Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter . It now has various equivalent definitions and appears in many formulas in all areas of mathematics and physics.
Image from/pixabay.
πPi the worlds most renowned mathematical constant. Pi is wonderful. It plays into so many aspects of our lives and goes on forever and ever and ever. Every year the certain day comes that shares numerical values of Pi and on that day we celebrate Pi with every kind of Pie we can imagine,
Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter . It now has various equivalent definitions and appears in many formulas in all areas of mathematics and physics. It is approximately equal to 3.14159. It has been represented by the Greek letter π since the mid-18th century, though it is spelled out as "pi". It is also called Archimedes' constant.
It can also be noted that Pi is actually an irrational number (a
decimal with no end and no repeating pattern) that is most often
approximated with the decimal 3.14 or the fraction 227.
Pi Day
Pi day occurs March 14, as the day is written as 3/14 in the United States. Some serious persons celebrate the day exactly at 1:59 AM (or PM!) so they can reach the first six numbers of pi.
Pi Approximation Day
Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22 (22/7 in the day/month format), since the fraction 22⁄7 is a common approximation of π, which is accurate to two decimal places and dates from Archimedes.
Two Pi Day
Two Pi Day, also known as Tau Day for the mathematical constant Tau, is lightly observed on June 28 (6/28 in the month/day format).
Tau Day is an annual celebration of the circle constant τ=6.283185…,
History of Pi Day
Physicist Larry Shaw started Pi Day in 1988 at San Francisco's
Exploratorium to celebrate the famous number and mathematics in general. There Shaw worked as a physicist, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies.The Exploratorium continues to hold Pi Day celebrations.
On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution recognizing March 14, 2009 as National Pi Day.
Interestingly the entire month of March 2014 (3/14) was observed by some as Pi Month. And in the next year 2015, March 14 was celebrated as Super Pi Day. It had special significance, as the date is written as 3/14/15 in
month/day/year format. At 9:26:53, the date and time together
represented the first 10 digits of π.
Pi - Invention and Importance
The mathematical concept of Pi has been around for thousands of years,
but it started to be known by the Greek letter only in the 1700s.
Philologist William Jones began using the symbol in 1706, but it was
popularized by mathematician Leonhard Euler.
Many mathematicians – from famous
ones such as Fibonacci, Newton, Leibniz, and Gauss, to lesser or well-known
mathematical minds – have toiled over Pi, calculated its digits, and
applied it in numerous areas of mathematics. Some spent the better
parts of their lives calculating just a few digits. Here is a sampling
of the many milestones in the life of Pi.
Early
decimal approximations for pi were obtained in a number of different
ways. For example, in ancient Babylon, rope stretchers marking the
locations of buildings and boundaries estimated pi to be 258 = 3.125. The ancient Egyptians determined the ratio to be (169)2 ≈ 3.16. The earliest calculations of Pi were largely based on measurement.
Archimedes,
a Greek mathematician, was the first to use an algorithmic approach to
calculate pi. He drew a polygon inside a circle and drew a second
polygon outside of the circle. Then he continuously added more and more
sides of both polygons, getting closer and closer to the shape of the
circle. Having reached 96-sided polygons, he proved that.22371< pi < 227.
From Archimedes’ time (about 250 B.C.E.) to the modern technological advances Pi saw many developments. Pi has now been calculated to 31 trillion digits.
Probably no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism, misconception and human interest as the number pi
Some Amazing Facts about Pi
Pi = Circumference divided by the diameter of the circle - if diameter is twisted or turned in a circuitous or spiraling manner along circumference it gives a result around 3.141592654.... times.
The ratio Pi is same no matter how big or small the circle is.
Pi is the most famous irrational number - a decimal that does not terminate or repeat.
The World Record for a Computer finding the digits of Pi was made in 2013. The eight quadrillion places to the right of the decimal point!
If we want to print 1 billion decimal value in normal font it would stretch about 2000 Km.
Many fractions are used as approximations of Pi
The fraction 22/7 is accurate to 0.04025%
Another fraction 355/113 is accurate to 0.00000849%
A more accurate fraction of Pi is 104348/33215. This is accurate to 0.00000001056%
Both π and the letter P are the sixteenth letter in the Greek and English Alphabet respectively.
The symbol of Pi -π has been used regularly as a mathematical constant only for the past 250 years.
Since there are 360 degrees in a circle, some mathematicians were delighted to discover that the number 360 is at the 359th digit position of Pi.
Albert Einstein - Image from nobelprize.org
Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day 14th March 1879 in Ulm Wurttemberg, Germany.
Pi was first rigorously calculated by one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world Archimedes of Syracuse (287- 212 B C )
William Jones (1675 - 1749) introduced the symbol π in the year 1706 and it was later popularized by Leonhard Euler (1707 - 1783) in 1737.
The Feynman Point is a sequence of six nines that start at the 762nd digit in the decimal sequence of pi. It was named after physicist Richard Feynman, who once stated during a lecture he would like to memorize the digits of π until that point, so he could recite them and quip .
Hiroyuki Goto from Tokyo. He recited 42,195 decimal places from memory at NHK Broadcasting Centre, Tokyo on 18 February 1995. This set the world record at the time, which was held for more than a decade until Lu Chao beat it in 2005.
Rajveer Meena
holds the record for reciting the most number of decimal places of pi.
In 2015, Meena recited 70,000 decimal places blindfolded. It took him 10
hours.
Pi appears as an important constant in many mathematical equations and it is the most recognized constant in the world.
For more facts and information about pi, visit www.piday.org.
Observance
Pi day has been observed in various forms like eating pie, throwing pies.
Question is, why by eating a great deal of Pie! Pies are circles, Pi
describes circles, and through that we find that everything in the
universe can be described with a pi(e). Other ways to celebrate this
most amazing and transcendental of days (Pi is a transcendental number,
look it up) is to research this number and discover all the amazing
secrets it hides. Once we really get to understand the depths and
complexities of it, we’ll understand why Pi day exists to celebrate a
simple combination of digits.
Other-way of doing it, discussing the significance of the number π due to pun based on the words pi and pie being homophones in English and coincidental circular shape of many pies.
Here are some ways to celebrate Pi DayTop Ten Ways to Celebrate Pi Day and 25 Best Ways to Celebrate National Pi Day
In today's world we all think too much, seek too much, want too much, as Eckhart Tolle once stated, and forget about the joy of just being. So many of us find it increasingly difficult to focus just one thing at a time. When we do not have sufficient time, our technological devices enable us to be in multiple places all at once. But it comes with a cost. Modern technology has split our concentration into smaller bits, scattering them in many directions. As we have become more habituated with technology, we also seem to have lost our ability to live in the present - a place where we actually want to be without stress and distractions. Although we can connect with just about anybody with a touch of a finger, we often find ourselves unable to engage in genuine, one-on-one communication. On one hand, technology has made us more efficient and productive but, on the that, we find that our attention is scattered and our life marked by stress and complications. Consequently, we are not always mindful when we are communicating with ourselves or with others.
Mindfulness
So what exactly is mindfulness ? It is the act of consciously focusing our mind in the present moment, without judgement and without attachment to the moment. It can help us become more aware of what is going on for us both internally and externally. We become more present to the here and now. Jon Kobat Zinn defines mindfulness as the
awareness that arises by paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.
According to Thich Nhat Hanh, the term mindfulness refers to
keeping one's consciousness alive to the present moment.
Mindfulness and Stress Relief
A secular practice of mindfulness has entered the mainstream across the world in recent years, it has its roots in ancient Hindu and Buddhist tradition as a means of calming the mind and gaining insight into the impermanent and interdependent of the self. In last four decades (Modeled after the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program created in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn to help counter stress, chronic pain, and other ailments, mindfulness courses) thousands of studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in general and inspiring countless programs to adapt various models for schools, prisons, hospitals, veteran centers and beyond.
Suzanne Westbrook , retired professor and internal-medicine doctor at Harvard University says,
Our mind wanders all the time, either reviewing the past or planning for the future.Mindfulness teaches you the skill of paying attention to the present by
noticing when your mind wanders off. Come back to your breath. It’s a
place where we can rest and settle our minds.
Jeanne Mahon, Director of the Wellness Center of Harvard University says,
We were tasked to find ways for the community to cope with stress. And
at the same time, so much research was coming out on the benefits of
mindfulness and meditation.
We keep offering mindfulness and meditation because of the feedback.
People appreciate to have the chance for self-reflection and learn about
new ways to be in relationships with themselves.
Practicing mindfulness improves both our physical and psychological
wellbeing resulting in positive changes in our health, attitudes, and
behavior. Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash
There are also numerous books written by experts on mindfulness that show us ways how to live in the present moment with ourselves and with others. This is accomplished by engaging in different kinds of meditation techniques which emphasize the cultivation of keen awareness to experiences in present moment without any kind of analysis or interpretation.or having any kind of attachment to a particular outcome.
Psychologists and neuroscientists have helped to bring the practice of mindfulness meditation into mainstream medicine, demonstrating that practicing mindfulness improves both our physical and psychological wellbeing resulting in positive changes in our health, attitudes, and behavior. According to these experts, mindfulness techniques benefit us in a number of important ways; it helps relieve stress, lowers blood pressure, reduces chronic aches and pains, helps with sleep, reduces gastrointestinal problems, and finally mindfulness is good for our heart.
Mindfulness' acceptability and popularity has been bolstered by a growing body of research showing that it reduces stress and anxiety, improves psychological wellbeing. Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and assistant researcher in psychiatry at Massachusetts General
Hospital, documented that mindfulness meditation can
change the brain’s gray matter and brain regions linked with memory, the
sense of self, and regulation of emotions.New research by Benjamin Shapero and Gaëlle Desbordes is exploring how mindfulness can help depression.
The pioneer of scientific research on meditation, Dr Herbert Benson,
extolled its benefits on the human body — reduced blood pressure, heart
rate, and brain activity — as early as 1975. He helped demystify
meditation by calling it the “relaxation response.”Benson is director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Mind/Body Medicine Distinguished Professor of Medicine at HMS.
Relaxation Response
The response is defined as our personal ability to encourage our body to release chemicals and brain signals that makes our muscles and organ slow down and increase blood flow to the brain.
Dr Herbert Benson can be largely credited for demystifying meditation and helping to bring it into the mainstream by renaming meditation the Relaxation Response. His studies in the 1960s and 1970s were able to show that meditation promotes better health, especially with individual with hypertension. People who meditate regularly enjoy lower stress levels, increased wellbeing, and even are able to reduce their blood pressure levels and resting heart rate.
The Relaxation Response is essentially the opposite reaction to flight-or-flight response. According to Dr Benson Relaxation Response is beneficial, as it counteracts the physiological effects of stress and the fight-or-flight response.
Learning the Relaxation Response is a great skill that can help us to be
better equipped to deal with life's unexpected stressors, heal
ourselves, and achieve better health.
Ongoing Popularity of Mindfulness in the field of Work-Life balance
Since mindfulness has so many important benefits for us, whether they are connected with our physical or emotional wellbeing, mindfulness training has certainly become tremendously popular in the United States and other parts of the world. Companies like Adobe, Amazon, Ford,General Mills, Google, Target, Goldman Sachs, to name a few, have all instituted mindfulness training for their employees so that they are healthier, less stressed and more focused on their jobs. Mindfulness experts are also training CEOs and higher officials of major corporations on mindfulness techniques.
Business Leaders who practice mindfulness report that they now perceive issues more objectively, they can form deeper relationships that are empathic, and they are not driven by their ego and pride as they learn to be humble.
The goal of mindfulness is to always be in the present moment.
These business leaders often mention that they are also more productive, more creative in solving problems, more satisfied with their jobs and are less stressed in challenging situations.
How to practice Mindfulness ?
Although there is actually more than one way to such practice, the goal of mindfulness is to always be in the present moment. This is achieved by focusing on our breathing as we meditate. When we meditate, we pay attention to the thoughts and sensations that distract us but we do not fight them. Nor do we pass any judgement on them. We just observe these thoughts and sensations and go back to focusing on our breathing again. Our goal is to allow our mind to refocus on the present.
Out of some mindfulness technique the four approaches can be rounded up to begin with.
Thoughts
The key point mindfulness is to be aware of what is happening in the present moment without passing judgement on that awareness. It is normal for our mind to stay active during meditation but we must try to observe our thoughts like clouds passing by, and return our focus on breadth.
Body Sensations
Paying focused, non-judgemental attention to the subtle sensations in our body as an itch or tingling and likes and let them pass. We must stay focused on the sensations.
Sensory
Here we practice observing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. We name the 'sight', 'sound', 'smell', 'taste' or 'touch' without judgement and let them go.
Whatever it is, zero in on the tone and quality with
intention. Music can also be a useful focus in mindfulness meditation,
with additional benefits like energizing us in the morning or relaxing
us at night. The key is to find what works for us. Some people might
find that a quiet room is what works best for them, while others might
find that focusing on their favorite music is the most effective.
Emotions
In this mindfulness technique, we allow emotions to be present without judgement. We practice a steady and relaxed naming of emotions such as 'joy' , 'anger', 'frustration' while accepting the presence of the emotions without judgement and letting them go.
It has been observed in various studies that under stress and anxiety our eating patterns affect very easily. Under this condition we tend to eat less or eat heavily. When stressed, people often instinctively use their sense of taste as a
stress reliever, whether they're munching mindlessly or satisfying
sweets cravings brought on by cortisol. But the sense of taste can be a healthy, effective complement to mindfulness exercises.
The focus is on being present
during the meal. This supports healthier eating because the mind and
body are more aware of the process
Mindful eating involves slowing chewing, putting down your fork between
each mouthful, and being aware of the tastes of what you are eating.
During mindful eating, avoid being distracted by any type of screen,
whether its a television or mobile device. The focus is on being present
during the meal. This supports healthier eating because the mind and
body are more aware of the process. Doing this can also help prevent
overeating because we are more aware of when we are truly full versus
just mindlessly eating. By focusing on the taste of food, the experience
of eating, and the sensations of our body, we will feel satiated
sooner.
Final Thought
While all this may seem to be a new-age approach to our holistic wellbeing, hard medical evidence demonstrations that we can train our brains to function differently and that brains can adapt and rewire. This phenomenon, known as neuroplasticity, suggests that there are concrete and provable benefits to exercising the brain by engaging in mindfulness. It is precisely because of this scientific component that mindfulness has gained traction with people who might otherwise this to be spiritual bewilderment.
Since the key to developing a strong mindfulness practice is
consistency, it's best to try a variety of techniques and find the
method or methods that work best for us. Any technique that allows us
to focus on the present can help you practice mindfulness. Remember that
we don't need a fancy setup—look to nearby sounds, sensations, tastes,
and our own mind and body to help alleviate stress and increase
relaxation. Adding moments of mindfulness to our everyday activities
can help us incorporate this meditative technique into our daily
routine.
And finally, of course, most of us will never have the capacity to meditate at the level of a monk. But neuroscientists seem to be convinced that there is hope for far less experienced meditators because by engaging in mindfulness meditations they will have more capacity for a working memory, more focused attention and less stress in their lives.
A solution to eliminate math anxiety led to a journey to handling other
fears and worries.
Image from Pixabay People Domain
Overview Math Anxiety
Mathematics is a subject on school that many students face difficulties and experience panic, stress and anxiety. If not addressed in time they may develop various emotional and physical symptoms related to long term anxiety disorder and depression.
Math Anxiety is basically anxiety about one's ability to solve mathematical problems. Mark H Ashcraft, an American Academic and the chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, defines Math Anxiety as
a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that interferes with math performance
The academic study of math anxiety originates as early as the 1950s, where Mary Fides Gough introduced the term mathemaphobia to describe the phobia-like feelings of many towards mathematics. The first math anxiety measurement scale was developed by Richardson and Suinn in 1972. Since this development several researchers have examined math anxiety in empirical studies.
In 1980 Tobias and Weissbrod described Math Anxiety as
the panic, helplessness, paralysis, and mental disorganization that arises among some people when they are required to solve a mathematical problem.
and it is thought to affect a large portion of the population.
Dimensions of Math Anxiety
Math Anxiety is an issue we can deal with in and outside classroom. This anxiety is a negative reaction to mathematics, which can be from we getting slightly tense to being debilitated and useless. This type of anxiety can arise in many situations, not just in facing mathematical problems. Zhe Wang,assistant professor in the Texas Tech Human Development and Family Studies, clarifies, whether it be taking a math test or walking into a math class, there are variety of situations involving math that can be anxiety inducing.
She says on the situations that cause Math Anxiety to arise,
It's related to testing anxiety, but it doesn't have to be tests. They don't feel it in other situations they don't necessarily have general anxiety.
Math anxiety in social situations, such as counting out change, or calculating contribution of out dinner bill among friends, and calculation anxiety of any kind, which is the anxiety that arises while solving a math problem on an assignment or in the class, all are types of math anxiety, Wang says , people can face.
Although there are three dimensions of anxiety, they are usually highly correlated. Meaning if you experience one, you are likely experiencing another.
Disliking math and having math anxiety are two separate issues altogether and they are not similar, as someone who is good or bad at math can dislike certain aspects of the subject, Wang explains.
Symptoms of Math Anxiety
Math Anxiety manifests itself in a variety of ways, including physical, psychological and
The strong negative correlation between high math anxiety and low
achievement is often thought to be due to the impact of math anxiety on
working memory.
behavioral symptoms, that can disrupt a student's mathematical performance.The strong negative correlation between high math anxiety and low achievement is often thought to be due to the impact of math anxiety on working memory. Working memory has a limited capacity and when solving mathematical problems, a large portion of this capacity is dedicated to solving problem. However in individuals with math anxiety much of this space is taken up by anxious thoughts, thus compromising the individual's ability to perform.
Symptoms of Math Anxiety include
Emotional Symptoms : unusual nervousness, feeling helplessness, lack of confidence, fear of getting things wrong. Even thinking and talking about the subject mathematics is enough to cause stress for the student.
Physical symptoms : racing heart, irregular breathing, nausea, sweating, stomach ailments, nail butting.
Frustration and a feeling of being alone.
Repeated failing to understand from where to start with questions or struggling to get the right answer.
Confused and just wanting to quit and live alone.
Very stressed and panicked before and during examination.
Begin to shut down and stop listening in class.
Working Memory and Anxiety
Various studies have shown that when people of any age, experience high levels of anxiety their working memory capacity suffers. This is said to occur because more cognitive energy is devoted to manage the anxiety. Therefore executive resources experience disruption and cannot focus on elements of the working memory.
Recent study using brain scanner (fMRI) have shown that math anxiety has measurable effects on the parts of the brain used to understand math.
This means that whilst someone is in a state of anxiety, they will struggle to understand the math problems being taught or attempt questions.
When Math Hurts: Math Anxiety Predicts Pain Network Activation in Anticipation of Doing Math Source https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0048076
Bad experiences with math in the past mean that the brain sometimes associates math with pain, so the regions of the brain associated with pain processing are activated when think about math.
This only occurs when thinking about math, but doesn't occur when the brain is actually doing math. The brain may see the math as a threat, so the natural response is to run away from math in a similar way as one would run from a tiger.
Reference :Marshall, E., Mann. V., & Wilson, D. (2016). Maths anxiety: A collaboration. HEA STEMconference, Nottingham
Anxiety
Where as anxiety is a sense of fear and worry and it is not uncommon among students with math anxiety. According to Peg Rosen - a veteran parenting and family health writer, this anxiety stems from a fear of not being able to keep up with peers, as well as feeling different and worrying about the future. This issues can oftentimes interfere with a student's ability to be present in the classroom and attend to the task at hand.
Math Anxiety - Causes and Impact
There may be various reasons of math anxiety, however while addressing math anxiety in the classroom, Improving schools 17(1), 99-115, Finlayson M stated that math anxiety is usually linked with the kind of teaching styles experienced in the classroom, which often focus on memorization and rote recitation. Their early math teaching may have been from teachers who were anxious themselves thus over-compensated by emphasizing a black-and-white, right-or-wrong approach.
Poor preparation leads to poor performance which is another negative
math experience, making the student more anxious as it reinforces their
view that they are bad at math.
Most affected people have had negative math experiences such as embarrassment or humiliation from failure, teachers who are insensitive or uncaring, negative attitudes about math from peers or family, and traditional rote learning rather than learning the process. Math therefore triggers negative thoughts and memories, so many math anxious students avoid math. This could mean avoiding subjects or modules they think contain math or statistics or in situations they have to study math, avoid studying until last minute. Poor preparation leads to poor performance which is another negative math experience, making the student more anxious as it reinforces their view that they are bad at math.
Working Memory Classroom Strategies
It is emphasized to build up strategies that focus on reducing anxiety as a tool to create environments that are conductive to all working memory capacities. Because high level of anxiety can further disrupt working memory function, it is important to present material in a familiar and structured format that will divide into small units of the necessary steps and tasks.
Understanding math is critical. Once students realize they can do the math, the whole notion of math anxiety can be overcome.
Photo by Jonny Mansfield on Unsplash
This helps to alleviate worry and anxiety, as well as working memory
demands. The strategies below can be applied to help the students to
overcome math anxiety.
Routine and Regularity :- Daily rituals, discipline, routines allow expectation and activities to become habit and thus automatic. A consistent school, period or class schedule reduces pressure on working memory and allows students on instructions.
Memory Aids :- Checklists and Cues are very helpful. These can be created for any activity or process. One word cue or visual may be used for performance and upcoming tasks. A card or subtle signal can help students with weak working memory skills stay on task without drawing attention to them or distracting other classmates.
Task Break-down :- Micro-Unit and Structure - Tasks can be broken up into parts allow for things to be done in smaller steps, therefore making them more manageable for students to complete. Focusing on one step at a time can prevent students becoming overwhelmed too easily.
Understanding Strength and Weakness :-
Use preferred processing method - a teacher should be friendly with the students' strengths by providing instructions and materials in a manner that best fits a variety of students, learning styles (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) . This allows all students to feel comfortable in the classroom.
Reinforce what works - working memory is similar to a muscle; the more we use it , the better it works. Practice and repeat strategies that work best for students to encourage independent application.
Use Visuals - visuals provide students with a format that is often easier to process and remember than spoken and written words
Technology as an Aid :- Assistive Technology can be incredibly helpful in supporting learning and instruction by alleviating some working memory demands. Appropriate technological tools help students to better manage large amounts of information, which in turn reduce anxiety.
In order to approximately manage anxiety and allow students with varying working memory capacities Landmark School pioneered Six Teaching Principles which are widely regarded. To learn more click here
Overcoming Math Anxiety
Even though math can be difficult for multiple reasons. One cannot improve if she or he does not make any effort to learn from class materials or ask for help.
Avoiding math or statistics is becoming increasingly hard given in the most competitive environment we are heading now.However, math anxiety can be overcome within a nurturing environment, recognizing and controlling the anxiety and by accepting that math requires practice rather than inbuilt ability.
Teachers and parents have an important part to ensure students understand the math being presented to them
Photo by Michel
Porro on Unsplash
Understanding Math
Many of the students with math anxiety demonstrate an over reliance on procedures in math as opposed to actually understanding the math. When they try to memorize procedures, rules and routines without much understanding, the math is quickly forgotten and panic soon sets in.
Think of math as memorizing procedures - what if we forget a few? Therefore with this type of strategy, a good memory will help, but, what if we don't have a good memory. Understanding math is critical. Once students realize they can do the math, the whole notion of math anxiety can be overcome. Teachers and parents have an important part to ensure students understand the math being presented to them.
Positive Reinforcement
Students with math anxiety need to feel that they can excel at math. Parents and teachers need to review home-task with them point out all the questions she or he got right. Putting an emphasis on correct answers rather than mistake makes all the difference. However positive environment and attitudes come with quality teaching for understanding which often not available with many traditional approaches to teaching mathematics and statistics.
Asking Questions
Ask question whenever needed is good approach until the instructions is clear. It is applicable for the students and also for the parents and teachers. Parents and teachers need to understand whether their illustrations and or demonstrations or simulations are clear with the students.
Parents and teachers need to understand whether their illustrations
and or demonstrations or simulations are clear with the students.
Students must not just read over notes - do the math. Practice regularly, we must make ourselves sure that we can honestly state that we understand what we are doing. Math anxiety conjures up fear of some type. For the most part, math anxiety is the fear about doing the math right, our minds draw a blank, and we think we'll fail and of course the more frustrated and anxious our minds become, the greater the chance for drawing blanks. But regular practice makes us stronger, builds confidence and we can easily overcome the fear of drawing blank and make us perfect.
Get a Tutor
When total understanding escapes us, we may opt for hiring a tutor. Teachers can have a great impact on our feelings about math. Even if the school teacher is enthusiastic about math, supplement teaching with a good and qualified tutor. Tutors can provide personal attentions that is hard to get at school. Tutors can look after personalized problems and help understanding and conceptualizing math differently.
Call a Friend
Call and work with peers who understand math. Study and practice math jointly or in a group is very
We should request her or him for joint practice if possible, build confidence and
have fun in doing math, make the environment easy and positive and
overcome anxiety about math.
effective. We must share our feeling, worry about math with our chosen friends and ask for their help in understanding math. Sometime a different approach gives huge relief. Request her or him for joint practice if possible, build confidence and have fun in doing math, make the environment easy and positive and overcome anxiety about math.
Anxiety Reappraisal
The most significant people in a child's life are parents and teachers, which signifies they have the biggest influence in the child's life.
If either parents or teachers express negative attitudes about math or about the performance of the children, they can grow up believing math ability innate and success is tied to giftedness.
A simple solution for math anxiety may be possible by re-framing it. Instead of expressing nervousness, parents and teachers should express excitement, how the child is progressing.
It may sound counter-intuitive but several research papers say it works wonder.
Practice other tools like EFT
Dr Katie Nall advocates in her TedTalk show that EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique as a possible remedy to overcome Math Anxiety. However This technique lacks sufficient scientific evidences. While some of the advice we may find helpful but surely it is not to be considered as medical advice. .
A solution to eliminate math anxiety led to a journey to handling other
fears and worries. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT or Tapping) proves
to be a powerful method to deal with emotional challenges. Dr. Nall
earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education in 2011 from Florida Institute
of Technology while she worked full-time, authored her book, “CR8 UR
F8”, and tried to keep it all together. While researching for her
dissertation, Dr. Nall looked for a solution to help students who had
fear, worry, and anxiety about taking college level math classes. It was
this topic that led Dr. Nall to find a way to help not only students,
but also others eliminate fear, worry, and anxiety using a new and
exciting method. Dr. Nall is a Certified Practitioner in Emotional
Freedom Technique (EFT or tapping) to assist others in overcoming fear,
anxiety, and stress.
Practice Mindfulness
Since math anxiety is a certain degree of mental illness associated with combination of various factors, mindfulness practice is a great aid to overcome math anxiety like other related ailments like Stress, Anxiety and Depression, PTSD etc.
Mindfulness, Awareness, Consciousness, Wakefulness, Living in the moment, Being in the now, Appreciating the present, Stopping and smelling the roses. These many names describe a deceptively simple concept.
To be mindful means to pay attention to the present moment, to be aware of what we are thinking, feeling and doing as well as what is happening around us.
To be mindful means to give our mind a break from rehashing the past or worrying about the future. Instead, we appreciate and accept the present.
To be mindful means to realize that our lives consist of moments, and that each present moment is what we have.
To be mindful means to give our mind a break from rehashing the past or
worrying about the future. Instead, we appreciate and accept the
present.
Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash
Our mind wander constantly.
Many different philosophers have developed concepts of mindfulness as well as strategies for cultivating it.
In general, meditation is the primary practice through which we learn mindfulness.
There are numerous forms of meditation and countless ways to encourage a more mindful attitude in oneself.
Find one suitable and parents should start practice along with their child and relax. Meditate, even if for 10 minutes will do.
Reflect on our goals for the day and affirm our compassion, patience, and loving kindness towards all beings.
Next is breathing. Deep breathing practice is very commonly used to nurture our inner state and give intense peace in mind before our work, while doing work and post work. Two or three long inhale and exhale reduce our tension immediately. We must adopt one breathing technique and practice with our child so she or he feel comfortable in school and perform better.
Eating Mindfully - as renowned Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us
eating is a meditative practice
We must set aside all distractions, turn off the TV, put phone out of the sight, close any book, magazine etc. Take this time to focus on the meal, relish and enjoy.
Realize all that has happened to make this meal possible: the
farmers who grew the food, the rain that watered it as it grew, all the
people and events that came together to make this meal possible.
Express gratitude and appreciation for our meal. This practice is
quite similar to the Christian habit of saying grace before eating—in
both cases, we acknowledge our good fortune and extend compassion to
those who do not have adequate food.
Gratitude is the great way to reduce and overcome any kind of anxiety.
Final Thought
Various studies considered behavioral techniques to reduce mathematics
anxiety, Researchers studied how expressive writing could help
reduce mathematics anxiety before a class or test.
Expressing anxiety through writing before a test, class or any academic
situation to unload stress is the focus of the study.
When a person thinks too much about the stress of an upcoming test or
class, the overthinking interferes with that person’s thought
processes.
We got the idea from a math chat on Twitter, and I loved it! Give students 5 minutes no pencil to discuss the assessment before they take it.Eased test anxiety&walking around hearing the student discussion was so valuable. What a great idea! Let me know how it goes @CoppockMrspic.twitter.com/t1APhbFVF5
Regardless of any techniques one can use to alleviate her or his math anxiety, making any amount of effort could be beneficial for some students.
Abubakarr Yillah, first-year Ph.D student in applied mathematics from
The Gambia, West Africa and coordinator of the Tech Department of
Mathematics and Statistics Tutoring and Study Center says,
anyone can face mathematics anxiety.
When you see a problem, even if you can’t solve it immediately, you’ll
always have that fear that you will not be able to solve it, But if you spend time on it, that anxiety starts going away.
