Why Starting Maths Can Feel So Scary
Taking the Plunge
A few weeks ago, the time had come to finish off the sculpture of my dad. Now, when I say finish off, what I actually mean is that I had to cut off the top part of my dad’s head, take out the clay around the metal structure, continue taking out clay until it was hollow, and then put the head back on again and make it look like nothing had happened!
This was actually the most daunting part of the whole process… I did sit with my sculpture for several minutes before taking the plunge (I was hoping someone would do it for me so that I didn’t have to face up to my fears that after all this work, I accidentally wrecked the whole sculpture!) It was so strange, my heart was pumping much faster than usual, and I was worried that the wire would get stuck in the head but, within a few seconds, the top part of his head was off – it wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as I thought it would be! I did have a slight panic attack when less of the head came off than expected – but this happened to be a good thing!
How Many Children Feel About Maths
When I used to see students face to face, the first thing I noticed when I met them was how reluctant they were to be there and also do any maths. Often they would be holding on to their mum, hiding slightly behind them, trying to be as invisible as possible.
Nowadays, most of my students are online and again, most of them would prefer to be somewhere else – they speak really quietly, try to hide from the camera, etc. For their very first session (and also all the other sessions they have), my role is to make them feel at ease and comfortable. I usually do this by playing a game or two with them and also finding out about what they like to do, etc.
By the end of the session, I can see the relief across their face – it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be. In fact, I have had several students leave, skipping down the street!
It Wasn't As Bad As I Expected
With my sculpture, I spent around 4 hours scrapping the clay out from around the structure that was supporting it and then scooping out the remainder so that only about a centimetre of clay was left all around.
And you know what, I really enjoyed all the scraping and scooping and seeing my dad become lighter and lighter! Once I was happy, I stuck the top of his head back on, redid his hair and now no-one would ever know how much ‘brain-surgery’ he had had!
The Hardest Part Is Often Starting
The whole experience reminded me that the things we worry about are often much worse in our imagination than they are in reality.
Many children feel exactly the same way about maths. They spend so much time worrying about getting something wrong that they never discover what they are actually capable of doing.
Alongside this, many students believe that if something feels difficult, it means they aren’t good at it. In a previous article, I explored why learning something new is supposed to feel challenging and why struggling doesn’t mean you are failing.
Sometimes the hardest part is simply getting started.