I Knew It!

I'm posting this at 1:56 in the morning, so hopefully this is somewhat coherent. I seem to be up all night lately. And when I say all night, I literally mean ALL NIGHT. I usually fall asleep around six or seven in the morning and then sleep until eleven or so. My migraines don't help the situation either, seeing that I have to be asleep or lying down in my room when those occur. This has messed up my sleep schedule to the point that I just surrender and sleep whenever I can. I suppose this is preparation for when the baby arrives. I'm certainly catching up on my late-night infomercials.

Anyways, A recent article from Reuters concludes that, “Math Anxiety Saps Working Memory Needed to do Math”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070219/od_nm/math_anxiety_dc

For those of you that know me, you know that math is not my strong point. My poor parents spent a fortune on math tutors for me in high school and I still failed algebra 2 in eleventh grade. I had to repeat the class again in twelfth grade and passed with a D. Actually, I think my average for the year was a 63% (64% is passing). My sweet teacher felt bad for me and let it slide. Probably because I wasn’t a behavior issue and I actually paid attention to everything she said. I even stayed after school to wash her overhead slides for extra credit.

Looking back on it now, I’m surprised none of my math teachers ever recommended me for testing or special services due to my poor math grades. I had pretty decent grades in my other classes and I was barely getting by in math. My math tutor, Mrs. Dunkle, even asked me after one of our tutoring sessions how I was doing in my other special education classes. The thing was, I wasn’t in any special education classes, but now I think I should have had special attention for my math issues. Too late now I suppose.

Anyways, the problem still exists today. Just ask any of my family or friends. I avoid math like the plague. It makes me feel so stupid, anxious and nervous whenever I think about it. My seventh grade students will come up to me during study hall with a math problem and I’ll have no idea how to do it. I'll then pronounce, “Who would like to be a special volunteer and assist Johnny with his math homework? You know the best way to master something is to teach it.” Usually, I'll get a few volunteers.Thank goodness. I can’t let them know that I have no idea how to approach the math problem. Sneaky, huh?

I inevitably end up telling them the story of how I failed math in high school anyways, so I don’t know why I put on the front.

I think there is something to the theory of multiple intelligences after all.

"The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults."

These intelligences are:
 Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
 Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
 Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
 Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
 Musical intelligence ("music smart")
 Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
 Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
 Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

above info from:
http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm