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> kids doing poorly in math observe other kids that grasp the concepts quickly and don't fall behind. Some get A's without struggling. Two comments. * The kid
by gerbilly 8y ago
> kids doing poorly in math observe other kids that grasp the concepts quickly and don't fall behind. Some get A's without struggling.
Two comments.
* The kids who appear not to struggle may be struggling at home the night before, or working on math a lot more.
* Math will become difficult for anyone who pursues it far enough.
- jasode 8y ago>The kids who appear not to struggle may be struggling at home the night before, or working on math a lot more. One can tell the struggling child that others "may have struggled the night before" but that explanation will not remove the math anxiety because it will not convincingly explain all the performance differences the child sees. For example, in the USA, a primary/secondary teacher will lecture on a new math concept on the whiteboard and there will often be ~15 minutes left over to start the homework assignment. The kids "good at math" get started right away without any visible struggling -- and may even finish the homework before the bell is rung. The slower kids become self-aware that they need the teacher to help them more often. There is no "previous night" to hide a struggle. The slower kids see immediately that some of their peers really do pick up on new math concepts easily without practice. It's their comparisons of their ability to their peers that triggers some of that math anxiety.
- jononor 8y agoDoes that make teaching in groups fundamentally flawed (from perspective of anxiety) then, or how can we reduce this effect?