Some Math Stories, Same Troubles

A year or so after I had first discovered that not all math was the traditional math I had been taught, it began to hit close to home. I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my husband's family and sadly not all family members were there. In talking to my brother-in-law about my new found information on "fuzzy" math and "math wars", I was told, "Well, it's interesting that you should mention that." He then told me that was why his daughter and her husband were not with our family. They had used that extended weekend to visit her husband's family 200+ miles away because his young sister was suddenly having a lot of trouble with math and they were going to see if they could help her. And, he continued, this young sister was really smart and had always made really good grades in math and scored well on tests and the parents couldn't figure out what was wrong. How I wished I had been able to help this young girl or at least talk to her family. I didn't really know her, but I felt empathy for her and her family. And this is what often happens -- the whole family becomes involved trying to help, but because terminology is different, because parents are told NOT to try to help students by using the parents' old, out-of-date methods (because you're going to confuse them), parent involvement is often delayed until much damage has been done. And another thing, the student get's "down" on themselves and start telling themselves "I'm dumb".

In a second "family" story, I was able to talk to parents, but not until the students were in college. The mother was bemoaning the fact that they didn't know what they were going to do with their boys, my nephews, because they both were having so much trouble with college algebra. I knew they had had trouble in high school. It had been a source of bits of discussion off and on as their troubles were mentioned, as tutors had been hired, etc. We all caught on that, but for the tutors, those boys might not have made it through high school algebra. But now here they were in college, still struggling with algebra. I told the mom, "Well, it may not be your boys fault. It may be that the boys were taught "fuzzy" math." She went on to describe how they themselves had tried to help them during middle and high school, but the math didn't make sense and so they had to use tutors. She didn't know she was describing a situation that was repeating itself all across the country.

Has anyone noticed the number of Sylvan, Kumon, Huntington, etc., Math Centers popping up all around the countries. Parents used to be able to help children, prior to the first "new math" intrusions of the 60's and 70's. My own father helped me occasionally, but it didn't take much because the base/rate/percentage problems, or the algebra were the same as he had learned. My 7th and 8th grade "math" teacher was really an "art" teacher who had been asked to teach math for a time and unfortunately for me, it was during my time. No one in the class was getting it, including me, and I had to go home every evening and have my dad help me until I got it. Then, before school the next morning, we students would all meet together to go over math and I'd reteach the lesson, as my dad had helped me. We all made it through middle school math because of my dad. That was before the days of "tutors". Family could help family then. But not any more. At least, it's not easy to do now. Thankfully there are parents who will not give up on their kids, who try to find help when they don't know what to do. But my dad got me ready for algebra and I never had a bit of trouble with algebra (I'm sure it was "traditional algebra").

There are several variables: is it the math curriculum? is it the math teacher? is it the student? It could be more than one. If your student has a young math teacher, chances are he/she came through college having been taught to use the "new math" approach (Don't teach the students methods or algorithms! Make them figure it out by themselves.). But it could also be the curriculum and I'm going to add a post shortly with some identifying marks of "fuzzy" math so you can determine if that is the type of curriculum your student is using.

How Can It Happen?

A few years back I had the blessed privilege of teaching one boy in particular. Now, I have to say that I could say that about every student I teach, but this is a particularly sweet story for me to remember. If you knew his family history, you'd understand why I say this. I was told ahead of time what his limitations would be and what troubles to expect. (And indeed those were descriptions of what his 4th grade year had been like after he arrived.) I will tell you now, before I relate some of his story, that he was one of the smartest students I've ever taught.

As the first few days went by, I noticed that none of the anticipated problems were presenting themselves. None, at all! His grandmother/guardian asked me how he was doing, and I remember my answer to her. "He is knocking himself out to please me. He is working so hard, not complaining one bit. Nothing is difficult for him, he's really smart!" And it was true. I'm still convinced he was brilliant. His young life may have had a hard beginning, but as his confidence grew, his self-image grew and he just blossomed that year.

About 3 weeks into the year, we had our first Math Test. The next day, as I returned the tests for the students to look at, his response was one I'll never forget. As I gave him his paper, upon seeing the grade (95), he said out loud, "I've never made an A on a Math Test before!" That was the first of many "A's". In fact he made an A on his report card every reporting period throughout the year. Math wasn't hard for him, he didn't struggle to "get" a single concept, and he wavered only once, when he had been sick (and even then a little intensive input from me was all it took). He was so confident as he worked, and his family and I watched him grow and bloom even more. He left my classroom a different child, with his head held high. He knew he was smart. (I told him I thought he was brilliant!)

So, fastforward one year. Imagine my shock and surprise when I discovered that he was failing Math the following year. He was the same student, with the same brain, same brilliant reasoning abilities. So what happened?? I only have some ideas because I wasn't there with him each day, but I knew enough to believe that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. And I wished I had known earlier. I wished I could have done something to help.

As I enter this post, I am thinking that perhaps this might be happening in your family, to one or more of your children. I read the stories on other Math blogs of students who suddenly seem to fall apart in Math. I read the words of college math professors who bemoan the fact that students are ill prepared for college. (I do want to write more about this in later blogs.) I believe that if there is a predictor of which students will struggle with higher maths, it would be how well they transition into the abstracts and unknowns of pre- pre-algebra in 5th and 6th grade. (Yes, I mean pre- pre-algebra.)

On another matter, and in closing this post, I want to state that all students need to see their tests and have an opportunity to discuss the tests, within a day or two. And I believe that parents should be able to see the tests. I'm always baffled when I hear that a teacher won't let a test out of the room. How can a school say, "we want you, the parent, to help us, to support us with your child" but then not allow the parent to see a test!!?? This makes no sense to me. I'm a teacher, but I'm a parent also. I'm the one who might/will/can be helping him/her prepare for the next Math test. Do I want him to still be "unclear" on why he missed a problem? (I tutored a student this past spring semester, one who was failing math, one who had not passed a single Math test the entire year. I asked the parent if they had any tests I could look at, and they had never seen a test because students were not allowed to bring them home. The dad was trying to help him and reviewed with him each evening. But they were at a loss because they didn't know where they or he had failed.)

So what do you do when tests aren't coming home and you, the parent, are not seeing them. Here are a couple of suggestions. First go to the teacher, respectfully, and ask if the tests are being returned. (Students are notorious for "losing" papers.) If you discover that the teacher doesn't allow them to be taken home, ask about how much time a student has to study over the mistakes on that test. And then ask if the teacher would consider changing the policy of keeping tests. (Anticipate that you will probably be told something about needing to use the test the next year and that siblings coming up could have an advantage. If you get this excuse, respectfully tell them that you understand and that you don't want to compromise the test at all.) Sometimes a teacher will reluctantly, quietly, give you or your student the test. If they do, know you are blessed. But what if you try and still get no response? . . .

There is one last step that I used once when my son was in middle school. After having a very pleasant phone conversation with the teacher during which he explained why he didn't return tests, I felt that I still needed to see the test, if only for a brief while. So I calmly called the principal, and asked about the school policy. He explained that some teachers had that policy and others didn't, but it wasn't a school policy. I explained to him that I wanted to respect the teacher's desire to keep the test confidential, and so I requested that he, the principal, get the test and allow me to come up into his (the principal's) office to look over it in his presence. Guess what! It worked. I got to look over the test, I saw how my son had studied improperly, and got a glimpse at what the test looked like. And better than that -- I didn't make the teacher or the principal angry. I hope this works for other families.

Look, it's all about trying to help a student.

There are many reasons why a student's grades can drop, but if the parent can eliminate one of them, a parent should be and usually is willing to do it. The test will be used by the teacher to determine a grade. Hopefully, it is also used to help determine teaching strategies which can improve students' understanding of concepts. In other words, the test can be a tool to help the teacher learn better methods for teaching concepts. And if teachers can learn anything from the test, why not allow the student to learn from the test? Or the parent? Wow, that would be a new approach -- teachers and parents and students all benefiting from the test!

As I said, it's all about trying to help a kid!