Golf - What's Math Got to do With It?

You may be wondering what Jordan Spieth has to do with math? The USGA has devoted a portion of
their site to information about STEM in golf. For example, did you know a golf ball can't go any further than 317 yards when hit at 120 miles per hour by the USGA's test robot? (www.USGA.org)

But that's not the connection that I'm going for today. I want to make a connection between Jordan's Spieth's last round during this year's British Open because this is the type of attitude that I want to cultivate in my students. As required by Math Practice 1, I want my students to persevere in solving problems.

Imagine you're going into the last round of the British Open leading by 3. The day doesn't start out that well for you though. You make some mistakes during the first three holes and end up tied for the lead. The "bad luck" continues and you eventually end up one behind your opponent. Just when you think it can't get any worse. You end up making a terrible shot to end up way out of position.

What would you do?  Would you complain about Murphy's Law and give up? Would you throw up you're hands in despair saying, "I don't get it"? Would your inner voice start telling you that you might as well give up because you'll never get it?

If this were a student in your class, what would he or she do?

I think we've all felt that way at some point, but, hopefully, as adults, we've learned to manage the self-doubt, quiet the negative inner voice, and dig our heels in to complete the task. This is what we need to model and discuss with our students. What does it mean to persevere when things get difficult? What are strategies that students can use when the going gets tough?

This is the conversation I want to have with Jordan Spieth. I want to know what he was thinking as he stood by the ball after his bad shot on the 13th hole and as he struggled to find a way to make the shot. Did he ever think, "I should just give up"? Or was he so focused on succeeding that he never even considered failing? I want to know how he considered his options and how he decided on the best path moving forward. And I want to know this so I can share it with my students. I want to be able to tell them that a 23 year old golfer persevered where others may have given up, and that they can do it to on a smaller scale every single day.

Here's the rest of Jordan Spieth's story. Instead of wallowing in self-doubt and cursing the rules of golf, Jordan made a nearly perfect shot to put him back into contention. For the remaining holes, he was on fire! Not only had he overcome any negative self-talk, he had sent it running with it's tail between its legs. He won the British Open that day. Skill clearly played a part, but his attitude, perseverance, and grit are what brought him back from the edge.

I plan on sharing this with my students. I want them to feel the energy that comes from refusing to fail in a small way, every day.



Disclaimer: I know there's probably a lot being written about Spieth's prior collapses in tournaments and even about his behavior as he looked for a solution on the 13th hole, but I watched the tournament through the eyes of an educator rather than those of an avid golf fan.

Putting an End to Math Confusion

Confusion leads to frustration which leads to despair and ultimately to the belief that failure is inevitable. Confusion is often the foundation upon which math anxiety grows.

A teacher came to me with a problem similar to this in the first grade textbook. She felt frustrated because it barely made sense to her, and she knew that she wasn't explaining it clearly to her students.

So what's going on here?

Students are solving a three number addition problem by decomposing a number to make an easier problem to solve. In this case, students are making a ten. This is something that people often do mentally because it is easier to add tens. But, as the strategy is presented for first graders, it is more than likely too difficult for them to understand. The textbook is forcing a strategy, and students are expected to use this strategy to solve the lesson's problems.

What's a better way to introduce this strategy to students?

Allow students to model the situation with different color counters and ten frames. Start with only two numbers, 7 and 5. Ask, "How might we solve this problem?" Students should be encouraged to explain different strategies that can be used to solve the problem. Highlight the make a ten strategy by moving three of the red counters onto the ten frame to make a ten, and have students explain that 7 + 5 = 10 + 2. Next show 7 + 5 + 6, as shown above. Repeat the same process to uncover the students' understanding of adding three numbers. The make a ten strategy can be encouraged and discussed. Don't be surprised if some students use 3 from the group of 5 to make 10, while other students use 3 from the group of 6 to make 10. Just be sure to ask them to explain their thinking!

Strategies should be introduced, discussed, revisited, and encouraged. They should not be forced upon students. Math is built upon a foundation of understanding. Teachers provide experiences for students to stretch their thinking and build new understandings. For many students, forced procedures and strategies interfere with meaning making and create confusion, frustration, and even math anxiety.

Creating Misconceptions in Math by Teaching Concepts Too Soon

Teaching math concepts too early can create mathematical misconceptions that

are difficult for students to overcome. That's because often times, when concepts are taught too early, they are taught rotely, where students are shown a set of steps to follow to solve a problem. When a teacher attempts to correct the misconception by building understanding of why the rote way works, students often respond that they already know how to do it. With this kind of mindset, new learning is difficult if not impossible.

I see this very often with the standard algorithm for addition and subtraction. Students are taught early on to carry a one for addition For subtraction they're taught to cross out the number in the place to the left, put a one next to the number to the right and over the crossed out number write the number that's one less. Where's the math? Where's the understanding of place value that makes these steps work? Yet this is what many textbooks have our first graders doing.

Math is a sense making activity, just as reading is. We need to make a commitment to our students that we will help them understand math, not just be able to do math.