wrote on the board? So much room for error: what with constantly looking up and down and up and down, or comments meshing into each other, or not hearing everything because you were too worried about writing down the previous thing… Whew. My hand hurts just thinking about it. However, with a recording you have the notes you need, VERBATIM. A recording also sets the standard for the teachers to be professional and not slack off, because no one wants to look bad on camera 
~Now teachers here is a question for you: Would you want to be a student in your own class? ReadRebecca’s blog for more on this topic.
by Rebecca Mayer | Feb 19, 2015 | Teaching and Learning
I am new to tutoring and I have learned many things during my start. I have learned that different students need different types of teaching and different ways to grasp topics fully. It is generally important, for all students, to make sure they are confident in what they are learning. Knowing your student is an important aspect of tutoring. Using differentiated instruction, you are able to learn what your student needs and adjust to provide them with tutoring specific to them.
Differentiation is giving students multiple options for absorbing information. As you teach a certain student, you should observe how they respond to your methods and start to understand differences and similarities among students in order to respond to a variety of student needs. This way, you are able to modify the content you teach and the process you teach it to offer them a chance at full understanding. Since every student is different, this process will be different every time you teach. I have learned that when tutoring different students, you have to learn how to tweak your method so it is effective for all of them, since the same method that helps one student understand something might be completely confusing to another student.
An important thing to remember when varying teaching methods is to continue to assess how the student is responding and to make sure that you are always effective in the way you teach. If you use the same method for a student every time you tutoring them, you leave no room to realize if they need an adjustment or if they stop understanding something fully. For example, if a student works really well when they can work out problems with you so they can make sure they follow all of the steps correctly, eventually they will gain a more concrete comprehension of what you’re teaching and they will need you to draw back and let them solve it on their own. It is essential that, as tutors, we are able to see when this happens and know when to let them do things by themselves instead of using you as a crutch.
Also, once the student gains a better grasp on the content, they should be pushed further to challenge their understanding and go deeper into the topic rather than sticking with what the “book” wants them to know. If they expand the range of their knowledge, they will be more confident to do the simpler things.
No two students learn the same way or have the same abilities or needs but they are all working towards the same understanding or goal. They have to reach the same place but the method or path they use to get there might be completely different. It is important that we learn how to send them down the right path by structuring a teaching style suited for each individual student’s needs.
by Tracy Porter | Nov 15, 2014 | Math, Teaching and Learning
How to DO MaTh-
1. First, GET ORGANIZED. You need a place for your MaTh! Put together a notebook that includes a place to write down assignments and important dates, a place for notes, homework, and returned papers. Keep it in sequential order and know where everything is so that you can refer back to it. There must be order in the chaos of learning!
2. In Class, take notes. Ask questions. Do your homework and and all assignments. Compare with other students, if necessary. Make marks by questions that you did not understand and ask about those problems. Correct any mistakes that you find and understand what you did wrong. Once you have done it enough and you think you understand, try teaching and explaining to someone else. If you can teach it, then you can be more confident that you actually understand it.
3. TAKE THE TIME TO BE NEAT AND COMPLETE. Many people think that MaTh is just about the answer. However, the process is often just as important and so, that is why students always hear “Show your work”! Write the problem down, show each step and circle or box your answer. This will allow you to go back and see your work, as well as your teacher or others.
4. STUDYING IS DOING! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Do not think that if you understand what your teacher is doing and can follow along that you, too can do it. Also, do not think that if you can do one or two problems that you have done enough and do not need to do anymore. Learning MaTh means DOING MaTh! You must do it for yourself repetitively. That is how the connections of understanding are made and that is how you know if you can actually do it on the test. MaTh is not a spectator sport!
5. Understand TWO things:
1) Learning MaTh is like a giant snowball rolling down a hill. It gets bigger and bigger. In other words, once you learn it, it stays and you will use it in the future. So, there is no place for learning MaTh just for a test and then thinking you can forget it. It is a collection of skills that build into a giant “snowball”.
2) Everyone can DO MaTh! There is no such thing as not being able to do MaTh because your parent wasn’t good at MaTh. Confusion and struggle are normal parts of learning. They are not going away. However, determination and persistence will carry you through to success.
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by Tracy Porter | Oct 28, 2014 | Math, Teaching and Learning
MaThCliX Story and Vision-
On October 28, 2014, I had the opportunity to speak at career day at Woodstock Middle School and E.T.Booth Middle School, both in Woodstock, GA. Thanks to the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, I was honored to be a part of this special day and share my love and passion for mathematics, learning, and business with so many young minds. I spoke to 12 different groups of 8th grade students throughout the entire day and basically gave the same presentation each time. I had it down by the end of the day!
I shared with the students my story and how MaThCliX came to existence. The name “MaThCliX” came about around the year 2000, when I was an undergraduate math student at Georgia State University. As a college student, I did a lot of tutoring and would always hear people making comments like, “I’m just not good at math”, “My parents weren’t good at math”, “I never really understood math”, “I had a bad teacher and could never get math to make sense”, etc. I realized quickly that there was a large amount of the population who just had this fixed “attitude” toward math. I knew that these things were things that could be remedied, if only math were taught in a manner that each student understood and if the student practiced math correctly. It then became my thought that I wanted to make math “click” for others.
Another play on the word “click” comes in the version of “clique”. At the university, the math majors tended to stick to together and I guess you could say we formed a “math clique” as we worked intensely to study and prepare for exams, learn and understand proofs, and work countless math problems.
So, why the capital M, T, C, and X? Why Clix and not clicks or cliques? Well, I chose to use clix because it seemed to be a fusion of the two and is shorter and a bit catchier. The M is capitalized because it is the name, the T is for my name, Tracy, the C is for my first daughter, Carlie, and X is for the most popular math variable, X! It may sound complicated but I thought it gave the name a “cooler” look and if it were to be on signs, t-shirts, brochures, etc., I wanted it to look appealing.
So why the two slogans “A place where students DO math” and “Math Problems Solved”?
I wanted MaThCliX to be a place where all students can come and be part of a math family, if you will. I wanted to create a math home. A place where students can come and have their math needs met, whether it be working on homework, skill building, enhancing understanding, etc., all of which enable students to eventually DO math. I follow the counsel of Maria Montessori who said, “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, the children are now working as if I did not exist.” This is when I know that students are “doing” math.
What is your math problem? For some it may be a failing grade, for some it may be a gap in learning, or some may literally be stuck on solving a math homework problem. Whatever the “problem” may be, MaThCliX is a place where any student’s math problem can be solved! I want everyone who walks through our door to feel comfortable, welcome, and at home and when they leave I want them to feel that their time was well-spent, their minds were enlightened, that the math “clicked”, and they are one step closer to their academic goals and on their way to success in the classroom and the world. I want our students to feel proud and happy to be part of MaThCliX, or our “math clique”.
I invite all students to come an experience MaThCliX!
