Maths Through Art

It's been an exciting couple of months as I have met up with two other people who also think that maths should have an aesthetic component when we teach it at the elementary school level.  There's nothing quite as exciting as talking with someone about maths when the conversation doesn't center on the Common Core, SBACS or "grit". Instead, it includes words like Fibonacci, fractal, multiplicative reasoning, primes, Sierpinski, pattern, children loving math and so on.

Both Laura Sommariva and Nancy Benerofe see maths in the elementary school as significantly more than arithmetic and the memorization of facts. These things are, of course still important but can be so much more easily and effectively learned if they are associated with interesting, relevant and meaningful activities such as those Laura and Nancy advocate for. There's another person I should add to the group too, Karyn Vogel, the BSD math coach who also speaks our language.

Come to think of it, I think we should add Vi Hart to our group as she was probably the one who started it all.  Interestingly the Khan Academy lists Vi Hart's work under the heading "Recreational Math". One day, I am certain, the educational community will wake up to find that fractals and numerically and spatially defined patterns will form the basics of what we consider to be math education at the elementary school level. 

Vi Hart's Revolutionary Mathematics

For years now I've believed that Mathematics has an aesthetic, creative, and joyful component to it that is sadly ignored for the most part in the way we teach it; especially at the high school level. I have also believed that one of the main reasons why students at the K - 12 level, as well as the 13 - 16 level, dislike it so much is that it is seen, and taught for the most part, as a functional, objective discipline with little intrinsic value.

In math education there tends to be no equivalent of  poetry, creative writing, literature or anything that really helps children develop a sense of enjoyment or creativity. Imagine if reading and writing were taught from a totally functional perspective? One of the most remarkable things is the number of times students will ask of a particular math skill or concept "when am I ever going to need this" compared with the number of times a student will ask the same question of something related to creative writing.

One person who is doing something about this is Vi Hart, a self proclaimed mathmusician. She could also be called a mathartist or a mathologist as what she does flings wide the boundaries of  what we traditionally think of when we hear the word 'math'. You can also now see her videos on the Kahn Academy site which is a place many people go if they are having a difficulty understanding a particular mathematical idea.

Math Can Be Really Cool.

In the year 2014, the Common Core will be upon us; at least those of us who live in the 46 States that have signed on. The Common Core Math Standards are a step in the right direction and claim to remove the "mile wide and inch deep" tag the K - 6 math curriculum in most states has been stuck with for some 30 years. The breadth of the math topics has been reduced and the depth of expected understanding has been increased; both good things for any K - 6 student or teacher.

All is not good news, however. Many of the things we currently expect second grade students to do will now be required of first grade students, and so on throughout the grades. These changes have been collectively described as increasing our expectations of what children should achieve, or "upping the standards". The Burlington Free Press recently published an article in which the Vermont State Commissioner of Education advocated for increasing the math standards after a poor showing of math test scores on Statewide math tests.

Why is the focus always on increasing the standards for students and not on doing something to help them increase their accomplishments? Why do we not talk about increasing the math teaching resources, changing the negative, nerdy reputation that math has? Why do we not talk about making math more relevant to the students of today, making it more interesting and accessible?

This is already happening in the lower grades but it has to happen in middle and high schools when students actively choose to study different things; when students can be "hooked" into math classes because it is relevant, interesting, and dare I say it, COOL.

Imagine if HS math teachers were like Vi Hart!