Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students’ Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching by Jo Boaler.

4/5 rating. 208 pages.

Book #59 of 2021. Read October 16, 2021.

This is a math teaching textbook, but absolutely turns traditional teaching on its head and sparked so many ideas I look forward to trying in my classroom!

Jo wants to change the way that we talk about and teach math. Math is probably the most fraught subject in school and is so often thought of as something that either you are good at, or are not. Students end up feeling like they are not good at the constant busy work that has invaded math classrooms, or just don’t understand it.

This all is the wrong way to think about math!! Math is about problem-solving. It’s about asking questions, about looking at problems in different ways. We want to instill an idea of growth mindset, constructive failure, and collaboration in students. Along with this, every student should understand that they ARE a mathematician as they explore different ways to look at problems.

Jo wants us to stop using memorization, endless problem sets, and unrealistic “real-world” problems. Instead, use ideas of patterns, places where math is apparent in nature, and constant questioning and setting up problems to spark curiosity in kids.

I love these ways of thinking about math! Engineering has taught me how to think about trying new things, and I want each of my students (and every person I meet) to begin to look at the world as being filled with fascinating math problems and questions. It’s beautifully everywhere, we just need to show people this is true and how they can think like this.

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