That’s a quote from a specific math teacher trainer but I used to be surprised by how often I heard it. Now, I’m no longer surprised. I’ve been attending workshops that Reggae Math Foundation has been putting on to show teachers in Jamaica strategies that are tried and proven here in the US to reach students who have for various reasons not been learning math. It is very clear that any person who does not think that the majority of children cannot learn has never been exposed to these kinds of workshops.
The workshops involve active learning, activities are done in collaboration with other learners, with discussions and even arguments occurring in what is replica of a math class that one could with students. This type of class is quite different from the ones I took throughout my education career. It is a conceptually different approach to teaching math. This type of approach creates a different type of learner than ones the students our system creates now. It creates the type of citizen that we need to effect change in Jamaica.
Please consider supporting us by utilizing your birthday on Facebook to support our teacher training work in Jamaica, using smile.amazon.com and selecting Reggae Math Foundation as your charity if you already shop at Amazon, or directly purchasing math manipulatives, such as the multi-link cubes pictured here. Feel free to email me at info@reggaemath.org for further information.
Multi-link cubes