How to Help Students Who Hate Math

(Originally titled “Getting Beyond ‘I Hate Math!’”)

In this article in Educational Leadership, Lisa Medoff (Stanford University) suggests eight ways that educators can build students’ tenacity with a subject that frustrates them. These strategies are especially important for students with learning disabilities and emotional stressors, but also work with all students, helping them prepare to face life’s inevitable disappointments and tragedies with a problem-solving versus a fatalistic mindset.

• Empathize. This isn’t easy for teachers who love their subject and find it difficult to imagine what it’s like not to. It helps to imagine a situation where you’re out of your comfort zone and feeling frustrated and angry. It’s also a good idea to find out about areas in which students excel and say something like, “Alice, how do you remember your lines so well when you’re rehearsing for the play?”

• Know your stuff. When teachers are presenting a concept they haven’t completely mastered, they sometimes rush through explanations and are impatient with students’ questions – or they might say, “I don’t really like this either, but we’re required to learn it, so let’s just get through this.” Better to spend time mastering the topic and walking students through their own self-doubts and frustrations.

• Use a variety of activities and supports. The worst dynamic is a lecture/question format where students compete for the teacher’s approval and the attention goes to students who are speediest with the right answers. Better to get students working in groups with structured, hands-on, real-world activities with the teacher circulating to troubleshoot and provide one-on-one support. “Learners often feel more comfortable taking risks and trying new things in small groups, especially when they have time to process new material,” says Medoff. It’s also helpful to train students to help their classmates, saying, “Tell me where you got stuck” or “Let’s start with what you know about this problem” or “I’ll do one step and you do one.”

• Convey the “growth” mindset. A teacher might say, “Some kids may need to put in more effort in certain areas than others do. And each of you needs to approach a set of problems a bit differently. But every one of you can master this math.” 

• Answer all questions respectfully. Even if you’ve answered a question before, don’t be impatient or testy. You might say, “I’m glad you asked me again to make sure you understood.”

• Be intentional about homework. How many problems do students need to practice? Which kind will be most helpful? Will students need adult support to do the homework? What strategies should students use when they get stuck?

• Reframe the purpose of quizzes and tests. “Make clear to students that tests are not meant to determine how smart a student is, but to show the teacher how well he or she taught the information – and to show the test taker what he or she has or hasn’t learned yet,” says Medoff. The most helpful feedback, she contends, is specific commentary on the strategies the student used. Anxious students also benefit from having a choice of test questions.

• Praise effort and reinterpret mistakes. Students should learn to see success as the result of effective effort and mistakes as a sign that more work is needed. Students should become proficient at diagnosing their own errors (using rubrics) and planning follow-up. It’s also helpful when teachers acknowledge their own errors and gracefully accept correction.

“Getting Beyond ‘I Hate Math!’” by Lisa Medoff in Educational Leadership, September 2013 (Vol. 71, #1, p. 44-48), www.ascd.org; Medoff can be reached at lisamedoff@sbcglobal.net.

From the Marshall Memo #502