Math Just Isn’t My Thing
How common is it to hear someone say, “I just am not good at math?” Math is one of those content areas that many students, and adults, believe come naturally from birth. You either have math skills, or you don’t. As a result, many do not believe you can improve over time. It takes hard work, practice, and a lot of frustrations. You heard that right, being frustrated and struggling is part of the process. In fact, it’s when those frustrations in math come up that many people simply give up. If math frustrations are a part of the process, how do we help our students and children manage them?
I have invited Casey O’Brien Martin, LMHC, REAT, RN, the author and illustrator of Skills for Big Feelings. to share with us ways to manage math frustrations and promote a growth mindset in math. She is a School Adjustment Counselor, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, and Registered Nurse with a passion for helping children develop healthy emotional regulation skills and grow into confident, happy individuals.
Casey’s Story
In the summer of 2005, I was going on a road trip with some friends to Canada and needed to find my birth certificate to cross the border. You see, I didn’t have a passport. As I was rummaging through some old papers in this dingy old file box my mom kept, I found a piece of paper with results from a standardized test I had taken in elementary school.
When I read the paper, it said I was in the 99.9th percentile in math in the entire country. I was absolutely shocked to see this. I brought it to my Mom, thinking it was some kind of a mistake. She was very nonchalant like and replied, “Oh yeah… Don’t you remember that? You LOVED math and science when you were a kid! They were your favorite subjects!”
I was floored. What had my mom said? I had no memory of liking, let alone excelling in math or science. Except, here I was, holding this paper in my hand with the proof that what my Mom said was true.
Casey’s Aha Moment
Thankfully, finding that piece of paper was one of those meaningful moments you’ll never forget. Here I stood in the hallway, shocked. All I could think was, “Wow! What other things have I been thinking about myself that are completely wrong?”
For as long as I could remember (we’re talking years here), I had been telling myself that I was “not a math person.” As a result, I believed that I was “not good at math” and that I probably had some type of un-diagnosed learning disability in math. If only someone had helped me manage math frustrations?
In fact, when it came time to apply to graduate school, this was one reason I decided to attend the same school I obtained my Bachelor’s degree at. In so doing, I didn’t need to take the GRE if I stayed at the same university! For fear of failure, I left my math frustrations rule my future.
Consequently, I had been making important life choices based on this false belief that I was not good at math! However, it just wasn’t true! I had been interested in pursuing a career in nursing for a while, but I believed I wasn’t “good at math”. If I wasn’t good at math, how could I become a nurse?
Proving Herself Wrong
After I obtained my Master’s degree and was seriously considering going back to school for nursing, I signed up for a trigonometry class at a local college. On the condition that I could pass this class, myself if I could pass that class, I would apply for nursing school. With the intention of proving myself wrong, I worked hard and passed the class with an A-. Next, I applied to nursing school. When I took the ATI TEAS entrance exam, the computer lab manager made a comment about my math score. In fact, my math score was better than my English score! You can bet I was relieved and still a little surprised. Accepting this new version of myself was hard.. Under these circumstances, which includes years of negative self talk, it was no wonder I didn’t think I was good at math. If only I had realized this earlier.
The Power of Mindset
Because I am not the only one with these limiting beliefs, much research has been done surrounding mindset. We know from the work of Carol Dweck and her colleagues that having a growth mindset is so important for our students. Since reading her research, I have often wondered when did this false belief about my math capabilities start and when was it reinforced? Where did I get these messages that I was “not good at math”? At what point did I internalize and believe the message that I was “not a math person”? I wonder what changes I may have made in my career path if educators had instilled a growth mindset in me early on.
Finding that piece of paper with those test results was a huge wake up call for me. As a result of that moment, I truly learned the concept that not everything you think is true. I also then understood how important your mindset can be. How powerful would that have been had someone helped me see that through my math frustrations.
How to Help Students with Math Anxiety or a Fixed Math Mindset
As previously stated, math frustrations and fixed mindsets are common in math. The phrase “number anxiety” was coined way back in the 1950s and approximately 93% of Americans report some level of math anxiety. A study from 2012 reported that about 30% of high schoolers said they felt “helpless” about math!
Many of the concepts we teach in my book Skills for Big Feelings can be applied to help your students with their fixed mindset or if they are feeling frustrated about math.
Some of the ideas covered:
- Your thoughts impact how you feel, and your feelings impact your behavior. This is such an empowering concept to teach kids!
- Not everything you think is true. Just because you have a thought such as “I’m bad at math” does not mean it is accurate.
- How to identify and differentiate between unhelpful thoughts such as “I will never be good at math” and more helpful thoughts: “this is hard but with some time, practice, and patience, I will get it.”
- Replace unhelpful thoughts such as “I made a mistake. I’m horrible!” with more helpful thoughts like “it’s okay to make mistakes. Because of these mistakes, I learn and grow.”
- If a student is feeling frustrated they can use a scale to measure the size of their challenge from small rock, medium boulder, big hill, to a huge volcano challenge. They can then match the size of the challenge with the size of their reaction.
- When frustrations run high, students can use the Feeling-Breath-Thought-Skill framework taught in Skills for Big Feelings. They’ll learn over 36 different coping strategies to help with emotional regulation such as Flat Tire and Unicorn Breath.
Skills for Big Feelings
Skills for Big Feelings: A Guide for Teaching Kids Relaxation, Regulation, and Coping Techniques is a comprehensive and powerful curriculum for educators and mental health professionals which seeks to empower children to cope with their feelings, manage anxiety, and learn to thrive, written by School Adjustment Counselor and Licensed Mental Health Counselor Casey O’Brien Martin and built on a 12-week program based on cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness, breathing exercises, visualization, and gratitude. Inside you’ll find a wealth of engaging activities for helping children develop healthy emotional growth and coping mechanisms.
Designed for children aged 6-12, this book provides a wealth of social-emotional exercises for kids, including identifying and accepting feelings, dealing with unhelpful thoughts, and acknowledging triggers, as well as practical tools for adults such as S.M.A.R.T. IEP objectives, handouts, letters, and surveys. Skills for Big Feelings is an invaluable tool for educators and mental health professionals alike.
About Casey
Casey O’Brien Martin, LMHC, REAT, RN is the author and illustrator of Skills for Big Feelings. She is a School Adjustment Counselor, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, and Registered Nurse with a passion for helping children develop healthy emotional regulation skills and grow into confident, happy individuals.
Casey draws on her unique skillsets to create mind-body programs designed to promote holistic wellbeing and emotional regulation in children of all ages, helping them to achieve their highest potential. She believes that teaching kids how to understand and cope with their feelings is an essential part of their personal growth, and she’s honored to be a part of this invaluable process.
Casey graduated from Lesley University, where she currently serves as an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences. For more information, visit Whole Child Counseling or connect with her on instagram or facebook.