Non-Math Essentials for Learning Math

Focusing on these five qualities of thriving classrooms can help foster confident young mathematicians.

By Margie Pearse

BELONGINGNESS

Horn says that belongingness is “fostered through authentic connections.” Taking time to build a sense of friendship and family grounded in plenty of shared experiences will help students develop the confidence and motivation they need to do the hard work that comes in learning math.

WELLBEING

Learning math is risky business. Mistakes, uncertainty, and struggle are all important to building confidence and competence in math. Creating an environment where students are comfortable and secure enough to push boundaries, make mistakes, and take risks is critical to learning math with success.

PLAYFULNESS

Playfulness during a math lesson can mean many things. It can include playing with manipulatives, leaving space for student discovery, tinkering with numbers and shapes, questioning that stimulates curiosity, using a makerspace during math centers, acting out story problems, investigating an engaging task, using movement, and playing math games.

Students who experience playfulness during math lessons get to see math as it’s meant to be: exciting, enticing, and energising.

PASSION

A teacher who loves teaching math will get students excited to learn math. Step into a classroom led by a passionate math teacher and you’ll notice students at the edge of their seats anticipating his or her next move, ready to take on any math challenge, and willing to take risks. When math is taught with enthusiasm, students begin to see learning in a different light, approaching each problem with interest. Passion sets the stage for engagement to happen in math. Brains are awakened by emotion, offering students a way to make stronger mathematical connections.

• Bring your own math passions to class.
• Make time for your passions outside of school—this will find its way into your teaching.
• Help students recognize their strengths—this can lead them to discover a new passion.
• Make time for students to share their interests.
• Tweak math problems to include students’ interests.
• Keep math relevant by connecting interests with real-world situations.
• Allow students to get carried away by their passions at times.

SELF-EFFICACY

A strong sense of self-efficacy provides the self-assurance it takes to strive for more, because success is believed to be within reach.

Students are more motivated to learn when they believe they can be successful. Students with high self-efficacy can sustain their effort in the face of failure. They quickly recover after setbacks and often attribute failure to insufficient effort or an incomplete skill set, and approach uncertainty with assurance that they can exercise control over it.