Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire: Chapter 5

Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire: Chapter 5 (Add It Up)

Rafe begins this chapter by saying what a polarizing subject math is – you either love it or you hate it. I must admit I have always been on the ‘hate’ side of this spectrum. Recently, however, I had a math professor who I loved, and who made math seem a lot less scary. I hope to make math less scary for my students, by employing some of the techniques that Rafe has laid out.

In this chapter, Rafe describes a game called Buzz. This activity was so enjoyable for his students that they even chose to play it in lieu of coloring, while waiting for food at a restaurant.

He also wrote about a woman named Marcy Cook, who is apparently fabulous at helping children understand math. He includes the address to her website (www.marcycookmath.com) and a quick visit proves that he was not lying when it comes to her genius.

The most important thing is to make sure that students feel comfortable with math, and to make sure that they understand the concepts so they can build on them later (instead of just memorizing tricks). My favorite idea in this chapter was when Rafe explained that he gives the students tiles to hold up during their warm-ups. They hold up what they think is the correct answer, and then no one has to be embarrassed if they are wrong. Nobody has to be randomly called on, but everyone participates. This eliminates a lot of unnecessary anxiety that only serves to hinder the learning process.