Thinking about my main messages about math. Both for my summer algebra 1 class and my fall intro to elementary teaching class. What would you add? {Not everything has to be in tension with a 'not about')
Math Is About Math Is Not About Understanding & making sense Speed Problem solving Getting answers Explaining how and why Right vs wrong Be
Been some great additions from the thread on Twitter, but I wondered if mathblr had anything to add?
Justin Lanier (former math teacher, now mathematician) had some big questions:
1) Most (maybe all) of these items could also be applied to other schools subjects. (Other human activities, too.) So for each, it can be great to ask what these look like in classrooms in general, and then specifically in math classes.
2) It hits me weird that you're making claims about what math "is", when of course math looks like many things, including the things on your "not about" list. I'd think it'd make your claims less believable to your students, who know that at least sometimes math is about speed and correctness, from their past experiences. Possible even positive past experiences. Also, by framing this as what math "is" instead of "it can be" or "I want it to be" takes our choices, values, and efforts out of the equation.