When I was in primary school I really enjoyed maths and I have continued to enjoy it. I gain a feeling of reward from maths, which some may say is geeky or nerdy, but I see it as motivation. You know if the answer is right or wrong, it can be demotivating if there is only one small calculation error at the very beginning and you have continued until the end to realise that it is wrong. However, it is clear and concise. I struggled with English and History at school as there is many possible answers to one question. But with maths there is one possible 2 correct answers depending on the positive or negative.
I was determined to carry on with maths, in my 5th year of school i sat Higher maths and didn’t achieve the grade I wanted. So in my last year at school, I went back and continued with the class and re-sat the exam and came out with a result I was really happy with. Maths taught me that things can take multiple attempts and if you struggle it isn’t worth giving up, you can gain determination from not letting something defeat you. Just like I did with my Higher grade.
I understand that people have different strengths and weaknesses, but I do not believe that whole subjects so be written. People cannot be perfect at everything however, it is up to the teacher to keep on motivating their pupils to keep trying. Giving new ways to explain the same concepts and helping give extra to those who struggle so that children don’t think that just because they struggle with their times tables for example, they aren’t able to continue with the rest of the course. This is not true, some children may be really good at creative writing but struggle with discursive writing and yet they are not given the thoughts that they are rubbish at English. Each child has strengths and weaknesses. But it is up to the teacher to praise their achievements and support in their struggles.
In today’s workshop, I learnt that innumeracy is just as bad as illiteracy. Not being able to work with numbers is worse to lifestyles then not being able to read and write. Most people I think will underestimate how important numbers are. It is a universal language. Numbers are present in everyday life, whether we are aware of it or not. I believe that it is important for all teachers to teach maths with the same enthusiasm as every other subject, because there is no reason why maths should be penalised. Every subject is worthy of being in the curriculum, and every child deservers the change to excel at them,
It is interesting that there seems to be more of a focus on illiteracy than innumeracy, and yet both can hold people back so much in life. I wonder if innumeracy is easier to hide? Hopefully the emerging attitudes towards the teaching of Maths and Numeracy (i.e. that there is more than one way to learn) will make innumeracy a thing of the past.