Oh, but Malkin that’s much to easy. This government is hellbent to morph our places of education into just about everything except places where confidence it built and students, heaven forbid master the basics.

Kudos to those teachers who do buck the system and go it on their own. They exist, but quietly as so to not draw attention to themselves or their administration WHICH can be rather forceful in making sure no teacher breaks the law.

Could it be that in order to keep adults employed we need to keep kids striving for mediocrity?

Is that against the law in Ontario too?

So that’s why we were getting math homework with absolutely no instructions or text books?
This is still going on right now according to other parents I’m still talking to.

My grade 5 girl was deathly afraid of math, she would work herself up until she was just not learning. She is now progressing quite well with the JUMP Math program.
The hysterics are gone, we both know when to take a break, I’ve learned to change my tact if she is not understanding me and we do not move on till the skill is understood.
She’s doing great now!

How do these people with no math skills get into teachers college in the first place; yet these same colleges will turn down engineers.

The study did not find that the teachers who were “anxious” about their math skills were actually deficient in math skills; in fact, the researchers reported no difference in math knowledge between the “anxious” teachers and the confident ones.. There is sometimes a skill gap in teachers at the 7-8 level where math is concerned, but this study was of primary grade teachers.

The study raises questions rather than answering them. It doesn’t suggest a knowledge deficit in the math-anxious teachers, but does pose the riddle of how these teachers communicate their “anxiety” to the students. The researchers admit they have no answer to this question.

“At present in Ontario, it is actually illegal for teachers to use well-sequenced and clearly-explained math textbooks, and the use of direct instruction and drilling is strongly discouraged, even though these teaching methods result in better student learning.”  I always thought it was an unwritten law, and not that the teachers were prevented to teach math in different ways. The math text books are the main cause of math anxiety for teachers, parents and children. I learned soon enough when tutoring my daughter, the textbook was tossed, in favour of clear, explicit examples and instruction. My daughter’s anxiety melted away, as my anxiety increased when dealing with educators who objected to my methods of teaching. As for teachers inducing the anxiety, I believe in part or all, the teachers who produce more anxiety, are teachers who believe that math is a talent, that you either have or do not have. They certainly do not believe it can be taught to all students.

The studies I have seen show no difference between “math majors” in university vs teachers who last did math in grade 11.

It is arithmetic for God’s sake. We can all do it. The question is can we teach it. I like JUMP math. My wife grew up in Hong Kong. I asked her how she accounted for superior math skills with Asian kids. She said, “we had an itinerent math teacher teach us since grade one.” Still, although Asian kids are much faster and more accurate with arithmetic calculations, they are not any better at problem solving which is the critical element at the end of the day. That is why many send their experts to North America to get a “problem solving” perspective. They are not satisfied with their system because it does not encourage discovery and innovation.