How Much Do You Care if Your Kids Learn Math?

Last post, I talked a little bit about why students are not learning math. So, my question here is, how much do you care? No, this is not another rant on how kids would all learn if their teachers cared more, but it is a serious question.

Unless you are in some amazing school somewhere I haven’t been, odds are that 10% or more of your students are not at grade level. In many schools, it’s 50% or more.

If we’re honest, the students bear some of the responsibility, and the older they are, the more we can put the burden on them. If you are five, your mom should be helping you find a pencil. If you are fifteen, not so much.

Let’s be honest, it’s just you and me here talking.

When you have a student who does not turn in their work, does not try so much as one or two problems on an assignment or test, what do you think? Do you say to yourself,

“Well, I can only do so much. I can’t help you if you won’t help yourself.”

Really, what CAN you do with those students who won’t do anything? Maybe they are disruptive in class. Maybe they aren’t, they just sit their with their heads on their desks, or they are quietly doodling in their notebooks or texting their friends.

It’s frustrating, isn’t it?

Maybe you believe students should be motivated to learn, either because it is worth learning in itself or because it is so blatantly obvious…