Dualism and Grey Living

 Dualistic thinking begins in the soul and moves to the mind and eventually moves to the streets. Richard Rohr

Each week I teach 3 math classes where my goal is the same.

To get kids to think about math as something other than a list of memorized procedures.

The hurdle is that they all come to me from having done very standard math curriculums.

They like procedures. They know procedures.

The problem with procedures is that often they don't understand the math behind the procedure.

I want them to know why we "carry the 1" - and that we aren't carrying a "1" - we are carrying 10. We don't "borrow" in my class (no one is giving that one back) - and we aren't borrowing 1, we are regrouping 10. We don't bring down a 1 - we have one ten left over to regroup. We don't "keep change change" - we use our additive inverse property and my kids can show you on a number line why it works.

The list goes on (and goodness don't get me on my soapbox of "keep change flip").

However, this is often met with some resistance.

It's faster to memorize procedures.

Memorizing procedures is what they know.

Learning typically takes place just outside your comfort zone.

I share with them that it's not a one or the other. They are welcome to use their traditional algorithms -I just want them to understand why they work.

And maybe if traditional algorithms are challenging for you, I want you to have a new way to think about a concept or skill.

My classroom isn't dualistic - it's not this OR that.

Show me your way.

But also be willing to try mine.

Being able to make space for two ideas is a skill I feel like we don't exercise quite enough.

One of the reasons I want students to be able to think about a concept or skill in more than one way is because it lays the foundation for a growth mindset.

We've become a dualistic thinking society - this or that, right or wrong, red or blue.

Fixed mindset.

There's this beautiful land of grey in between the black and white thinking.

Dualistic thinking promotes divisiveness.

And "us versus them" approach to living.

Mama Warriors, the most repeated phrase in both my classroom and my home is "tell me more."

I rarely tell a student an answer is wrong as my first comment.

Tell me how you got here. Show me the way.

Maybe we need to redirect? Maybe we don't? I won't know until I follow the thought process.

The math process is rarely all wrong.

Somewhere between the black of correct and the white of wrong, is this grey space where students can learn and grow.

Let's help our kids be people who can explore the grey.

Who are comfortable in the grey.

Let's be people who can encounter ideas different than ours and say "tell me more."

Let's set down our dualistic approach and be willing to grow.