Let’s keep solving Math’s problems
“I don’t even understand why we need to do this. Who cares about exponents and order of operations?!”
~student
I can’t begin to describe to you how often I hear this statement, but insert whatever the student is learning at the time.
While I can opt out and just tell the kiddos, “because,” I’m better than that. I know why these topics are important, and so I share their importance with the students. They have a right to know why they are learning what they are learning. No?!
No matter where the kiddos are in math, I tell them that math at its core is about solving problems. We’ve all seen that meme about “Dear math, I’m done looking for your x” or “Dear math, I’m done solving your problems.” Well, it’s true. Math is solving problems. That’s all there is to it.
Dear math, I’m done looking for your x
Dear math, I’m done solving your problems
So how is this a satisfactory answer for my middle schooler learning prime factorization?
Well, let’s take a deeper look into what kind of problems are real world problems that solving math problems will help us with.
Let’s say that you’ve just had a baby who is about to turn one and you’re planning a party for the baby’s first birthday! You’re likely going to rent a space, find a caterer, get some decorations and send out invitations. Each of these tasks pose their own individual problems – both foreseen and not. For example, the cake is dropped when they bring it out of the truck or the space you rented is flooded, or everyone’s favorite caterer gets the wrong date and for the event to be a day later.
It’s obviously your job to work through some of these problems. You might need to move the party to your house or postpone the event. But what if you have people coming from out of town for this party. Would postponing be ideal? Would your house have enough space to house all of the people for the party? Could you find a friend or family member who has a bigger space?
While I hope that these never happen to anyone, the reality is that they can and will happen to someone. And not to sound like a Debbie Downer, but we do need to think about what other problems may come about on a daily basis. Carpooling to and from activities? Isn’t that a headache for most parents who have more than one kiddo in an afterschool activity?