{"id":4275,"date":"2017-03-15T11:09:07","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T19:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.familymathnight.com\/blog\/?p=4275"},"modified":"2019-12-18T09:25:28","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T17:25:28","slug":"math-its-a-workout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familymathnight.com\/blog\/?p=4275","title":{"rendered":"Math…it’s a Workout"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Your workout has to be fun. \u00a0You’re not going to stick with it if it isn’t fun.” \u00a0I hear this every time I’m in the middle of a difficult workout. \u00a0And every time I hear it I want to ‘bop’ the lady on the DVD who is guiding me through the “fun”.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n 
\nIt’s not always easy, but I try to get in a workout several times a week. \u00a0Unlike the opinion of Ms. DVD, however, working out is not<\/em> always a lot of fun. \u00a0There’s usually some pain involved. \u00a0Those lunges hurt.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nSo the other day when she repeated herself for the umpteenth time, I started to think about why I continue to pop in that DVD and torture myself for 40 minutes. \u00a0After all, she said it was supposed to be fun and I wasn’t feeling the fun. \u00a0I just wanted the workout to be over so I could\u00a0get that sense of accomplishment that comes with knowing you’ve done something good for yourself.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nAnd there it was. \u00a0My motivator. \u00a0That sense of accomplishment. \u00a0And I was willing to endure some pretty tough exercises in order to get it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nBut there was another motivator, too. \u00a0Results. \u00a0If I didn’t get any results from my pain, well then it wouldn’t be worth doing.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nIt’s the same in the math classroom. \u00a0Some math problems are not fun. \u00a0And some math problems are not easy. \u00a0But that doesn’t mean that they’re not important to do. The key is to help students make connections between the problems they’re working on and the reasons for doing them. \u00a0We need to show them the benefits.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nThat’s where Carole Dweck comes in – author of numerous books on Mindset Theory<\/a>. \u00a0In her research, Professor Dweck shows that when we work on difficult problems neurons in the brain form new and stronger connections. \u00a0She likens our brain to a muscle that grows with effort and difficulty. \u00a0And as our brain grows, we get smarter.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nWow. \u00a0That’s pretty important stuff. \u00a0Too often kids think that “smart” people don’t need to put in effort. \u00a0We need to share with them that anyone<\/em> can grow a smarter brain if they work at it. \u00a0And what a powerful motivator – knowing your brain is growing through the hard work you’re doing.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nBut, like my workouts, kids also need to experience results. \u00a0It’s these little victories along the way that build confidence and make the effort worth it. \u00a0So, as educators, we need to set up the environment so that kids can be successful. \u00a0There’s nothing like the sense of accomplishment for having completed a difficult task. \u00a0And as kids succeed and gain confidence they become better prepared to take on more and more difficult challenges.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nYes, doing certain things can be hard. \u00a0But doing things that are hard can benefit us. \u00a0So as we head into “testing season”, let’s remind our students that effort and difficulty grows a bigger, stronger, smarter brain. \u00a0And a bigger, stronger, and smarter brain will give them the opportunity to succeed at just about anything they want. \u00a0And that’s worth working hard for.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour workout has to be fun. You\u2019re not going to stick with it if it isn\u2019t fun.\u201d I hear this every time I\u2019m in the middle of a difficult workout. And every time I hear it I want to \u2018bop\u2019 the lady on the DVD who is guiding me through the \u201cfun\u201d.
\n
\nIt\u2019s not always easy, but I try to get in a workout several times a week. Unlike the opinion of Ms. DVD, however, working out is not always a lot of fun. There\u2019s usually some pain involved. Those lunges hurt.
\n
\nSo the other day when she repeated herself for the umpteenth time, I started to think about why I continue to pop in that DVD and torture myself for 40 minutes. After all, she said it was supposed to be fun and I wasn\u2019t feeling the fun. I just wanted the workout to be over so I could get that sense of accomplishment that comes with knowing you\u2019ve done something good for yourself.
\n
\nAnd there it was. My motivator. That sense of accomplishment. And I was willing to endure some pretty tough exercises in order to get it.
\n
\nBut there was another motivator, too. Results. If I didn\u2019t get any results from my pain, well then it wouldn\u2019t be worth doing.
\n
\nIt\u2019s the same in the math classroom. Some math problems are not fun. And some math problems are not easy. But that doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re not important to do. The key is to help students make connections between the problems they\u2019re working on and the reasons for doing them. We need to show them the benefits. <\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-math-phobiaanxiety","category-elementary-mathematics-2"],"yoast_head":"\nMath...it's a Workout - Karyn's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.familymathnight.com\/blog\/?p=4275\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Math...it's a Workout - Karyn's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYour workout has to be fun. You\u2019re not going to stick with it if it isn\u2019t fun.\u201d I hear this every time I\u2019m in the middle of a difficult workout. And every time I hear it I want to \u2018bop\u2019 the lady on the DVD who is guiding me through the \u201cfun\u201d. It\u2019s not always easy, but I try to get in a workout several times a week. Unlike the opinion of Ms. DVD, however, working out is not always a lot of fun. There\u2019s usually some pain involved. Those lunges hurt. So the other day when she repeated herself for the umpteenth time, I started to think about why I continue to pop in that DVD and torture myself for 40 minutes. After all, she said it was supposed to be fun and I wasn\u2019t feeling the fun. I just wanted the workout to be over so I could get that sense of accomplishment that comes with knowing you\u2019ve done something good for yourself. And there it was. My motivator. That sense of accomplishment. 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