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!) Virgil definitely did not need total language immersion. The massive change from what he is used to lead him to suffer from serious 'math anxiety'. This kind of anxiety and worry can happen to students whose native language is English, to assume otherwise is naive. If Ms. Tucker would have given him any kind of extra help at all and it would be an improvement over the current situation. Ms. Tucker could have made use of individual work time to have short conferences with Virgil concerning his work. The usage of manipulatives could also help reveal whether the issue is math, language, or a combination of the two. Another issue that is well known concerning ELL students is that they struggle with word problems. If Ms. Tucker uses a dominantly word problem format, then she could possibly make an accommodation for Virgil and change the test format. Ms. Tucker could also use any free time Virgil has to review concepts with him or to review his work. As long as the teacher remains positive, then the student will not think that they are being punished. The positive environment will encourage the student to open up and not be afraid to be wrong; making mistakes is essential to learning and should not be criticized. Ms. Tucker either needs to seek the advice of an ELL teacher, or make an effort to explain direction more than once and in more than one way for this student.                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: If I were in this situation, I would do the same thing. Rated On: October 17, 2014 4:34 pm Rated By: TuBuJy                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I have to agree that this situation can happen to native English speakers (as I was one of those with math anxiety when I was little). What helped me overcome my anxiety was getting a third party (usually another teacher or a tutor) help me after school with practice problems that may or may not have been what I was learning. When I showed progress I would then present my homework to them where we will work on it together or by myself depending on what was going on. Another method that helped me was getting my parents involved. They would buy me practice books where we would work on the problems together until I could work on them by myself without showing signs of frustration. Rated On: October 19, 2014 11:49 pm Rated By: dePyja                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I agree completely. Rated On: March 4, 2017 12:38 am Rated By: uDaHeD                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I think you're right Rated On: October 19, 2020 12:14 am Rated By: usuBuQ