Rebecca Zook - Math Tutoring Online

Finally, I get to visit the NYC High Line!! This beautiful and unique park – which draws people from around the world and is now one of the top destinations globally – used to be an ugly, useless eyesore that would have been destroyed if a small group of determined citizens did not decide to rescue it and turn it into something new and intriguing.

Being here reminded me of watching the movie Moneyball – which you may have seen my other videos about. To me, one of the best parts of the movie was when the narrator talked about how baseball players get overlooked for all kinds of reasons – because they’re old, or weird-looking, or because they pitch funny.

At this point in the movie, tears started streaming down my face. I thought of all the times in my life when I was overlooked, and of my math tutoring students, how often they are overlooked.

The danger is if enough people overlook you, you can start to overlook yourself. You can start to let other people’s ideas about your potential determine what you become.

But what if there’s something inside you, neglected and unseen, just waiting to become a beautiful place that people all over the world want to visit and experience?

*Special thanks to my dear friend and magnificent video queen Therese Condit, who shot this video! Without her this would not have been possible!

Related posts:
How to help kids be okay with things being hard
Math mindset lessons from the movie “Moneyball”
Failure is not the enemy
Self-taught hero: Pearl Fryar

Today’s tip is my first shot “in the wild” — on the streets of Times Square, NYC!! Super special thanks to my camerawoman and amazing friend, Missy Mazzoli, who made this episode possible.

A little while back, I was working with a student who got stuck on a math problem.

“Can I call my brain on the phone?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said. I didn’t know where this was going, but I wanted to see what my student meant.

She held her hand up to her ear in “fake phone” position. “Hello, brain?” she inquired. “I need some help with this problem. Okay, I need to do this… all right, and then I need to do that… Uh-huh….. Okay….All right the answer is….Thank you brain! I’ll talk to you later! Bye!”

It totally worked.

Why? It’s so silly. It’s a little crazy. Why does it work?

1. You’re talking out loud. Researchers in Spain found that students who talk through a problem out loud have a greater chance of solving the problem correctly. I’ve often wondered if part of the reason tutoring works so well is just because it forces students to talk through what they’re doing. Paradoxically, we are frequently conditioned in school to think that when we’re working on math by ourselves, it needs to be a silent solitary activity, but talking through a problem out loud can really get the math juices flowing.

2. It’s totally proactive. Instead of letting your eyes glaze over, moving on to the next problem, saying “I hate this and I’ll never get it,” or giving up completely, my student took an active approach.

3. You’re trusting yourself and relying on yourself. Even though my student was characterizing her brain as something “else,” she was really trusting herself, trusting that she had some untapped inner resources she could access if she came at the problem from a different angle.

4. You’re being yourself. When you’re really yourself when you’re doing math, you plug into all kinds of resources that you would cut yourself off from if you believe you have to behave a certain way or be a certain kind of person in order to succeed at math.

5. It’s a little bit silly. In my experience, being a little silly — doing something crazy like “calling your brain on the phone” or doing math in a silly voice — not only keeps things fun but also prevents students from shutting down or going into panic mode. And like talking things through out loud, it seems to open up more possibilities.

I’m proud to report that my student has used this same technique several times since she first introduced it to me, with great success.

So today’s tip is, when you’re stuck on a math problem, talk it out!!! Whether that means calling your brain on the phone, just talking it through out loud in a silly voice — or in a normal voice.

Have you ever called your brain on the phone? Is there a special (possibly silly) technique you like to use when you’re stuck? Leave a comment because I’d love to hear all about it!

Related posts:
How to help kids be okay with things being hard
When in doubt, talk it out
Is multi-sensory learning hardwired into our humanity?

I recently realized there’s something I constantly do with my private tutoring students: use a question to direct their attention to an error.

Let’s say a student makes a mistake like, 5 + 4 = 8.

Instead of saying, “NO! That’s WRONG! 5 + 4 DOES NOT EQUAL 8!!!”

I’ll just gently ask, “What’s 5 plus 4?”

The student gets the feedback that they’re off track, and they immediately know what to address. It lets the correct immediately without getting emotional, feeling judged, or falling out of “the math zone.”

Try it with your own kid and let me know how it goes!