Math Makeover

*click the above title to see TED Talk Video*

      I recently watched a TED Talks that got me thinking about the way we teach math these days.   Dan Meyer talks about how we give them all the information they need in math problems instead of truly making them think about what they truly need to know.  


      Truth?  I was skeptical.  It'll take a whole class period to get through one problem!  What happened to "drill and kill" which is actually backed by the 10-24-7 brain model (learn something, review it 10 minutes later, 24 hours later, and 7 days later and it turns into long-term memory).  Sure, this "makeover" is certainly 21st century skills, but am I really going to receive more motivation from students because of it?

A lesson I'm quickly learning- don't knock it 'til you try it.

     Ty found a pop machine at the Kingswood Rummage Sales earlier this week that he wanted for our youth room at church.  He could talk the guy down to $250 and was deciding whether to charge .50 or .70 for each can of soda and how long it would take to break even from the purchase.  I quickly told Ty to take a picture and send it to me as Dan Meyer's voice popped up in my head, "The way we teach all that ensures that they won't retain it." and I decided... what the heck!  Why not?


     Two days later, my kids were given no numbers whatsoever.  "We found a pop machine and are deciding if it's worth buying."  I asked them come up with a list of information they deem important to know in order to decide.  Once they came up with the list, the only info. I provided was how much we could buy it for and how much a 12-pack of sodas cost.  


     When they asked how much we would sell the cans for, instead of answering, I asked them what they think is fair.  Before I knew it, there was an all-out debate about how much to sell them for.  Some kids wanted to sell for .50 and others wanted to sell for .75 each.  (without a peep from me talking about Ty and my thoughts of .50 or .70)  They started doing the math themselves to back their logic.  I was truly dumbfounded as they were doing exactly what I wanted them to do but it was self-motivated and without much guidance or structure leading them there at all!  Eventually, we ended up talking about a faster way to figure it out (using equations).   The next day, I was asked several times what we decided to do about it and I shared that we bought it but were still debating the price and again, I had kids trying to convince me of what they thought!


Can I say Wow?!?  I'm sure this would get old day after day and there are certainly some concepts that work better taught in different ways, but goodness- I'm going to have to do this again!  Thanks, Dan Meyer for your inspiration!