MAAP 2 STEM

Walking into any classroom can be unsettling, but there is something about a mathematics classroom that simply throws some for a loop. Thoughts can range from:  this is not my best subject to I heard this teacher/class is hard.

Normal feelings? Absolutely. However, the challenge is not allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by the feelings/thoughts but finding a way that works for you to keep the negative things in check so that you can thrive in the environment.

As an example, I once had an instructor who many students warned me to avoid. Now, I could have reshuffled my schedule to take someone “easier” or I could have taken the class another semester with a different instructor. What did I do? I took my chances with the “hard” teacher.

There were two main lessons that I took away from that experience. First, I learned that the instructor was not as hard as people made him out to be. He was simply very rigid on how he wanted certain problems done. 

Second, I learned that if you did those problems exactly how he showed us in class, then you could get a decent grade in the course. As it turned out, I had no issues with the class nor the instructor. 

So, let’s highlight our third and final strategy that can be done prior to entering the classroom.

Have a positive mindset.

Having a positive mindset (before, during, or after class) may feel uncomfortable. If that is true for you, embrace it and step outside of your comfort zone. If you are going into a mathematics class with an attitude of math is impossible, reframe it to math is possible. If you feel that you can’t do math, snip off the n’t and believe that you can do math. 

Think of this as a chain reaction. Your attitude impacts your behavior. Your behavior impacts your actions. Your actions impact the magnitude of your success.

If there is one thing I would like you to take away, it is this. Everyone will not have the same experience in a classroom. As a result, be open to new challenges and situations. Hard for someone else may not be true for you. You will never know unless you try.

Thanks for reading and sharing. See you next week with the beginning of a new series where we discuss topics to consider once you are inside the mathematics classroom.