Schoolwide News

It’s no secret that math is often a polarizing subject. Some students love it, others fear it.  Many adults still carry the emotional baggage of their own school math experiences.  As you know, I'm always thinking about how to make math learning more meaningful.  This week I engaged EAB teachers in a discussion exploring what it can be like to make math feel more human. 

The stereotype of math is that it is exclusively precise, logical, and objective. However, as Francis Su – former member of the Mathematics Association of America – writes, math is a human endeavor because it is tied to creativity, curiosity, and the desire for understanding.  But this creativity and curiosity is often taken out of math education, replaced by algorithms and standards, and focused on performing well on assessments.  

Math is usually presented as a set of rules and procedures for students to use in order to solve problems. They become consumers of math, not inventors of it.  But what if we made space in math class for students to ask their own questions, to wrestle with ethical dilemmas, and to see the beauty and creativity in mathematical thinking?

One simple example: imagine three friends trying to split the cost of a shared taxi ride home. Each one lives a little further than the last, and the taxi charges by the kilometer. How do you decide what a fair price is for each person? Students need to use mathematical calculation to solve this problem, but they also need to grapple with perspective, reasoning, and equity. These are exactly the kinds of conversations that help students connect math to real life, and to one another.

I'm not interested in changing the content of our math curriculum, but I am interested in thinking about how we can make small shifts that invite students to think more deeply and engage more fully. Can we engage students in creating mathematical problems and patterns, not simply solving them? Can we say “yes” more often when they pose interesting questions? Can we create problems that reflect their world and spark their curiosity?

This isn’t about making math easier, it’s about making it more meaningful.

I truly believe that every student can feel a sense of belonging in the math classroom. That math isn’t just something you’re “good at” or not, but a way of seeing the world, of solving problems, and of thinking critically. Just like Humanities class, math class can reflect the richness of human thought and experience.