Lacking confidence in your math abilities?
You’ve heard it a million times, but it’s true: mindset matters. I used to think I was the dumbest person in my math classes. When people around me understood when I didn’t, I figured I just wasn’t “math-minded.”
“They’re just naturally smart,” I’d think to myself. But here’s the thing I wish someone told me earlier: everyone is “math-minded!!”
After struggling with math anxiety for far too long, I started going to class with a different mindset. I’d say to myself, “I am equally capable as those around me. If they can understand the problem, then so can I. We’re all here to learn, and I’m no less than anyone else.”
I’ll admit it does sound really dumb at first, but I cannot cannot cannot emphasize this enough. Walk into the classroom already convinced that no matter what, you are greater than the silly little problem, and you will solve it. You know more than you think you do.
Better than hearing it from me though, I want to give you some resources from credible researchers and mathematicians to help you overcome this fixed mindset that we tend to form in math class. Whenever I tend to feel discouraged in my math abilities (I’d be lying if I told you that wasn’t often. Like…. everday…), I look back at some of these resources below:
If you enjoy reading, then I recommend you check out the book Overcoming Math Anxiety by Sheila Tobias. She talks about how, “mathematics avoidance is not a failure of intellect, but rather a failure of nerve.” It more specifically goes into math mental health and falls under women studies for its take on perceived gender differences within the math field, but it’s a wonderful read for anyone questioning their math abilities.
In general, Jo Boaler is “the math anxiety queen,” as my calc teacher once told me when she introduced me to her work. She has a series of “Mindset Mathematics” books that seeks to promote reform mathematics and provide for more equitable math classrooms.
By now, you must have realized that I’m all about my research papers. Characteristics of Proficiency-Based Learning and Their Impacts on Math Anxiety in the Middle Grades is a such paper that looks into the concept of mastery in classrooms. It’s more geared towards a teacher audience, but the findings are definitely reassuring to look at as a struggling student.
Personally, I am a visual learner and love listening to TedTalks, speeches, and videos, so they are my favorite resource to use. Not to mention, they are relatively much shorter, so on a time-crunch, they’re enough to give you a bit of a confidence boost ;)
As you may have recognized through my website here, I’m not a huge fan of people identifying as a “social science” or “STEM” person. Math is a sense is a TedTalk by a speaker who used to call himself a “history-english kinda person.” Now, he teaches math. What caused this transition? Is there a transition? I’m not going to tell you! Check it out yourself here!
Math isn’t hard. It’s a language is another TedTalk that takes a similar approach in how we should view math if we find ourselves thinking we aren’t “math-minded.” It proposes a shift in the way we word certain math problems from a young age, and the speaker provides a beautiful anecdote from a conversation with his niece to support his point. Check it out by clicking here.
When I took Algebra I for the first time, I was not a fan. It was so boring, and I didn’t care that y=mx+b. If I was taught the implications of y=mx+b alongside the content, however, I perhaps would have had a different experience with the subject. The Beauty I see in Algebra is an insightful TedTalk that explores… well… the beauty in algebra! Check it out here.
This equation will change how you see the world is not a TedTalk nor an inspirational speech about overcoming math anxiety. It’s simply a cool video that makes me excited about learning math when I get frustrated with a difficult problem. If you’re interested, check it out here.
Finally, if you’re running low on time, this 25-second clip from a Bill Nye interview is a personal favorite and a classic. It’s short. It’s sweet. It’s honest. Check it out here.
