8 Empowering ways to beat Math Anxiety

http://mathfour.com/math-anxiety
Taken from mathfour.com

I had the privilege of interviewing 5 professionals in learning, mathematics and educational psychology. They each answered questions on math anxiety and math disabilities and the relationship between the two.

From their responses, I've distilled 8 things that you as a parent, teacher, tutor or homeschooler can do to help a child with math anxiety.

1

Understand what it is.

The current Wikipedia definition of math anxiety is anxiety about one's ability to do math, regardless of skill. My experts agreed that math anxiety is when the fear and frustration due to stress about math gets overwhelming. The stressors can include:

1. Slower performance than peers
2. Insufficient or inappropriate instruction
3. History of failures or bad experiences with math
4. Culture, gender and stereotypes
5. A math disability, such as dyscalculia or weak learning skills

2

Understand what it isn't.

Math anxiety is not a disability in itself. Susan J. Schwartz is the director of the Learning and Diagnostics Center at the Child Mind Institute. She notes the following four categories of math disabilities. Notice that math anxiety is not one of these. Math anxiety can be caused by mishandling of any of these math disabilities, though.

1. Difficulty with basic math facts and memory.
2. Weakness in doing calculations.
3. Inability to apply math concepts.
4. Struggles with visual and spacial relationships.

Rebecca Zook is a veteran math tutor and blogger at Zook Tutoring. She encourages her students to view math anxiety as a disability only if it helps them get the proper assistance. If you or a student frames the problem as a disability when it's not, though, it is possible to get mired in the attitude of "I have a disability, so I just can't do it." Zook cautions against this.

3

Prevent math anxiety if you can.

By creating a positive math environment from the start, you can prevent much of math anxiety. There are times, though, when more is happening to create the problem than just a bad environment.

If a disability is at play, early recognition is the key. Helping the student find the appropriate instruction or assistance can be the best way to prevent math anxiety from creeping in. If you suspect a disability, have your child tested, or encourage the parents to have your student tested.

Tanya Mitchell, VP of R&D for LearningRx, notes that "strong learners are made, not born." Strengthening learning skills early can help your student completely alleviate math anxiety by giving him or her the skills necessary for learning.

4

Display positive feelings about math.

If you have a prejudice against math, it will show.

If you're a classroom teacher and you don't fully understand some concepts, seek help yourself. Don't become frustrated or angry when a student asks for an explanation that you can't provide. It's okay to say, "Let me look that up and I'll get back with you tomorrow." If necessary, ask me.

As a parent or homeschooler, it's time to have a strong math backbone. Quit badmouthing math. Erase the pained look on your face when discussing it. You can do it.

5

Make sure others display positive feelings about math, too.

In a classroom setting, watch the other students. If the "math kid" is abused, there should be concern for the whole class. This type of bullying could lead to a bandwagon of hating math, just to avoid the abuse.

If you're a parent, be aware of how the teacher treats math. If you're a teacher or tutor, get to know the parents' math views. Homeschoolers, is the other parent math phobic?

You're part of a learning team. If you treat math with respect and joy and others on your team don't, have a talk. Everyone needs to be on the same page - the page of positivity in math.

6

Do the things that you have power to do.

Dr. Kari Miller, director of Miller Educational Excellence, says that helping students see how math is used in their lives can reduce anxiety. Shopping, banking and travelling all use math and are skills they'll need and use. She also recommends places like FunBrain.com to find calculation games that help kids connect to math at their own level.

Tanya Mitchell of LearningRx encourages playing games that work on core cognitive skills. She offers this list of everyday games (computer and board games) that shows which cognitive skills are strengthened by each.

You can also tutor your own child. But be cautious of working beyond him or her. Follow the lead of the student. Chris Frank founder of Ignition Tutoring and an experienced tutor himself, encourages one on one teaching to be at the student's own pace. Although most tutors and parents are held captive by the pace of the school, you can build in more study time on nights and weekends to work slowly if needed.

7

Know when to get help.

If your help, as a parent, isn't working or if you don't have the time, look into hiring a private tutor. As a teacher, if you think additional help is needed at home, recommend tutoring.

If a disability is suspected or tutoring doesn't seem to help, perhaps testing is the next step. Having a child tested does two things:

1. If they do not have a cognitive function disability, you can move on to finding other reasons for the difficulty.
2. If they do have a disability, you can work to correct it.

Public schools usually offer testing for free, but this can take time due to their backlog.

If you're in need of a quick result and are willing to pay for it, you can ask a local private school which company they use. You can also find local testing centers through larger organizations like LearningRx or Child Mind Institute.

8

Find help when it's time.

If your child is ready for tutoring, or testing has revealed the need for further help, you can find most of the resources you need relatively easily.

You can find face to face tutors through local or online services, friends who have their own children tutored or through local colleges. You can hire an online tutor, also. Places like Zook Tutoring and Ignition Tutoring work with kids through Skype. Make sure that your chosen tutor has some experience with kids with math anxiety. Also, watch to ensure he or she builds a positive relationship with your child. Monitor not only the grades but the excitement before, during and after tutoring sessions.

If you learn your child is having more difficulties than can be handled with basic tutoring, you find an educational therapist through places like Miller Educational Excellence. Testing centers can also recommend therapists. Some testing centers, like LearningRx and Child Mind Institute have plans already in place for assistance as soon as the test results are in.

Feeling better about helping your kid beat math anxiety? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more: http://mathfour.com/math-anxiety#ixzz2VhCYLciw

Math Anxiety and the three domains and its continuum

The developers of the MARS (Math Anxiety Rating Scale) say it "involves feelings of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary and academic situations" Richardson and Suinn, 1972, p.
There appear to be three major domains which are involved with the development of math anxiety. These domains are: the social/motivational domain, the intellectual domain, and the psychological/emotional domain.

The Social / Motivational Domain includes those forces that act upon a person through the family, friends, and society as a whole. The continuum associated with this domain is Behavior because although choices are influenced by others, they are ultimately made by the individual. The Behavior Continuum has Pursuit and Avoidance as its opposites. These behaviors are logical consequences of the value place on mathematics, which is influenced by the attitudes of significant others and by society in general.
The Intellectual / Educational Domain is comprised of those influences that are cognitive in nature. Specifically, they include but are not limited to, the knowledge and skills an individual has and or is expected to acquire and his or her perception of success or failure in them. Although others may "grade" an individual’s performance in this domain, people form their own evaluations of their performance in this area. The continuum associated with this domain is Achievement, where individual perception is paramount. Success and Failure are the extremes of the Achievement Continuum, and are the subjective evaluation regarding one’s acquisition or use of mathematics skill and concepts.
The Psychological / Emotional Domain is formed by the faculties that are affective in nature. It is largely comprised of the individual’s emotional history, reactions to stimuli and arousal states. Hence the continuum associated with this domain is Feelings. At either end of the Feelings Continuum lie in Anxiety and Confidence, although it could be argued that enjoyment is even further removed from anxiety than confidence. The assumption is that most students would find it puzzling to think of mathematics as enjoyable. Confidence can be equated with comfortableness, rather than pleasure

The extremes of the three continua comprise positive and negative cycles.
 
In the Positive Cycle, an individual who is successful in the use and/or study of mathematics will be more confident in situation involving math and more likely to pursue the study or use of mathematics.

A similar relationship is theorized for both confidence and pursuit because a person who pursues the study of mathematics will tend to be more confident in math situations and will also tend to be more successful in its study and use. The latter is a logical assumption, for if one does not continue the study of mathematics, one cannot continue to be successful in learning it.

Research indicates that the more confidence a person has vis-à-vis mathematics, the more likely he or she is to be successful in such tasks (Betz, 1977, p.22), and the more confidence the individual has toward learning and using mathematics, the more likely he or she is to pursue its study.

The Negative Cycle operates in a similar way, with each component reinforcing the others. Failure in mathematics contributes is hypothesized to be an antecedent to math anxiety (Tobias & Weissbrod, 1980, p. 65). Since few people seek opportunities for failure, it is logical that avoiding mathematics would be a result of perceived or actual failure.

Anxiety reactions to mathematical situations may contribute to failure in mathematics (Tobias & Weissbrod, 1980, p.63). In fact, s person who has high math anxiety may actually be unable to 
perform well on test, and may be unable to learn in a mathematics classroom. Math anxiety also 
directly contributes to avoiding mathematics (Tobias & Weissbrod, 1980, p.63). It is logical to avoid 
situations which bring on anxiety reactions.

The ways in which avoidance contributes to failure and anxiety are perhaps a little less clear. Avoidance of mathematics engenders failure because a person who has successfully avoided mathematical situations for some time may lack the skills and knowledge needed when he or she is presented with a situation requiring its use. This is situation in which the individual is very likely to fail. Similarly, the person who has avoided mathematics and is suddenly confronted with a circumstance requiring it, is likely to be painfully aware of his or her lack of preparation and become anxious about it as a result. Thus the avoidance of mathematics can lead to failure and/or anxiety with staggering effect. Of course, if one could only continue to avoid mathematics situations, neither failure nor anxiety would result.

The phenomenon of math anxiety itself is of interest to the education community only because individuals find themselves placed in situation requiring that they either use or learn mathematics, or both. Without conditions necessitating the use of mathematics, math anxiety, however high the individual’s level, would not be of any consequence. An underlying assumption of this model is that

math anxiety is of interest only to those people who have been influenced by it in the past, in career choices, for example, those who are influenced by it presently, as in a mathematics class, or those

who will in influenced by it in the future, as in a required math class or job skill. As long as a perseon has no need for mathematics, math anxiety is unimportant.

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day

SAMHSA's National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness about the importance of children's mental health and that positive mental health is essential to a child's healthy development from birth.


http://www.samhsa.gov/children/images/2013AD_WebBadge_240x350.jpg

http://www.samhsa.gov/children/national.asp

School Counselor and Math Anxiety: Math Test Anxiety Reduction Checklist

School Counselor and Math Anxiety: Math Test Anxiety Reduction Checklist: Math Test Anxiety Reduction Checklist By Cynthia Arem in Conquering Math Anxiety 2 nd edition __ I’ve reviewed ...

Math Test Anxiety Reduction Checklist

Math Test Anxiety Reduction Checklist

By Cynthia Arem in Conquering Math Anxiety 2^nd edition

__	I’ve reviewed and worked out lots of problems so I know my material out of context.
__	I know the format and content of my upcoming math exam.
__	I know how many questions will be on my exam and its duration.
__	I’ve given myself several practice exams.
__	On practice exams, I’ve noted areas of difficulty so I can strengthen them.
__	I’ve analyzed my past pattern of typical errors so I can alert to them on my exam.
__	I’ve gotten 7 to 8 hours of sleep in the days prior to the exam.
__	I’ve kept up a regular program of moderate exercise.
__	I’ve practiced relaxation exercise along with positive visualization in the days and the half-hour before the exam.
__	I’ve eaten a small meal of low-fat protein 1 to 2 hours before the exam and avoided too much caffeine.
__	I’ll arrive at the exam on time and avoid talking with others.
__	Throughout the exam, I’ll remain calm, relaxed, and positive, checking my breathing often.
__	I will say positive self-statements to myself and push away all disturbing or distracting thoughts.

How to deal with kid's math anxiety

How to Deal With Kids’ Math Anxiety

March 29, 2012 | 6:00 AM | By Annie Murphy Paul

Flickr: Grisha

By Annie Murphy Paul

In children with math anxiety, seeing numbers on a page stimulates the same part of the brain that would respond if they spotted a slithering snake or a creeping spider—math is that scary. Brain scans of these children also show that when they’re in the grip of math anxiety, activity is reduced in the information-processing and reasoning areas of their brains—exactly the regions that should be working hard to figure out the problems in front of them. These new findings, published this month in the journal Psychological Science, demonstrate that math anxiety is real and can’t simply be wished away. But there are specific exercises that have been shown to reduce students’ nervousness and allow them to focus on their work without the powerful distraction of fear.

In this latest experiment, Christina B. Young, Sarah S. Wu, and Vinod Menon of the Stanford University School of Medicine scanned the brains of 46 second- and third-graders with a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine as they solved addition and subtraction problems. Before climbing into the scanner, the children had completed tests of intelligence and working memory, and measures of math anxiety and general anxiety.

In the kids who worried a lot about math, the fMRI scans picked up a striking pattern: Regions of a brain structure called the amygdala, responsible for processing negative emotions, were hyperactive. At the same time, activity in the posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—areas involved in mathematical reasoning—was diminished. The scientists’ analysis of neural networks revealed that the two activity levels were connected: The buzz in the brain’s fear centerwas interfering with the ability of its problem-solving regions to do their job. The pattern the paper’s authors identified was specific to math, unrelated to general intelligence or to other kinds of anxiety.

There are exercises that reduce students’ nervousness and allow them to focus on their work.

Although this study is the first to pinpoint the neural basis of math anxiety in children and demonstrate its impact on brain functioning, other researchers have investigated the phenomenon and devised methods to counter it. Cognitive scientist Sian Beilock of the University of Chicago, for example, has theorized that math anxiety affects students’ performance in the subject by using up mental resources, such as working memory, that could otherwise be deployed in solving math problems. One way to relieve this burden on working memory, Beilock and her colleagues have found, is to spend ten minutes writing about one’s thoughts and feelings about a math exam just before taking it. Students effectively offload their worries onto the page, enabling them to tackle the test with a mind free of rumination and distraction. In the lab, Beilock reports, engaging in this exercise “eliminates poor performance under pressure,” and the method has produced encouraging results in real-life classroom settings as well.

Other approaches that have proven successful at reducing math anxiety and improving performance include having students reaffirm their self-worth by listing important values like relationships with friends and family, and having students think about why they might do well (“I am a student at a high-level university”) rather than poorly (“I am a girl taking a difficult math test”). These interventions are simple but effective: By deliberately shifting their frame of mind, students can make that creepy-crawly feeling of anxiety go away.

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