Class Values

You belong in this class. There is no such person who is “bad at math.”

Voicing your mathematical thinking matters. We want to hear your voice.

Making mistakes is how your brain grows. You don't learn anything from getting an answer right. You only learn when you make mistakes!

• Using your intuition about mathematics means trusting your gut. You know a lot more than you think you do. Using intuition involves taking a risk, maybe getting it wrong, but building on mistakes. It means being curious, estimating, and iterating.

It is okay to struggle. I recommend it! Being challenged in your work shows that you are thinking. This is a good thing! The best thinkers are often stumped by problems, and it can take days, weeks, or months of deep thinking to finally come to a conclusion.

Think about it like this: any class activity can fit into one of these three zones:

Comfort Zone

• • These are activities that are easy. Too easy. You can fly through them without thinking. They're almost... boring. You're not learning anything by doing them

Stretch Zone

• This is where learning happens. There are new experiences. You take risks. Figure out new strategies. It might be uncomfortable and challenging, but not TOO challenging

Panic zone

• These are activities that are too difficult. You want to give up. Shut down. Even after thinking you have no idea what to do. Learning doesn't happen here.

Mathematicians do not work in a vacuum. They work together.

Different people use different strategies to solve. You could as much from your peers as you do from me, if you only pay attention.

Does it make sense to YOU? Would you be able to explain it in your own words? You need to make sense of math in your own way for it to click. Far too often, students hate math class because it doesn't make sense to them, because they haven't been given the opportunity for it to make sense. We need to change that.