Today I attended my first mathematics workshop. If I am honest I was quite nervous for this workshop due to my maths not being very good. I feel I lack confidence within this subject as when I was at school I enjoyed maths and didn’t mind going to the classes however now that I have been out of school for a couple of years I feel my maths skills and confidence have weakened majorly. I always had the opinion that I couldn’t do it and always had a negative image of it as so many peoples perception is that they ‘hate’ maths.

Today at the workshop it was all about why we teach maths and the perceptions that everyone has of maths. These perceptions were made a long time ago and have not changed for our generation and this is why the subject has such a negative image. I feel after this workshop I felt a little better about the subject as it was not an intense workshop where you were fired questions and you had to answer. Tara allowed us to discuss the answer and then feedback to the class. It has made me more confident about the subject and my perception on maths has changed as I don’t feel nervous anymore when I have a maths workshop.

This workshop also made me come to a realisation that it is also all about your attitude towards the subject that will be of great benefit to teaching a class. Having a positive attitude towards the subject brings out the best in the children as if they can see you are enthusiastic about the subject they will usually try their best within a lesson.