Math as a Language

Recently I decided that I was ready to take the next step in my educational journey, obtaining my Masters in Education (MAT).  This step has been one that I have avoided for a few years now, basically because I have allowed myself to create my own barriers, ones that I am ready to knock down and dismantle.

The largest barrier for me, has been avoiding taking the Praxis I (PPST) test.  For those of you unaware of what this test includes it is a three part test: Reading, Writing and Mathematics (the infamous Three R's- stems from a basic educational program in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when the role of schools was geared more to prepare children to work in the manufacturing industry).  If you haven't already realized I love reading and writing, but mathematics has never been a favorite subject or a strong asset of mine.  And to clarify, I understand mathematics like most people understand a second language that they studied in high school, we remember bits and pieces, because we aren't using it everyday.  Meaning I understand the basic concepts and prinicples, but when it gets into the algebraic formulas and more of a formal discipline of knowledge, I get confused over some of these mathematical ideas. 

You see, I understand fractions, percentages, subtraction, multiplication, decimals, etc...and I have used these concepts in every job I have had during and since high school (slicing deli meat, doing markups/markdowns in retail, filing invoices with retail cost/actual cost, keeping to a budget when ordering products, mixing chemicals, etc).  My largest problem with mathematics is that we do not seem to teach it as a language first.  And what is really amazing and unique about mathematics is that it is the only language shared by all human beings regardless of your native language.  Nerdy, I know, but how cool is it to think that math is universal, no matter how we are paying for our basket of groceries, dollars, euros, or yen, we are using the same concepts to weigh our groceries (lbs./kilos) and pay for them.

So I have started refreshing my mathematical language, taking practice tests and re-reading concepts I learned my sophomore year of high school, and again in my sophomore year of college.  And in doing so, I have come to a realization as to why I have always had such a hard time with certain areas of math. First of all, we do not teach math as a language first, we make children memorize addition and multiplication and give them equations and formulas to memorize before we make it available in a practical form.  What brought me to this realization was several problems in my first practice review,  but the problem that stood out to me was this one: "Use a proportion and solve this problem.   Bob uses jelly and peanut butter in a ratio of 5:2.  He uses 10 teaspoons of jelly. How much peanut butter will he use?" Now as all of you know, I love to cook, (and I no longer make PB & J sandwiches as I don't eat bread anymore), however, who makes a PB & J sandwich out of teaspoon measurements?  I know, it is meant to just be a problem, but my brain says this is completely illogical when it comes to making a sandwich.  And hence, further addresses my point about my problem with mathematics...we need to teach this language using practical and real problems.  Use cooking equations and ratios, but make the problems actual real cooking problems. For instance, how many of you have ever doubled a batch of something you were making or had to cut it in half, because you didn't have all the ingredients? 

The key to all language is foundation.  If you have a basic foundation, then you can add on, and build and grow with the language.  I remember vividly trying to explain color chemical formulas when I worked in the hair industry to high school age apprentices, and trying to break it down into terms they could understand.  I remember thinking what can I use that they will understand this, so I thought money (the basic thing everyone should know is money, 4 quarters = 1, right?)  But, I quickly realized they didn't understand quarters (not sure if its our technological culture, where children don't grow up going to the store and getting penny, dime and quarter candies anymore, because so many swipe a debit card to pay for things, or what).  So I had to teach them, by using the quarters (because I thought someone along the way failed to realize they didn't get this and moved them along).  So when mixing the formula we would lay out 4 quarters, and I would explain that two was a half (half ounce), and slowly, but surely, and after countless times of walking them through it step by step, and requestioning them when I felt they "got it", to make sure they understood.  All I can say looking back on this time, was thank God we were not mixing European formulas at the time, which mostly are measure in mLs.

Similar things have happened in my other jobs too, in regard to "quarters".  Various jobs that I have had over the years involve retail, so we often have sales in which particular products are 25% off.  Now don't get me wrong, we all have brain farts, or have had something be an odd price, that isn't an easy problem with a quick solution.  But, when so many times I have had a customer ask "how much is 25% off a $40 item or a $100 item?", it really makes me wonder about our society and our world. What I realize is that often, they know, but have been so afraid of math, that they second guess themselves.

So I am looking at mathematics in a new light, I am embracing it as what it is a language.  My hope is to not just pass this test, that I need to pass to get accepted into the Master's program, but help encourage math teachers and educators in general to have their students journal their math learning experiences and their math use experiences.  This may seem tedious, but what it allows is for a student, to see how math applies to their daily life, and to see how far they have grown (it also provides them with a reference tool for their future, which I think is very critical in one's education).  My point is I look at my son, who is a toddler and think he is learning his native language now, but I am not harping on him now, to learn that "bike" is a noun or "run" is a verb, and diagramming sentences, because right now it is more important for him to understand how to say the word and identify it- building a foundation. And currently, I am journaling for him, every few weeks or month, as most mothers do, I jot down the words in his vocabulary, what words he has formed into sentences, and what he has learned to identify. So I hope that you will join me on this adventure and help encourage math as a language, and to start journaling (it's like keeping a checkbook, but discovering that math is not just about money)!