Jimmy Buffett said it best. It's no Cheeseburger in Paradise, to be sure. No, Math Suks. And I agree with him.
| | Let's start with something simple, |
Yep, Come Monday and we're all back in school, slogging through another day in algebra class. It could be arithmetic or geometry or trigonometry or even calculus, but for most of us, it just suks.
I really do agree.
But why is it that Math Suks? (He spells it that way in his song; maybe he thinks spelling sux too!)
There's The Question that everybody asks in math class at one point or another, and then there's this one: Why is it that for some of us Math Suks?
The short answer is that math suks when you doesn't understand it.
We tend to hate what we don't understand. Failure or refusal to understand has fueled conflicts and world wars. But even an effort to understand that fails to get the results we want leads to the same hatred. And that's true for so many math students.
We disdain the subject so much we deride it by saying things like “math suks”. Or we even put ourselves down by saying "I'm not a math person".
If you or your child feels this way or talks this way, it doesn't have to stay that way.
But how do we crack the code? I can hear students telling me I just don't understand it despite my best effort, so it does make me hate it. And of course the more you hate it, the more closed off you are to learning. The proverbial vicious cycle.
You crack the code by having a codebreaker.
The code in math isn't just the symbols and the steps, the notation and procedures. Those are formidable and do require work to understand.
The code in math is it's usefulness and curiosity. Students need a codebreaker to show that to us. Where can I find someone like that? Well, you're in the right place friend. Contact us and we can help.
But c'mon what's the special sauce, the codebreaker's secret strategy?
A codebreaker of math is a teacher or tutor who is passionate about it, loves it, finds it fascinating AND exudes all that enthusiasm in such a way that it's infectious even to those who come to the table with anxiety, apathy and hatred for it. That tutor or teacher will stoke your curiosity and place the seed in your mind that maybe math is worth more of your brain power.
Once you have that reason to explore math more you will experience Changing Latitudes or Changing Attitudes toward how you think about math. You will discover more energy to get Knee Deep into some problems. And your teacher or tutor's guidance through those problems will help you develop understanding. And as understanding increases, hatred decreases. A new, um, vicious cycle.
Maybe it’s not quite a Sunny Afternoon way down in Margaritaville but hopefully you’ve experienced the feeling a time or two when you “got it”. The Light Bulb moment. I bet you didn't say Math Suks then.
OK, I know that you're saying, It's not like I wrote A Love Song about it... it just suks a little less than before.
And that's a win. It takes a while to U-turn an ocean liner.
Mr. Buffett closes his chorus saying, Sometimes I think that I don't know that much, but math suks.
We agree with him, but it doesn't have to stay that way for you or your child.
Go to SINT.org and schedule a session today.
But why is it that Math Suks? (He spells it that way in his song; maybe he thinks spelling sux too!)
There's The Question that everybody asks in math class at one point or another, and then there's this one: Why is it that for some of us Math Suks?
The short answer is that math suks when you doesn't understand it.
We tend to hate what we don't understand. Failure or refusal to understand has fueled conflicts and world wars. But even an effort to understand that fails to get the results we want leads to the same hatred. And that's true for so many math students.
We disdain the subject so much we deride it by saying things like “math suks”. Or we even put ourselves down by saying "I'm not a math person".
If you or your child feels this way or talks this way, it doesn't have to stay that way.
But how do we crack the code? I can hear students telling me I just don't understand it despite my best effort, so it does make me hate it. And of course the more you hate it, the more closed off you are to learning. The proverbial vicious cycle.
You crack the code by having a codebreaker.
The code in math isn't just the symbols and the steps, the notation and procedures. Those are formidable and do require work to understand.
The code in math is it's usefulness and curiosity. Students need a codebreaker to show that to us. Where can I find someone like that? Well, you're in the right place friend. Contact us and we can help.
But c'mon what's the special sauce, the codebreaker's secret strategy?
A codebreaker of math is a teacher or tutor who is passionate about it, loves it, finds it fascinating AND exudes all that enthusiasm in such a way that it's infectious even to those who come to the table with anxiety, apathy and hatred for it. That tutor or teacher will stoke your curiosity and place the seed in your mind that maybe math is worth more of your brain power.
Once you have that reason to explore math more you will experience Changing Latitudes or Changing Attitudes toward how you think about math. You will discover more energy to get Knee Deep into some problems. And your teacher or tutor's guidance through those problems will help you develop understanding. And as understanding increases, hatred decreases. A new, um, vicious cycle.
Maybe it’s not quite a Sunny Afternoon way down in Margaritaville but hopefully you’ve experienced the feeling a time or two when you “got it”. The Light Bulb moment. I bet you didn't say Math Suks then.
OK, I know that you're saying, It's not like I wrote A Love Song about it... it just suks a little less than before.
And that's a win. It takes a while to U-turn an ocean liner.
Mr. Buffett closes his chorus saying, Sometimes I think that I don't know that much, but math suks.
We agree with him, but it doesn't have to stay that way for you or your child.
Go to SINT.org and schedule a session today.
P.S. How many Jimmy Buffett songs did you catch hidden in this post? It was seven. Still think math suks? I hear ya... just Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On. (Eight.)
Mark B. Anderson
Tutor & Founder, Strength in Numbers Tutoring
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