Math why show work

In fact, many students complain that math is boring. They may not see the point in learning algebra, geometry, or calculus at school. Or they may question why they need to be able to do basic arithmetic like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by hand when answers can easily be found using a calculator or a computer.

The answer to this last point is three-fold. One, you may not always have a calculator available; two, even if you do, understanding how and why to do it for yourself gives a stronger basis for future learning, and three, doing arithmetic is a mental work-out that strengthens your working memory.

Numbers are all around us and being able to work with them quickly and efficiently is a great life skill to have. Note, being fast at arithmetic is also quite practical in many professions, from carpentry to retail, rocket science, and making the trains run on time! However, math is about much more than arithmetic. A lot of what goes into solving multi-step word problems is identifying the problem, selecting an appropriate approach to solving it there may be more than one , and following the right order of operations.

This is one reason why children are asked to show their work when doing homework or providing answers on a math test. In some cases teachers may actually give out more credit for good work than the correct response. Research has shown that math is a subject in which success is highly affected by psychological factors, including anxiety. Math anxiety may cause individuals who are otherwise strong students to freeze on a school quiz or exam. They can have difficulty finding a way into a problem, misread questions, or complete far fewer problems than they are capable of.

Many students with anxiety make careless mistakes because of the stress they are experiencing in the moment, and generally their timed assessment work is of a poorer quality than classroom activities or assignments completed at home.

Math anxiety is not necessarily about being bad at math and it can affect learners across the spectrum of ability levels — even gifted children. In worst-case scenarios, a child may begin to show signs of math avoidance and display a negative attitude toward school and learning as a result of the anxiety.

In fact, it has become a culturally accepted way of discussing the subject in the US and UK. This can have an impact on learners who begin to devalue it as a subject or think it is acceptable to have lower expectations of themselves when it comes to doing math at school. Also keep in mind that for some learners, math anxiety is the result of a history of poor performance due to an unaddressed learning or motor skills difficulty, or gaps in their learning history.

Learners with dyscalculia have trouble doing basic arithmetic and may struggle to learn math facts. As under 5s they might have taken longer than their peers to master counting. Dyscalculia can impact on estimation abilities and spatial reasoning too; these students might not be able to read time on clocks, make comparative judgements of size, or identify math symbols.

Because students with dyscalculia may not be able to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division calculations reliably, they may need to use a calculator to solve complex math problems.

Dyslexia is a different way of processing in the brain which can make it more likely that students flip number and letter shapes , reverse numbers, or mix up their order. This complicates reading and can impact on comprehension of word problems.

Students with dyslexia may need to reread a paragraph several times to understand it, they can easily lose their place when doing work out by hand, and may take much more time than their peers to get through the initial stages of understanding a prompt.

This will consequently leave them less time to complete the actual math required to find the solution. Dyspraxia can impact on the fine motor skills needed to hold a pen or pencil. Because most long form math is done by hand, dyspraxic students may struggle to show the steps they used to arrive at an answer. The can easily become distracted or frustrated by the pain of handwriting and may be more likely to give up or abandon a question before solving it.

Dyspraxia can also affect planning and organizational skills. As solving more complex problems involves a degree of planning as to how you will arrive at the answer, dyspraxic learners may find it difficult to get started. Attention difficulties can affect math skills in a number of ways. For one thing, they make it harder to pay attention in class. Working through a math problem requires you to track multiple steps; the answer to one line informs the next.

Maintaining focus is also a problem for doing work out by hand and checking work once a problem has been completed. When you first encounter a math problem you need to first focus on understanding what is being asked of you. Part of gathering the important bits is blocking out any anchoring effects from numbers that show up repeatedly and try to catch your attention.

These numbers are normally there intentionally, to serve as distractors, but they can be problematic for certain learners. As teachers, we must set up learning environments that are best for our students. Read more about showing work in math here. Want to share something? What does this mean? Starting November 1st, I'm posting videos demonstrating how I'd makeover real lessons, questions, and objectives.

It's free at Byrdseed. Math peer pressure! Or else, the rest of the group gets to point out how skipping the steps caused him to make a mistake. Now it helps that I have a pretty motivated group of kids who, for the most part, really care about getting this stuff right. This ramps up the drama a bit, since everyone has a chance of representing the group. I use raffle tickets as a prize. This leads to some serious excitement. Now, you have to know your kids and be prepared to work around those who have math anxiety.

This should be a time to reward success, not continuously punish those who are known to be struggling. Be strategic in calling up certain students. Instead, use those caring, nurturing students to provide a safer environment for a student in need.

If you absolutely need a written assessment, you can give a quickie quiz and collect it after these discussions. Photo by ttarasiuk. I'll send you one or two emails a month to help you better understand and differentiate for gifted students. Get free resources now! Math projects that cross disciplines, brain-busting math curiosities, and differentiated lessons that will get your students thinking. Check out the Byrdseed.