Michael Lamb

Critical Review Math: Facing an American Phobia Marilyn Burns has been a highly respected math educator, teaching children for over 40 years. She has written several professional development publications for teachers and administrators, and she is the founder of Math Solutions. Math Solutions, dedicated to improving students' learning of mathematics by providing the highest-quality professional development services, products, and resources to educators. This book, written largely in part to a growing concern of math literacy in America, is her attempt to fight the phobia and plant the seed of hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (and it is not an oncoming train). The purpose of this book was to rally the troops of educators and parents whose personal trauma due to the pressure of rigid mathematics instruction in affecting our children, urging them to gain the strength to view math with a positive attitude for the sake of the students. Her point of view is that this phobia is a reality, but there is no reason to run across the street when you hear math is on its way. She offers strategies and suggestions to help teach math by engaging students to find out how their minds process math problems. Her methods do make use of real world situations and involves the students to justify their reasoning in solving a problem. Not just one student, she encourages them to challenge, demonstrate a different process, and in turn, the students are exposed to several points of view that all make sense. It only takes one to make sense to any one of them and by keeping students engages and interested, her lessons sink in without fail. As for supporting evidence, I am not sure there is need to cite the book. Unlike todays math classrooms with their manipulatives, interactive websites and Smart boards, I grew up with the drill em and kill em, Mr. Lamb, if I were to entertain showing you a different way to

Michael Lamb

understand, I would have to accommodate other requests leading to my inability to teach anyone. So practice questions 1 to 101 (every other odd) on page 187 and if it doesnt make sense by the end of the day, start on every even until you get it.got it! Fortunately, that was a partial truth to get a point across, but it is evident that students and adults have an aversion to math. Look at your local fast food cash register for example; a majority will have pictures in lieu of numbers. My wife has the confidence to administer medications to infants and small children that even the slightest miscalculation could be fatal, but when it comes to helping my daughter with her fist grade math homework she hesitates. It is bad enough that parents are like this. Before reading this book it never occurred to me that many a poor attitude from teachers of math in our schools stem from their own fears. Quote(Burns) A great example of how she handles counter evidence was her encounter with the engineer on the airplane. Here is a man who obviously know a great deal of mathematical procedures, sees the value of learning math but when asked about what he thinks about using calculators in school, he stands firmly in his belief that calculators do students more harm than good. Her argument in defense of using calculators is school is that she believes that students need to develop solid thinking and reasoning skills; not dependant on procedures and calculators then the problem can be reasoned out. As for complex and tedious problems, she encourages students to come up with an estimate when an estimate will suffice or to use a calculator when a precise answer is mandated. (Burns, 58) I tend to agree with her in regards to making calculators an available resource for students. Students are learners by definition. In the event a student is unsure of his mental calculations, he should be able to either validate or re-evaluate his approach to finding a viable solution. It is amusing when I think about how I approach numbers, much like her students, I
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Michael Lamb

look for commonalities and use estimation all the time. Until now, I was always concerned about my belief that knowing how to do something does not necessarily translate to knowing how to teach it. Being left-handed, I would like to call forth the Newsweek survey that reports that 12% of Americans are left-handed. These students did not freak out and dig in their desks for a calculator. The simply took what they knew about percentages and adjusted the classroom sample to a round number, using estimation. They were then able to engage in a discussion of the reasoning used to test their hypothesis. (Burns, 127) In comparing this book with other publications, it was not difficult to find a long list of of material dealing with the search terms of math and anxiety. To think that the mere mention or thought of math can cause nausea, chills, panic attacks, and nightmares. In a recent article from the Journal of Instructional Psychology, the author states that children begin to develop an understanding for mathematics as early as two months old. When children begin to enter school, the problem begins. Geist states: textbooks take over the process of teaching and the focus on shifts from construction of concepts using children's own mathematical thinking to teacher imposed methods of getting the correct answer (Geist, 2000) Teachers begin to focus on repetition and speed or "timed tests" as important tools for improving mathematical prowess and skill, which can undermine the child's natural thinking process and lead to a negative attitude toward mathematics. (Geist, 2010) He goes on to fortify Mrs. Burns argument by reiterating Instead of helping children develop fluency at computation and become more efficient at problem solving, these policies have produced students that rely more on rote memorization and have increased the level of anxiety in young children by making mathematics a high-risk activity. (Geist, 2010)

Michael Lamb

The result is that these children grow into adults with poor attitudes towards math and the cycle continues. In conclusion, I support the message that Burns is trying to get through to the reader. This book is a necessary read for parents and teacher, alike. She grabs your attention from the beginning and refuses to let you off the hook by demonstrating, repeatedly, how her methods are working on her students. For those of us with an aptitude for math, she helps to shed light on how to stimulate our students to see the value of learning math. If applying this knowledge to alleviate your own suffering due to poor math instruction is not appealing, the reader has to agree that failing to be outwardly positive about math when dealing with children will ultimately doom them to endure the same suffering. The Anti-Anxiety Curriculum: Combating Math Anxiety in the Classroom

Journal of Instructional Psychology Date: March 1, 2010

Eugene Geist

Journal of Instructional Psychology; Mar2010, Vol. 37 Issue 1, p24-31, 8p