Math Year 2- Post Three

Welcome everyone!

This week what I wanted to share with you all is something that got me thinking recently, and that is: how do we help develop the mathematics skills of our students efficiently? The reason I ask this was because I was recently intoduced to a video that discussed the benefits of making mistakes while we are learning. The video talked about how there is research that suggests that students actually grow and strengthen synpases in their brains when they make mistakes and take the time to try and and figure out where they went wrong and how they can fix it. Also, it is interesting to point out that there was essentially none of this happening in the brains of students when they were easily getting the correct answers. Now, the reason this has forced me to reflect on our behaviour as educators is because I know that sometimes we take it upon ourselves to correct our students and sit down with them and go over where they made the mistake and help them to correct it, and by doing so we think that we are helping them. Although what we are doing is being done with the best of intentions, the fact remains, are we actually doing what is best? Based of the research the video cited, it seems as though the better approach would be to give students the time to go over their own mistakes and challenge them to think deeply and as creatively as possible in order to try and work things out on their own. By doing so, the student should be able to create and strengthen synapses in their brain that will make it more likely that they will be able to retain, undestand and remember the material for much longer. Obviously we as educators should not see this as an opportunity to abandon our duty to assist our students. However, rather than correcting our students, we should instead try to guide them in the right direction and allow them the opportunity to struggle through trying to answer things on their own.