NON-FINANCIAL WAYS TO PAY IT FORWARD

The best ways to pay it forward are the ways you think of yourself. What is one simple action you can take, that’s fully within your control, that could benefit your educational outcomes as well as your education community?

If you’d like some example ideas, we put some on this page. The best answers will come from you.

PAYING IT FORWARD IDEAS FOR STUDENTS

You have many priorities, many things you care about in your life. Your education is one of those things, and your math learning journey is one part of that. You get to decide whether you will go on the next part of your math learning journey alone, or who you will bring with you. The team at You Discover Math wants you to feel supported and for you to have fun on your math learning journey. We’re prepared to be your tour guide as you explore and discover math. Why not take a moment to think about your own preparations?

LEARN TOGETHER

No one really journeys alone. At least once each week, choose a specific topic that you are learning about in math class, and ask a friend or classmate if you can “test” or “practice” your own mastery of the topic by explaining to them about how you understand it. Tell your classmate you would like to know how they think about it, especially if they have another way to understand the topic.

Listen to your classmate, and try to help them share their understanding about the topic with you. This fosters a mode of learning that puts you, the students, in control of your own development, independent of your teacher and also interdependent with your teacher.

TAKE A GROWTH MINDSET ON YOUR MATH LEARNING JOURNEY

Everyone gets lost or stuck sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. That’s all a natural part of learning!

Make a commitment to yourself that when you get “stuck” or confused with any math topic, or when you make mistakes in math, you will try to use a strategy like the following: Remember EVERYONE gets stuck & confused & makes mistakes. Promise yourself that you will not think of yourself as less smart of a person because of getting stuck or because of making a mistake.

Promise yourself when you get stuck or confused, you will try to focus on how you will respond to the challenge. This begins with reassuring yourself you ARE a smart person and you CAN figure it out, and that you can ask someone for help. If this seems hard, then try considering all the positive qualities you convey when you ask for help. Asking for help shows both yourself and those around you that you believe you can figure it out (you have not “given up”), Asking for help shows you are motivated to figure it out (and willing to put in the effort), Asking for help shows you are humble enough to ask when you need help (not so prideful that you feel a need to pretend you never need any help), Asking for help shows you have some trust and confidence in the person you are asking to help you! Vulnerability can foster connection and dispel shame!

BUILD RAPPORT WITH YOUR TEACHER

Share some positive feedback Try this simple idea at least once every week. Think of something specific your teacher did that was helpful for your learning. (This might be a certain way your teacher explained something or a way your teacher gave you some help or encouragement, or a class activity your teacher led that helped you understand math.) Tell your teacher as specifically as possible what they did that you found helpful, and then tell them “thank you”. For example, maybe after class, you could say “Hi Mr. Smith, when you were explaining about ____ and you drew the picture with the colors, that made it a lot easier for me to understand. Thank you for adding the visual explanation!” This kind of feedback can help your teacher learn which teaching methods to choose in the future will help you the most. This can also help you and your teacher build a sense of trust and rapport with each other, and that can make it feel easier for you to ask for something different from your teacher when you need it.

MAKE IT FEEL EASIER TO GIVE FEEDBACK TO YOUR TEACHER

Do you ever feel shy or afraid or unsure about telling your math teacher when you don’t understand something? So do lots of people! Even if your teacher is very nice and is trying their best to help you, it still might feel a little hard to ask your teacher for something different. But you can do it! And when you do, your teacher will probably appreciate it, because then they will understand better how to help you learn!

For example, you might say this: “When you said ____ , I didn’t understand that, could you please explain it a different way?” “I think I understand ____ , but I feel stuck on ____ . Can you please give me a hint about what I can try?”​

VOTE FOR EDUCATION

If you’re of voting age, or if you will be soon, you can help yourself and your community by your civic participation. Familiarize yourself with the governing entities, and the elected or appointed officials, who influence the education system where you live. For example: Who is on your school board? School board elections often have very low voter turnout. You can help change that. Find out when school board elections and education ballot initiatives are occurring next. Make a commitment to yourself and your community, that you will vote for your school board members. Better yet, can you help turn out more voters? Think of a teacher or school administrator who you trust has their heart in the right place. Ask them if they would be willing to share what they think needs to improve about the education system in your community. Learn about the state government officials who influence the education system where you live. Who appointed them or elected them to their current roles? What decisions about your community’s education have they made? Support the policies and people who will positively influence education, by contacting your elected officials and by voting according to your conscience and a well-informed perspective.

PAYING IT FORWARD IDEAS FOR PARENTS

You already do so much to support your child. You have a unique and highly influential role in their education. Your family’s situation is evolving over time. So is your role in your child’s education. By visiting this site, you’ve already taken another positive step. What are you inspired to do next?

VOTE FOR EDUCATION

Familiarize yourself with the governing entities, and the elected or appointed officials, who influence the education system where you live. For example: Who is on your school board? School board elections often have very low voter turnout. You can help change that. Find out when school board elections and education ballot initiatives are occurring next. Make a commitment to yourself and your child, that you will vote for your school board members. Better yet, can you help turn out more voters? Think of a teacher or school administrator who you trust has their heart in the right place. Ask them if they would be willing to share what they think needs to improve about the education system in your community. Learn about the state government officials who influence the education system where you live. Who appointed them or elected them to their current roles? What decisions about your community’s education have they made? Support the policies and people who will positively influence education, by contacting your elected officials and by voting according to your conscience and a well-informed perspective.

STEP UP YOUR ENGAGEMENT

In addition to signing up your child for tutoring, think of one additional strategy you could try, starting within the next 2 weeks, that you believe would improve your level of personal engagement with your child’s education and help you to support the learning experiences of your child. Discuss this idea with your child. Ask them what they think of it. Develop the idea together. Which of your child’s specific goals will you focus on supporting? Who else besides you and your child would be involved? How would it work? How long could you try out the idea to evaluate it? When can you discuss together how it’s working? Ask your child to write down their goal, and you write down what you commit to doing to help them reach that goal. Post your plan “on the fridge” or somewhere prominently visible. Try it out together. It won’t be perfect, so don’t expect it to be. Celebrate what works well. Adjust what doesn’t work well. Learn together as you go.

GROWTH MINDSET

Learn about the concept of growth mindset by taking 30 minutes for this activity online. Some of the ideas in this activity might resonate with you more than others. Which points do you feel are the most relevant, for your specific situation between you and your child? Pick one specific idea mentioned in the online activity that you believe could help you to help your child have a more effective math learning experience. Make a commitment to yourself, that you will try out this idea for the next 2 months. Write down this commitment. Post it where you will see it routinely. Mark on your calendar a date 2 months from today, when you will set aside another session (this time, 60 minutes) when you will review the 30-minute online activity on growth mindset, and reflect on how your idea has been working so far during your initial 2 months of trying it out. Use that 60-minute session to adapt your strategy, aiming to improve upon it for the next 2 months.