Kate,

 

Your suggestions are good and I hope others will use them. Thank you for
your input. 

 

Judy

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Kate Nonesuch [mailto:womenliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of
Kate Nonesuch
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 9:06 AM
To: The Women and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: RE: [WomenLiteracy 380] Re: Numeracy

 

Thanks for the questions, Ryan--I'll answer each separately:

Can you talk a little bit about how you move these women from quiet
observers of your instruction to active participants who actually take
initiative and offer suggestions for solving math problems? 

I notice out loud that sitting back is a strategy that works in some places,
but is usually less fruitful in math classes.  I acknowledge that I am
asking them to do something difficult, i.e., be more active, but that I am
confident that they can do it and I am confident it will make a difference
in their ability to learn math.   I notice and encourage very small steps
they take, and get them to talk about how/why/what they are feeling as they
work in math.  I teach math in a group, so they can encourage each other and
follow each other's lead.  I work with them on learning styles and multiple
intelligences, so they know themselves better, and then invite them to make
some choices about what kind of assignments or studying they will do.   

 

Also, do you
have any suggestions for dealing with their wrong answers- ways that will
not return them to their silence?

Primarily I like to use manipulatives, because it is hard to get the wrong
answers when you use manipulatives--for example, 

3/8 plus 1/4 never turns out to be 4/12 when you use manipulatives.  

I've been working on writing up some things about teaching math, and I have
written a little piece exactly about dealing with wrong answers--I'll attach
it here, and would appreciate feedback from anyone who reads it.  

 

Kate Nonesuch

Career and Academic Preparation

Malaspina University-College, Cowichan Campus

222 Cowichan Way

Duncan, BC

V9L 6P4

 

nonesuch at mala.ca

phone:  (250) 746-3565

Fax:  (250) 746-3563

 

  _____  

From: womenliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Ryan Hall
Sent: Mon 26-Jun-06 5:33 PM
To: The Women and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [WomenLiteracy 380] Re: Numeracy

Kate,
Can you talk a little bit about how you move these women from quiet
observers of your instruction to active participants who actually take
initiative and offer suggestions for solving math problems? Also, do you
have any suggestions for dealing with their wrong answers- ways that will
not return them to their silence?
Thanks,
Ryan


On 6/25/06 3:29 PM, "Kate Nonesuch" <nonesuch at MALA.BC.CA> wrote:


> Mev writes:

> "I often wonder -- Are there keys in women's learning theory or specific

> gender-based concerns that can help us to understand women's

> relationship to numeracy/math, especially in ABE?

> I wonder if is has to do more with socialization and structures of

> power -- than anything to do directly with math..."

>

> In my observation, some women who have survived violence in their past or

are

> dealing with it in their present, have learned not to express an opinion,

> because they have not been allowed to have opinions, or have had dire

> consequences to expressing an opinion.

>

> Yet, you cannot do math without expressing an opinion.  "I think ________

> would be the best way to tackle this problem."  "I'm going to move the

decimal

> two places to the right."  "The answer is ___."

>

> Such women are caught--if they are to do math, they must jettison a

survival

> tactic that has served them well.  As an instructor, I have to take this

into

> consideration as I teach math--I cannot just expect women to jump in.

>

> 

> Kate Nonesuch

> Career and Academic Preparation

> Malaspina University-College, Cowichan Campus

> 222 Cowichan Way

> Duncan, BC

> V9L 6P4

> 

> nonesuch at mala.ca

> phone:  (250) 746-3565

> Fax:  (250) 746-3563

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: womenliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of mev at litwomen.org

> Sent: Fri 23-Jun-06 8:14 AM

> To: The Women and Literacy Discussion List

> Subject: [WomenLiteracy 366] Re: Numeracy

>

>

>

> hmmm...

> about manipulatives...though some commercial products were named, and

> the suggestion that "cost" was a reason for why they are not used in

> ABE....

> I think the point of manipulatives is to make numeracy-related concepts

> both visual and kinesthetic. So once we have a sense of what a specific

> manipulative might be used for, I think we could be creative about how

> to acquire them....perhaps learners could help make them (to explain

> the why) and they could be left in the classroom for future

> use...colored paper cut in shapes, clean leftover plastic food

> containers of all sizes, children's building blocks, deck of cards,

> various grains and beans of differing shapes and sizes -- heck, even a

> bag of M&Ms or different kinds of cookies could be used -- in this

> regard, I think we're only limited by our imagination!

>

> as this conversation progresses, though, I find myself asking what it

> has to specifically do with women and literacy? Several suggestions

> seem fairly generic - not particularly gender-specific to women.

>

> Andrea offered one suggestion -- women have typically not been

> encouraged to consider financial or money management issues in the way

> that men might be. The overwhelming (or assumed?) sense that math

> anxiety is typical among women (more so than among men) could be

> another connection. Does the suggestion to use manipulatives correspond

> to women's learning theory or does it have more to do with multiple

> intelligences  contexts for learning?

>

> I often wonder -- Are there keys in women's learning theory or specific

> gender-based concerns that can help us to understand women's

> relationship to numeracy/math, especially in ABE?

> I wonder if is has to do more with socialization and structures of

> power -- than anything to do directly with math...

>

> why do I say that... well, here's my own theory (for what it's worth).

> Think about what has considered to be "typically" women's work....and

> how math-related they all are...

> cooking -- need to understand relationships of amounts, volumes,

> measurements -- how much of what to use, when, to feed how many....etc.

> fabric arts -- counting stitches, how much thread, yards, how big is

> ther person being sewn for...etc.

> gardening -- how much space will something take in relation to other

> plants, how much water, food, length of growing time

> astrology, farming, childcare, transportation, home repair, food

> storage, bargain shopping, bartering (how much is something worth

> really) -- so much of common "women's work" and everyday survival DOES

> depend on a certain familiarity with "figuring."

>

> I think that as math became more associated with money management

> (class / power) and abstract theoretical "higher" problem-solving, the

> more it became removed from women's hands -- "closed" and made

> "mysterious - even frightening for women. And I do believe it has to do

> with power and access -- basically, women's self-sustainability and

> self-sufficiently.

>

> that's my rant for the day

>

> also, I'd venture to guess that math may be a great "equalizer" for

> women ABE learners as well as ABE teachers -- in this subject area, we

> may be most like our students in comfort and expertise, than not!

>

> by the way - check out these websites on women mathematicians...

> http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/sciencemath1/tp/aatpmathwomen.htm

>

> http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/

>

> http://www.nwhp.org/tlp/links/links.html#math

>

>

> Mev

>

>

>

> WE LEARN

> Women Expanding: Literacy Education Action Resource Network

> www.litwomen.org/welearn.html

>

> Mev Miller, Ed.D., Director

> 182 Riverside Ave.

> Cranston, RI 02910

> 401-383-4374

> welearn at litwomen.org

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Women and Literacy mailing list

> WomenLiteracy at nifl.gov

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>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

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