Check out this article that someone tweeted.
https://www.youcubed.org/think-it-up/visual-math-improves-math-performance/
The power of visualization in math, as explained by none other than Jo Boaler.

Mindset is everything

"Mindsets are critically important because research has shown that they lead to different learning behaviours, which in turn create different learning outcomes for students"


I know that this blog is about mindsets in mathematics but excuse the tangent as I know blogs are also supposed to be about personal connections.  After preparing for fitness shows I have realized the power of the mind.  Our minds can be a very powerful tool that can work for us and unfortunately against us.  If we tell ourselves that we can't do something then there is a good chance we won't.  However if we tell ourselves that no matter how long it takes to get there or however small our steps forward might be we will get there eventually - we will!  A part of that is allowing ourselves the opportunities to fail or even fall backwards and using them as learning experiences to keep moving forward.  Too often we stumble or struggle and allow doubt to creep in and give up.  I want my students to always understand that if they put their mind to something they can get there.  I want them to abandon illusions that it will always be an easy road because we all know it won't.  Sometimes we might need a break.  Sometimes we might fall.  Sometimes we might need help or encouragement.  All the time we need to persevere and push forward.  I want all students to come away with the believe that they can. 

"Mathematics is a very broad and multidimensional subject that requires reasoning, creativity, connection making and interpretation of methods" Jo Boaler, in the Introduction, page xii

This makes me think of the language curriculum and the forward in the math curriculum more than the overall and specific expectations in the math strands. Teaching literacy comprehension strategies through math and teaching math using the comprehension strategies we would use for any graphic or informational texts is true integration of these two subjects. It is curriculum mapping at its best. This is integration that makes sense and is meaningful for students. This allows us to think of math as more than right and wrong solutions. What does this translate into in our classrooms for our students? It means each and everyone in the classroom including the educator can be part of the process by doing the creative and critical thinking required to solve problems. When we pose problems that only have one right answer, we unintentionally reward speed over thinking. The students who can quickly get to the right answer are rewarded because the need for others to continue the thinking is non-existent. Wouldn't it be interesting to create learning goals for what critical and creative thinking looks like in math, what it means to make connections, what it means to analyze and  evaluate?

If we want students to see that math is more than just the right answer could a strategy such as this one might work? Intentionally pose a problem that allows students to struggle and debrief the struggle and the thinking rather than the solution and how we reached it. Would students that have always been made to feel that they are not math-smart feel empowered when they see that all their friends struggled too? Would this make them think that constructive struggle makes them critical and creative thinkers rather than failures at math? What does constructive struggle look like, feel like and sound like in a math classroom? Has anyone debriefed a math struggle? What is the criteria for a constructive struggle? 

As I was getting our blog up and ready for our book talk, I came across this short and very succinct article by the infamous author herself.
Jo Boaler: ‘"We need a revolution in how we think about maths."
How do we think about mathematics? What does it mean for teachers to have a growth mindset in the math classroom? If we were to create a learning goal in student-friendly language that targets growth mindset in the classroom, what would it be?
Hopefully, this blog will be a platform for all of us to share our successes and challenges as educators of math.
Happy blogging!