Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Math Anxiety? Virgil is an ESL (English as a Second Language) student who has acquired two languages in his upbringing. He is moving to the United States with his family. The entire family is anxious to learn English and the American way of life. Virgil's family is very proud of their heritage and cultural traditions. They have decided to learn English at school and work, but speak their other two languages at home. Virgil is an outgoing young man who experienced difficulties in learning mathematical concepts in his native country. He is hoping that math will be easier for him in the United States. Virgil's parents enroll him in Ms. Tucker's third grade classroom. Hearing the English language being spoken and observing his new environment frightens Virgil. Ms. Tucker decides to ignore Virgil's fearful facial expressions and allow him to be totally immersed in his new culture. She continues to teach the students exactly the way she has done in the past. After all, her teaching methods have been successful for many years. In the afternoon, when the classroom students begin to take out their textbooks with numbers printed on the cover, Virgil perceives that it is time for math. The same sinking feeling he experienced in his old school started to reoccur in his new classroom. Not only was the new language confusing, but the entire math period left Virgil feeling lost and uncomfortable. After a few weeks of math lessons, Ms. Tucker decides to refer Virgil to the Special Education director. It was obvious to Ms. Tucker that Virgil was not understanding the math lessons and he was scoring poorly on the assessments. She felt that perhaps Virgil had some learning disabilities which needed attention. While he was receiving special help with math, Ms. Tucker could conduct class as usual. Questions: 1. Did Virgil suffer from "math anxiety?" 2. What interventions could Ms. Tucker implement before coming to her conclusions about Virgil? 3. Was total language immersion what Virgil needed? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) According to previous difficulties in math, Virgil may have had some math anxiety. The information states that Virgil was having difficulties in math in his native country before entering the United States, so he may have gone into the classroom with some anxiety about math. Ms. Tucker should have not ignored Virgil's "fearful facial expressions"; she should have had a student teacher conference and asked him what he was most worried about. The information also states that Ms. Tucker waited a few weeks before referring Virgil to the Special Education director. Ms. Tucker should have referred him to an ESL teacher if there was one available before putting him with a Special Education teacher. I believe that Ms. Tucker's plan of total language immersion was not a great idea for Virgil because he was having such a hard time keeping up and it made him feel uncomfortable. She should have accommodated for Virgil's need and made sure that he felt comfortable in the classroom.