Brad Hoffman, Author at My Learning Springboard

Overcoming Your Fear of Math

April 29, 2014 Brad Hoffman

Math is everywhere. From the buildings, streets, and parks you see around you that were built using math; to the cars and trains you ride in that are run using complicated equations; to the decisions at the grocery store and in restaurants that we make on a daily basis, math surrounds us. Why is it such a scary subject in schools? Why do so many students have a fear of math?

When I was in high school, I was a part of the Math Team…yes, I was that girl. But, really, I was also terrified of it! Joining this team was my way of overcoming that fear of math.

Why do so many students have a fear of math?

In a Washington Post blogpost entitled, “Why is math so hard for so many?,” Valerie Strauss summarizes a few plausible explanations. In trying to answer this questions, she refers to cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, who in turn refers to work done by David Geary, also a cognitive psychologist at the University of Missouri. In Dr. Geary’s work, the issues of learning it may be:

a) a problem with approximating quantities
b) problems associating mathematical symbols
or
c) problems with understanding logical relationships between numbers.

Dr. Willingham further suggests that mathematical ability may not be a “natural” human activity, suggesting that it became a human necessity faster than the population could acquire the ability through evolution.

So if math is not “natural” why do we teach it?

In our current and evolving world, mathematical skills are essential to many job opportunities that garner what is considered a good salary. Higher-paying jobs such as lawyers, doctors, engineers, and financiers require a strong foundation of math, demonstrated by college grades and admission exams that test this special ability.

But there are good jobs that don’t require math skills…

Those who work in the humanities and arts, as well as countless other jobs don’t typically require terrific grades (though kudos if you have them!) as they may rely upon other cognitive abilities such as creativity, verbal articulation, and visuo-spatial reasoning.

So why–again–should we learn math?

Math, like science, is not so much about the answers as it is about the process. It requires students to understand that there is a set of rules that governs a set of tasks. It helps you to understand that if you want to alter a system, you need to learn its structure and organization well in order to find the “loop-hole” exception. You can either be an appreciator of that structure or you can be the renegade who tries to prove its flaws. Math helps you see that the intricate and technical details matter in determining the outcome even if you understand “the big picture”. It can help you design the object you have always dreamed about or help predict the future in terms of risks, benefits, or likelihoods.

Even human behavior has mathematical implications: John Nash Jr., a mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994, developed game theory: a type of math that provides a mathematical framework to understand human behavior in a particular situation.

How do I succeed in math when I find it so challenging?

As with anything in life that is challenging, one has to confront their fears. While I don’t expect all students to go out and join the math club, I do hope that students can find an appreciation for the art and science of math. Tutoring and mindful teaching can help every student succeed in mathematics.

By Dr. Kathy Aligene, Private Tutor

Ally Sheedy

April 22, 2014

Ally Sheedy has been working in film, television and theatre since she was 15 years old. She started off doing television commercials while in high school, and attended the University of Southern California as a student in the BFA theatre program. While pursuing her studies in theatre, Ally shot several successful films, including: War Games, directed by John Badham; The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes; St. Elmo’s Fire, directed by Joel Schumacher; and Twice In A Lifetime, directed by Bud Yorkin, starring Gene Hackman, Ellen Burstyn, and Ann Margret. Ally also worked one summer at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Ally has since starred in over 50 films and television series, as well as appeared onstage. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress for her work in High Art, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Ally starred off-Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and in Triptych, written by Edna O’Brien at the Irish Repertory Theatre.

In 2013, Ally filmed Full Circle, a mini-series written by Neil LaBute, and shot her fifth season in a recurring role on USA’s series psych.

Ally has studied drama at New York City theatre institutions Circle In The Square and The Neighborhood Playhouse, as well as a summer program created by Julliard at Skidmore College. She also participated in a Shakespeare workshop at The Public Theatre, taught by Harold Guskin, and continued to study with him independently.

For the past three years, Ally has been teaching an on camera film class at La Guardia High School, and in that time, has co-directed four productions. She works one-on-one with senior drama students on film for professional work, and coaches them individually on their monologues for college and conservatory auditions. In her private tutoring work with My Learning Springboard, Ally coaches students one-on-one in preparation for college auditions or performances.

Because Ally started her career at such a young age, she is uniquely suited to offer guidance and help develop the natural skills of young performers. She is the proud mother of a college student, and particularly loves discussion, exploration and the development of ideas with students in this age group.

Thinking about Math Differently

April 14, 2014 Brad Hoffman

$math tutoring$ There’s something about being naturally good at math that makes people believe you’re exceptionally intelligent. There’s a mystique about math; the idea that only a few gifted people are able to do it. Conversely, I’ve lost count of the number of parents who have warned me that they have no ‘math brain’ and that their son or daughter has inherited this lack of ability.

The truth is that there is no such thing as a ‘math brain’. We’ve all got the same human brain, the same raw material. The difference between those who ‘can’ and those who ‘can’t’ is nothing more than how we use the brain: do we use it in the way that the brain finds easy, or in a way that it finds difficult?

Math is a language, and like any language, it’s only easy if you understand what it means. But most people don’t actually learn to make sense of what the math symbols are actually saying. Rather, they try to learn a set of rules in order to determine what to do. Their experience with math becomes a mundane litany of “do this, do this, do this, then do this”–of course this kind of learning is tedious, boring, and utterly forgettable. By contrast, the minority of people who appreciate what the math-symbols actually mean find that they learn how to solve math problems simply because it makes sense. And things which make sense seem obvious and easy to learn.

One of my favorite examples of this concept is in learning how to add fractions. How do you calculate the sum ⅝ + ⅔? Most of the students I meet have learned a series of steps to determine the answer, which goes something like this: “multiply the denominators–8 and 3, making 24; then multiply the bottom number of one fraction with the top number of the other fraction–8 with 2, making 16, and 5 with 3 making 15; we now have the sum 16∕₂₄+ 15∕₂₄and now we have add together the two numbers on the top–16 + 15, making 31; but not add the two numbers on the bottom (!) and so we end up with an answer of 31∕₂₄… which can then be turned into a mixed fraction, but that’s a different problem we don’t need to worry about here.” The student who is taught this way then finds themselves trying to memorize these very abstract steps. No wonder they get confused.

Guess what: most students can’t remember what to do, and that’s no fault of theirs. Our brains are not designed to deal with this kind of abstract nonsense. As a result, pupils are made to practice endless examples until the problem becomes an automatic robotic program. Even if it doesn’t make complete sense to them, students will answer correctly, by pure rote memorization. They haven’t really been educated in any meaningful way, but everyone’s happy because they get the right answer, which is all the system cares about.

Now compare that complicated, abstract approach, to adding fractions with the following explanation of the same problem: ⅝ + ⅔. The first thing to do is read it properly. It says “5 eighths plus 2 thirds.” This is like saying 5 cushions plus 2 windows: you’re being asked to add two completely different types of things together, which you can’t do. You can only add things of exactly the same type together: windows go with windows, cushions go with cushions. So the problem we have is that we are trying to add different types of things together. What’s the solution to this? Make them the same. We have to turn eighths and thirds in something that they have in common, and that would be twenty-fourths.

However, by the time the student is learning how to add fractions, they will already have learned about equivalent fractions: they will have already learned that ⅝ is the same as 15∕₂₄, and that ⅔ is the same as 16∕₂₄. So we realize that the original sum ⅝ + ⅔ is identical to the sum 15∕₂₄+ 16∕₂₄. We now no longer have the problem of trying to add different types of number (eighths and thirds); we now have the same type of number (twenty-fourths). So we’re asking: “what is 15 twenty-fourths plus 16 twenty-fourths?” which is like asking: “15 doors plus 16 doors is 31 doors”. Thus our sum has a total of 31 twenty-fourths, or 31∕₂₄.

We will end up with the same answer whichever route we take. However, one of these approaches connects the dots, explains why each step makes sense and makes use of previously learned knowledge.

Math is a lot easier than it looks and is easier than a lot of people would expect. Math is a language. If you learn to speak the language in a way that is meaningful and makes sense then it will be meaningful and will make sense. If you never learn to speak the language, then it will always seem foreign and difficult. When you or your child think that you don’t have any talent for math, you need to know that this just means you haven’t yet learned how to read math in such a way that it make sense. Math is not just a language: it is the most reliable, logical and sensible system that exists. All you need is to find the person, friend, teacher, tutor who can talk about it not as a robotic system of rules, but as a living, breathing, human, meaningful piece of common sense.

By Nick Thomas, Private Tutor

Jose Bladimir Parra

April 7, 2014

Although deeply fond of his native Medellin, Colombia, Jose Bladimir Parra was always in love with American culture, including its traditions, its music, and the English language. He first dreamt about living in the United States when he was twelve-years-old: he thought living in the United States would be the ideal way to learn English. After graduating from the National University of Colombia as an Industrial Engineer, he worked in the engineering field for about eight years before moving to South Florida, where he soon became a family man.

Jose’s journey as an educator and private tutor started more than twelve years ago when he began working as a mathematics and Spanish teacher at a private school in Boca Raton. He truly believes in the importance of establishing a connection with each student, which derives from a genuine interest in his or her learning of mathematics from a real life perspective, and Spanish as an important skill to learn in a global and diverse environment. He also considers it vital to assess students and learn students’ learning styles from interacting with them. He is then able to deliver the appropriate instruction that is tailored to their individual learning needs.

Jose’s goal as an educator is to make a difference in the lives of the students he works with by helping them achieve their learning goals, and helping them to become the kinds of critical thinkers and problem solvers required in today’s demanding and highly competitive society. To accomplish this goal, he maintains constant communication with the student’s first and most important teachers: their parents. He believes that teaching is a team effort oriented to assisting students in the process of developing self-confidence and helping them reach their full potential.

When he is not teaching, Jose enjoys spending time with his wife and children, reading, running, and practicing Taekwondo, a Korean martial art in which he holds a black belt.

Happy Poetry Month: All About the Fibonacci Poem

April 7, 2014 Brad Hoffman

April is National Poetry Month! One of our favorite forms of poetry is the “Fib” Poem, which integrates poetry and math using the Fibonacci sequence. This mathematical sequence follows the following integer pattern:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, …

By definition, the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 1 and 1, or 0 and 1, depending on the chosen starting point of the sequence. The next number in the sequence represents the sum of the previous two numbers. What we know as the Fibonacci sequence was founded by Leonardo Pisano (known as Fibonacci) in 1202. Leonardo Pisano theorized the growth of a rabbit population to discover the sequence in his book Liber Abaci.

How fast could rabbits breed in ideal circumstances, he wondered. Suppose a newly-born pair of rabbits, one male, one female, are put in a field. Rabbits are able to mate at the age of one month, so that at the end of its second month, a female can produce another pair of rabbits. Suppose that our rabbits never die and that the female always produces one new pair (one male, one female) every month from the second month on. The puzzle that Fibonacci posed was: how many pairs will there be in one year?

At the end of the first month, they mate, but there is still only 1 pair.
At the end of the second month the female produces a new pair, so now there are 2 pairs of rabbits.
At the end of the third month, the original female produces a second pair, making 3 pairs in all.
At the end of the fourth month, the original female has produced yet another new pair, the female born two months ago produced her first pair also, making 5 pairs (from Plus Magazine)

This is how we get the sequence of Fibonacci numbers: if we continue to add to the quantity of rabbit population, after twelve months, there will be two hundred and thirty three rabbits.

Fib poetry is similar to the haiku, the famous Japanese poetry form, because both forms of poetry have strict rules for the amount of syllables that are used in each line of the poem. In haiku, the first line of the poem must be 5 syllables, then the second line must be 7 syllables, and the third and last line must be 5 syllables again. Haiku also typically describes something beautiful in nature. Here is an example of haiku:

The wren
Earns his living
Noiselessly.
– Issa

In fib poetry, the number of syllables per line are based on each number in the Fibonacci sequence. Most fib poems are made up of six lines with twenty syllables that correspond to the first six numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. Here is an example of a fib poem:

One
Small,
Precise,
Poetic,
Spiraling mixture:
Math plus poetry yields the Fib.

Gregory K. Pincus, “Fibonacci Poems Multiply on the Web After Blog’s Invitation”

Can you try to write a Fibonacci poem?

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.