Welcome back, teacher candidates. Year Two Mathematics is officially underway!

Last year, I related the theme of my blog, the cartoon television show Adventure Time, to my goal of wanting to promote Math as a positive experience for my students. I love how the show puts a positive spin on Mathematics, using it as an expression of awesomeness and a favourite past time of Finn, the young hero of the series. 

I think it is critical for students to become familiarized with the fun and enjoyable side of Math, as Math is often stereotyped quite negatively.

As we have learned in Week One, the general Math Mindset that pervades academic experiences is a negative one. Poor attitudes toward Math, Math Myths, problematic brain growth, and harmful stereotypes have adversely impacted the general public's experience in the field of Mathematics.


The image is actually from a Spanish telenovela, Senhora do Destino. Across the internet, very few people will describe it as an image of Nazaré Tedesco. Instead, it is colloquially referred to as "Confused Math Lady". 

Confused Math Lady literally embodies the two most prominent mindsets that deter students from enjoying Mathematics. It illustrates the belief that Math is confusing and difficult; something that many people are supposedly just "not good at". It also brings to focus the popular, albeit erroneous, myth that "girls can't do math". 

As a young student, I was often exposed to the unfortunate belief that girls cannot participate in domains such as athletics, science or mathematics with the same competence of their male counterparts. In my youth, I assumed that one day the boys in my class would outgrow this mindset and stop teasing girls about what we could and could not do. 

Unfortunately, some myths manage to pervade all ages and genders. In my adult life, I have still witnessed examples of women being discouraged or questioned when operating in the field of mathematics. And both male and female students avoid math as much as possible, because they find it confusing and cannot understand how it will be useful in the "real world". 

So how do we avoid promoting the Confused Math Lady stereotype?

In the video Stanford Math Myths and The Brain 2, Montse says that people have been turned off from Math primarily because of how it is taught. She states that people often describe Math classes as "monotonous, too abstract and not linked to life". To combat this, Montse suggests creating classrooms that treat Math as a "living, breathing subject with lots of ways to access it". Providing students with fun exposure to Mathematics can help to encourage students to practice their Math skills. Many people who find Math "confusing" feel like they are "not Math people" and therefore will never be good at it. These people buy into the myth that Math is only for certain people, when in reality, anyone with a Growth Mindset can become a good Mathematician! When we avoid Mathematics, we do not give the prefrontal cortex in our brains the change to flex its muscles and become stronger when solving Mathematical problems. Just as athletes and musicians must practice to develop their skills, Mathematicians must practice as well! 

Teachers must be sure to provide students with a positive, Growth Mindset-inspired view of Mathematics. They must provide welcoming exposure to Math in the classroom, and seek to illustrate how Math pervades many aspects of daily life. It is also important for teachers to be especially welcoming to female students, who may still be impacted by societal norms and stereotypes that assert that they are better suited to subjects that are more "left-brain" oriented. It is important that young girls see themselves as capable Mathematicians and feel just as welcomed in academics domains as their male counterparts.

When a young woman asks her teachers what limitations girls face in terms of Mathematics, there should only be one answer: