If you were like me, you saw math as a set of rules & procedures to be followed, memorized, and regurgitated when you needed them to help you get a correct answer. 

I’m Christina Tondevold, The Recovering Traditionalist, and today we are going to talk about how Math is so much more than just getting correct answers quickly in our quest to Build our own Math Minds so we can Build the Math Minds of our kiddos.

Watch the video or read the transcript below:

Current research has determined that it is harmful for our students to focus on speed in mathematics.  However, we have two things that make us feel like we need to focus on speed in math:

• Math assessments are often associated with the aspect of speed.
• Kindergarten through 6th grade math standards require students to be “fluent” with grade level operations.  For the longest time, “fluency” has been defined as “fast”.

Fluency consists of three parts:  Accuracy, Efficiency, and Flexibility. 

• Think of something in your life that you are “fluent” in doing.  Maybe it’s speaking another language.  You may know the correct words to say (Accuracy), you may be able to come up with those words quickly (Efficiency), and you may have another way to say it if someone doesn’t understand you (Flexibility). 

My example of something I’m not very “fluent” doing is cooking.

• I can cook but I don’t believe I’m a fluent chef.  I’m really good at following recipes (I’m accurate) and I’m pretty fast when I cook (so I’m efficient) but what I’m lacking is flexibility.  If I don’t have an ingredient needed in the recipe, I can’t make it.  Also, I’m not the type of chef who can start a recipe and then add things in to make it a bit better.  I’m not flexible when I cook, so I’m not truly fluent.  I get by.  I can make meals for my family but I’m not fluent at cooking.

It’s the same way in math. So many of us grew up thinking we were fluent at math because we could get correct answers quickly.  Or maybe you grew up thinking you weren’t fluent because you couldn’t get answers quickly. 

• But getting correct answers fast doesn’t mean you are fluent. You also need that flexibility. 
• If you were like me, I grew up thinking I was fluent just because I could get answers quickly, but I struggled when it came to story problems.  I couldn’t apply the rules & procedures I had memorized in unique situations.  Give me a worksheet full of equations and I could solve them.  But real-world problems I struggled with.

It’s like if we said your body only needs water to be healthy…Our bodies need water, food, and movement.  We need all three.  Water isn’t bad but it’s only a part of what we need. 

Just like being fast at math.  Yes, we do want kids to be efficient but it isn’t all they need.  

We were brought up with this false belief that to be good at math meant we needed to get the answers fast.  We can change that for kids.  Math is so much more than just getting correct answers quickly.

In my next few videos I’ll be sharing more about what we can do to build this flexibility for elementary students so that they can become truly fluent with mathematics.  But for now, go ahead and download the Fluency Starter Kit.

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