Transforming the Culture of Math
By Jancey Clark, posted October 9, 2017
not a math person.”
How many of us have heard this phrase before? From our students? From parents? From
fellow teachers and colleagues? To be honest, until recently, I said that
phrase about myself. In college, I was an English major—mostly because I have a
passion for literature but also because it meant that I had to take only one
math class! At that time, I felt the only focus of math was to get the “correct
answer” as quickly as possible, while following a prescribed set of rules and
formulas. Then as a fifth-grade teacher, I was always worried that my students
would find out my little secret: I relied on the teacher’s manual to follow
procedures and to get to the answer quickly. When I became an elementary school
instructional coach, I was terrified to coach teachers in math, and I felt sure
they would realize that I had no mathematical background. Last year, I decided
it was time to face my anxiety and build my confidence. I focused my
professional learning on math, and through conferences, workshops, and reading
professional literature, my mathematical thinking and understanding have been
transformed. I finally understand that math is not only about the answer—it is
so much more than that. Mathematics teaching and learning is about the beauty
of patterns and the power of solutions to solve meaningful problems.
Focus and plan
I know there are many other teachers just
like me who struggle with teaching math because they lack the confidence in
their own mathematical abilities. As I began planning professional learning
opportunities for teachers this year, I wondered, How can I help teachers—
• see that math is much more than just
• understand that there are many ways to get
to the solution of a problem; and
• be brave enough to put down the teacher’s
manual, and create rich mathematical tasks that inspire curiosity and
creativity, promote collaboration, and deepen critical thinking?
I know this professional learning will
require more than a presentation, and it is not something that can be achieved
in one session. It will require a sustained focus throughout the year, giving
teachers the time and tools needed to solve rich mathematical problems,
first-hand. Teachers will need opportunities to work both independently and
collaboratively, in a safe environment where they can share their thinking and
engage in thoughtful discussion. Together, we will transform the culture of
math teaching and learning.
Truthfully, the main reason I chose to be
an English major was because a single question can have many different answers.
An entire class period could be devoted to discussing one line of poetry, and
every student might interpret it differently—and that has always been OK. Now I
see that the same is true of math. An entire class period could be spent
discussing one rich problem, and every student could solve it in a different
way. And that is OK, too.
you transforming the culture of math teaching and learning at your school this
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