Mathematical Mindsets

Though only part way through this exciting book I am hugely one over by Jo Boaler's incites into maths and maths teaching. Like many I didn't much excel at maths at school and certainly didn't enjoy it. But ever since I have had a sneaky suspicion that maths might be a great deal sexier than I had once given it credit. This book proves my suspicions correct! It's refreshing to say the least to know that making conceptual and calculation mistakes is such a positive experience for the brain and learning. This is just one of the many empowering messages contained in the book. As a one time primary teacher I was trained to help kids to 'embed' their learning but in all honesty never really understood how to actually apply this to maths teaching. Now I am inspired to return to my own maths learning and see where this takes me and I have already got some concrete tips on how to approach maths from the outset with my young children. I had been slightly dreading bringing maths to my children (we are home schooling initially) and feeling unworthy of the task, but no more! Thanks Jo for giving me a whole new way to look at Maths. I think this book is for anyone, but especially those who feel they might have missed something when they see excited, secret scribbling in response to the number 421 on countdown.

Before I proceed further, I offer a disclaimer - I have only completed one quarter of the book. I am therefore presuming the remainder of the book continues to be as extraordinarily brilliant. The author is a Mathematics Education professor in the US. She writes lucidly, and concisely, and offers a fantastic paradigm shift in the understanding of Mathematics teaching. There is sufficient on the first 20 pages or so to radically change how teaching should be delivered, and how the entrenched, age-old methods are not only incomplete and poor at teaching the subject, but are the principle reasons for massive levels of maths anxiety and phobias. For those in doubt, the book is heavily based on neurological and psychological research, and to very good effect, providing a sound foundation for a rethink in teaching across the world. It is that profound a book. I will offer no spoiler details as you should buy and read the book with a clear, open mind. I offer a warning that mathematics teachers may feel deep cognitive dissonance. I am not affiliated in any way to the author. I was just so thrilled by the messages in the book that I wanted others to receive them also.

Inspirational! Really easy to read, thought provoking and practical. Has changed my whole approach to teaching maths- I am a primary school teacher in England.

I had to order this book for my university course. This arrived exactly as shown and I would’ve given it a 5/5. I am solely giving this product a 4/5 because of the bent corners of the book otherwise it arrived in perfect condition. However this could just be blamed on the shipping of the product. This would greatly help any primary teachers who are looking to teach maths more effectively with a focus on growth mindset within children!

A very thought provoking book. Since using some of its ideas, I have been working with some very happy and focused mini mathematicans. When they solved a problem yesterday, there were shouts of "oh yes" and high fives all around (and this was a previously fed up and maths hating, year 6 group).

In found this book really excited me about the possibilities of all of us having maths capabilities. I started doing a free online maths mindset training during the time I was reading this in kindle form whilst on holiday. Unfortunately I lost the tab on my iPhone and then couldn't get back to it but I was really enjoying it. I only wish I had known about this when my now grown up children were younger. I made the mistake of telling one of them in particular that she is intelligent rather than encouraging a growth mindset, which was a mistake. But the good news is that I was growing my brain by making that mistake!

This book shows what maths teaching is about and what maths really involves. An excellent source of ideas and how to implement them.

I really enjoyed this book and found the content thought provoking. Along with 'the Elephant in the Classroom' this is going to be one of the few books from my teacher training year that I will be referring to regularly in future.