Math: Building Math Mindsets
In response to an engagement question posed by Teacher2Teacher, educators are sharing how they engage with students who “don’t like math.”
- “You probably think you’re bad at it, and no one likes doing stuff they’re not good at. Luckily math has different strategies for all skills. Let’s try them until we find one that works for YOU!” —ELL Educator in Indiana
- “Kindergarten is easy – if math isn’t amazing you need to change the way you teach. Upper grades not so easy. Those trenches have been worn deep with negative math thoughts. When does math become ‘not fun’? Is it when it becomes abstract? Can’t wait to see teachers’ replies.” —Elementary Teacher in Minnesota
- “‘People don’t hate math, they hate how math makes them feel’. With that in mind I would focus on their mindset, particularly around concepts like incremental growth and learning to get it over time using correct strategy use, trial and error (which is good) and feedback.” —Post-Secondary Educator in Alberta
- “‘What are you interested in?’ I would then create a real-world example based on the student’s interest.” —Educator, N/A
Year-over-year, sentiments about math have improved. Positive sentiments on topics involving “math” and “math mindsets” have almost doubled with a 59.09% increase in comparison to September 2021.
September 2022
September 2021
Methodology: These charts represent a sample of sentiment among 5,000 teachers on Twitter from September 2022 compared to September 2021.