One way to boost students' scores? Help teachers conquer their math anxiety
Associated Press
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Ivory McCormick, a kindergarten teacher from Atlanta, talks about her experiences teaching math with another educator during an icebreaker session at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. It was really hard in the beginning for me to find a connection to it I was kind of just doing it because it was part of my job, McCormick said. But this past year, I have kind of revamped my thoughts about what math can be and the ways that we teach it in order to make kids want to learn about it and be enthusiastic about it. Because the way we present it to them holds so much more weight than I think I ever realized. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Early elementary teachers and child care workers watch a clip of an Erikson Institute researcher assessing a child's visual spatial memory in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Researchers at the institute, a child-development focused graduate school, started the Early Math Collaborative 16 years ago to help educators better teach young students math. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Teachers draw out maps to visualize directions described in a picture book - Rosie the hen traveled over the fence, and under the tree branch and through the river, at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. If you look at how a child is doing with math when they enter kindergarten, thats the best way to predict how theyre going to be doing with math later, all the way up through eighth grade, says Jennifer McCray, an associate research professor at Erikson. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Ivory McCormick, a kindergarten teacher from Atlanta, credits her school's decision to hire a math specialist last year with helping change the way she feels about teaching the subject, at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. McCormick moved up this year to teaching first grade. She credits her schools decision to hire a math specialist last year with helping change how she feels about teaching the subject. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Posters made by teachers during one of the conference's sessions line the walls of the Erikson Institute's classroom in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. It isnt a coincidence that a lot of early elementary teachers lack confidence in their own math abilities, said Jennifer McCray, an associate research professor with Erikson. Sometimes, their lack of confidence is why they go into early ed in the first place. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Stacey Stevens, director of an early childhood regional training center for the Kentucky Department of Education, completes an exercise using standard unit blocks, at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. At the program, teachers gained practice on concepts theyd use in their classrooms. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Teachers mark moments that mirror their experiences with math as they listen to instructors narrate the story of "Wendi" a fictional preschool teacher who loves reading but struggles in math, at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Even though Wendi was drawn to early education where math was so easy, she still felt unsure of her skills. In the story, she decided to skip math concepts, leaving them for the teachers her students would have next year. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)Erikson Institute researchers explain the impact that an incomplete math education can have on children during the early years of their development, at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. One goal of Eriksons annual math conference is to assuage teachers' anxiety by exploring how young children learn math and strategizing activities they can do in the classroom. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)
Ivory McCormick, a kindergarten teacher from Atlanta, talks about her experiences teaching math with another educator during an icebreaker session at the Erickson Institute's summer learning program in Chicago on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. It was really hard in the beginning for me to find a connection to it I was kind of just doing it because it was part of my job, McCormick said. But this past year, I have kind of revamped my thoughts about what math can be and the ways that we teach it in order to make kids want to learn about it and be enthusiastic about it. Because the way we present it to them holds so much more weight than I think I ever realized. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report via AP)
