FYI, link to the TED website above is busted.

Just watched your TED talk on Youtube… fascinating! I’m a recent chemistry BS graduate (as well as recently turning 30) and the kind of of student you describe (“come on! just give me the formula!”) is all too common to me. You might think that in a discipline with more “real life” examples like chemistry and physics you would find people who are more willing/wanting to ascribe these formulas to something more concrete to learn them but that’s not the case. The vast majority, though part of a program they VOLUNTARILY joined, just wanted the quick answer and, as such, did not do very well. This is, of course, why a BS in chemistry is mostly useless. Only when you’re in a lab and accountable for actual molecular production do you start to understand that the formulas can only get you so far. What you said about discussions surrounding sources of error is right on point from my experience. It’s also the hardest things for some folks to grasp.

It’s fantastic to see someone bringing some thinking to the art of thinking and question the tenants of our education system. Your techniques have weight at all levels of teaching and learning and I hope you can reach a wide and universal audience!

Thank you!

Also, I’m printing out the WCYDWT stuff to, ahem, study later. :)

That TED talk was really stimulating and very well-done. Your students are lucky to have you.

The TED talk was brilliant! I just received my B.S. in math, and while I don’t intend to teach as a career, I do think being able to teach material is the ultimate test of your own understanding of it. I tutor math often, and I do it both for the money and for my own personal improvement.

I didn’t start really understanding what was going on with math until I identified the sorts of problems I wanted to solve, and just sat by myself and attempted to solve them. No exercise sets, no solution manuals, just real problems.

When a problem is grounded, and I mean REALLY grounded, it is interesting. This doesn’t mean replacing generalities with concretes and calling the resulting problem an “application.” Students are much more intelligent than textbook authors give them credit for, and they can see right through that farce; They immediately shut off because it just feels like busy work.

I teach computer studies at an independent school in Toronto. I’ve recently challenged my colleagues to look at ways of incorporating multimedia and tech into their classes, and have passed on your TED talk to show that yes, it even applies to math studies.

Thank you!
@katgoodale

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

Just saw your TED talk and found it to be PHENOMENAL for the ideas. ANd just what you said. I’ve been a math and science nerd since the 11th grade. I’ve got my BS in EE and Math and I’ve been tutoring ppl of all ages in math and science. What is so disheartening to me is how turned off ppl are to math. They dont realize as you say in your talk, “Math helps us understand the world”. People dont get that Math is a tool that we use to understand the world around us. Anyway, I love your ideas. My wife and I might do some enrichment programs next summer. I really want to get kids excited about math and science. They may not choose to go into it, but the reasoning and analytic skills you hone are valuable in any profression. Your ideas and techniques are definetly something that I’ll be incorporatiing. I’ll also be checking your blog often to share my ideas and to see more of yours. Awesome what you are doing. Just awesome.

I have 4 elementary school age kids and look forward to start applying some of these ideas… this weekend!
keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!

Hey Mr. Meyer,

I really enjoyed your Ted Talk. I tutor economics a lot and intend to pursue a life of teaching (I start my Ph.D. program this fall!). When I really get a concept in to the head of one of my students, it’s almost always because I’m using the methods you outline.

My most powerful tool is the question “why?” When going over homework I will randomly sprinkle in why’s to keep them thinking. “Why is it C?” It’s exactly your point of being less helpful.

Cheers,
Rick

Hi Dan,

I watched your excellent TED talk yesterday and have spent more time than I’d care to admit going through your “WCYDWT?” archives. Great stuff! I’m not a teacher, but I can totally see how this sort of approach could work for many different areas of a curriculum. If I ever go back to teaching ESL, I’ll definitely keep this in mind.

Cheers, and congrats,
Julie

Just watched the TED video. I peak in on the website from time to time for thoughtful ideas and a few laughs. That brought me to your blog. I’m not a typical educator. I decided to homeschool my son last year. We are just finishing up our first year. He is classified as gifted and I’m trying to offer him more than public school could (especially since they changed their gifted program in a way that almost made it void). I plan to look at your blog more and get ideas for helping my son understand math better. He’s finishing up 4th grade so feel like I can start this early enough to make a difference. I’m going to share this with my fellow homeschoolers as well. We want so much for our children and teachers like you are helping us when our own schools won’t. Thank you.

Your insight inspires me to work harder. Your evaluation of teaching is pointed and appropriate, and your criticisms compel me to improve every aspect of what I plan to do in the classroom. I’m so glad Devlin’s column led me to yours. I’m grateful you’re willing to share all you have; you’re certainly teaching me as well.

I enjoyed your TED presentation. I have a few things, though, that I would offer….

From my teaching of my five-year-old son to add, subtract, divide, and multiply (all at a very elementary level, of course), I have found that while I want him to be a creative problem solver, there is an infrastructure (such as the multiplication tables and various formulas) that is best learned via rote memorization. This doesn’t mean that child doesn’t understand the concepts behind multiplication, but rather than he/she doesn’t have to, say, ADD 9+9+9+9+9 to know that 9 x 5 is 45.

In a word, it is a COMBINATION of approaches that seem to work best with my son and my students. Some need to simply learn the multiplication tables in order to soar through their math. Others need MORE help…while some indeed need LESS help.

The words in the text do not always strike home in the mind of a student. A good teacher can simplify the issue, bringing about understanding…and THEN backing off and forcing the student to resolve the problems from then on.

I hope that makes sense. In any case, after watching your TED presentation, I composed three simple word problems for my son. One was this: “There are 27 apples on the table. You eat five of them. How many are left?”

He correctly wrote the problem as 27-5…and then solved it.

THANK YOU for opening a new and interesting door to train my son. By the time word problems show up in a big way, I have no doubt that he will have no fear of them.

Terrific talk. A series of inspiring math teachers led me to a math BS degree and my career as an actuary. I wish there were more creative and passionate teachers like you. Thank you.

Hi!

just wanted to say – I really enjoyed your talk! it was very inspiring :)
this is my first year working as a math teacher. when I was a student, one of my big “math-teaching-dreams” was to have a special classroom, full of experiment equipment. during this year I haven’t thought of that dream at all – but now, by watching your talk – it has returned.

thank you!
and thank you for loving this job! :)

Very much enjoyed your TED talk and am delighted that you are not only enabling students to think and learn on their own, but also helping other educators do the same. I had one teacher in Secondary that taught in a similar fashion and made a tremendous impact on me. I only wish more teachers, like yourself, were as passionate about enabling students to learn rather than training them to answer questions. Thank you.

I found your blog through the ted talk – it was really wonderful. I’m looking forward to looking at some more presentations from that conference in New York! I am an early childhood educator, and because so much of our work really focuses on problem solving, it is wonderful to see that you are out there focusing children on the roots of problems and guiding them to really think about problems instead of just solutions. Thanks!

Great talk – I have been training teachers for the past several years in the US, Singapore, and Hong Kong…mainly to transform their classroom to be more like yours. Thankfully, like you mentioned, technology is freeing educator’s creativity if they only use it. We (www.mininggems.org) have upcoming chapters in math for the AmBook (Active Media Book) and would love to know what you think about it (can send you a free demo when available). Keep up the good work – this is the direction of educational practice.

Emily,

On that note, I was in your same plug-and-play holding pattern for years until I ran into a professor who based his entire class on proofs (intro to group theory). Boy, was that a wake up call! So if you explore the world of proofs (if you haven’t yet), you’ll definitely be tasked beyond just plugging in numbers. I know I have.