Am I Wrong?

Today a girl called me over to check her work. She didn't say, "Could you please check my work?" She didn't say, "Did I do this right?" She asked, "Am I wrong?"

This. Kills. Me.

1. Have you ever heard a boy utter these words? I'll bet you that it's never happened.
2. Why do so many students, especially girls, lack confidence in math?
3. Even the wording, "Am I wrong" eats away at me, because it implies that there is something wrong with the person, rather than the work.
4. Even if the work has an error in it, what's the big deal? Errors can be corrected.

For the record, this student was doing her work correctly. So why was there an implicit assumption that her work would not be correct?

How do we as teachers fight this and train our students, especially girls, to have confidence in what they know? I want ALL of my students to be confident and proud. I never want to hear another girl say, "This is probably wrong but...."

How often do you hear girls say things like this in your class? What do you do to combat these attitudes?

Algebra 2 Mansplaining

Today in Algebra 2 and Trig, I was surprised to witness some mansplaining. A group consisting of 3 girls and 1 boy called me over to settle which student factored a quadratic expression correctly. Of course I wasn't going to say, 'You're right, and you're wrong.' Instead, I asked each person (1 of the girls, and the boy) to explain the work in the hopes that speaking aloud would allow the group to decide who was right and who was wrong.

What followed was a long explanation from the boy in a tone that made it sound like he was sure he was right. In fact, the longer he spoke, the more sure of himself he sounded. When he stopped speaking, the girl said nothing. She made no attempt to present or explain her own work. The group simply seemed ready to accept the boy's solution, though no one looked particularly excited by it or made any comment truly agreeing with it.

Did I mention that the boy was completely wrong, and the girl who shrank back and said nothing was the one who had it right?

I was really hoping that by letting the students speak, I wouldn't have to jump in and save them. Instead, I pointed out that the girls just let the boy speak and went along with his answer without questioning it at all. I reminded the girls that mathematical arguing is an important skill in this class!

It's only the beginning of the school year. But I can see already that I'm going to have to really encourage these girls to not let the boys steamroll them. And I need to encourage ALL of my students to have confidence in their own work!