mathematics + SEL

One of the most important ways to start building a strong math community rooted in SEL, is to start by acknowledging how our learning community is impacted by language. Language shapes mindset.

How often do we hear kids yell out "this is easy!" when posing a math problem or setting up an activity? When I first started teaching, I don't think I paid this statement any attention. In fact, lacking the confidence in my own abilities to teach mathematics at the time, I probably welcomed hearing this; breathing a sigh of relief that my learners already felt confident in the content being learned... or maybe I didn't pay any attention because it seemed natural (some people are just good at math, so they find things easy?), why not celebrate that?

As I started to focus on numeracy and make changes in how I taught math, I did start to notice it. I began to dread this 'one liner' but I dreaded it selfishly. As an intermediate teacher I faced (and still face) reluctance from my learners. We have learned that intermediate math "should" look like x, y & z and one of the hardest parts of building a strong math community is changing this mindset. So when changing your practice, and being vulnerable meets "this is easy" (with an eye roll no less)- even as a grown up who knows better-it's discouraging to say the least. It's like the critics win. Damn you algorithms! (Just kidding I'm in no way saying algorithms are bad).

But its not about me. Remember when I said my reaction was selfish? Well let me tell you, that after reading Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had, I feel stupid for not realizing how that statement might impact what actually matters- my learning community! Never mind me; what about my learners who struggle to identify as mathematicians? Can we imagine for a second how our growing mathematicians might feel, when they never get to think its easy? (Zager, 2017).

What I also loved was that Tracy and Deborah took the time to wonder why their learners were saying "this is easy". It didn't occur to me, while I was too busy taking it personally, that maybe my learners weren't actually trying to tell me my lessons sucked but were trying to communicate something else? Through their work, Tracy and Deborah (2017) found "this is easy" to either mean "I already know how to do this!" (Zager, 2017, p.12) or "I just made some sense out of this!" (Zager, 2017, p.13).

I now have a new perspective and I look at this with much more grace and understanding. At the beginning of the year, as we begin to have our conversations around building a strong math community; I ask my learners: "how might our language, or word choices, impact our math community? Why might someone call out "this is easy?" How might calling out "this is easy" make others feel? Together we learn that we can still be excited about the connections we have to mathematics but that we need to be mindful of the word "easy" and the weight it holds in numeracy, and in shaping mindset.

Instead of "this is easy" you can say...

• "This is familiar to me"

• I used to struggle with this kind of math, but now I can do it.

• "I have experience with similar math problems"

• "Oh, Now I understand the questions!"

• "I see a way to start"

• "I have an idea to try".

(Zager, 2017, p. 12-13)