Not All Mistakes Are Equal

Hi Manoj,

Do you ever find yourself frustrated that your students make the same mistakes again and again? If so, are you taking the time to dig a little deeper to discover where the mistakes are actually coming from? What's the root cause of the error?

Well, today I want to encourage you that 1. Mistakes are indeed an important part of the math learning process and 2. Not all mistakes are equal.

So first, we have to understand that when we make mistakes, various parts of our brain "light up" meaning there is growth that comes because of it. Recent brain research even indicates that this growth occurs even when we don't realize we've made a mistake.

This is good, encouraging news for our students! We can celebrate wrong answers and use them as opportunities to learn and stretch our brains!

Second, not all mistakes are equal. This means mistakes don't necessarily mean a lack of understanding. So it's up to us to get to the bottom of kids' mistakes and to help them do the same.

I've broken math errors down into 3 categories: careless, computational and conceptual.

It's important that we see where kids' errors are coming from so that we can adequately address them (and again, teach them to address them).

Read 3 Types of Math Errors and How to Prevent Them

If you find this helpful, be sure to share with your friends and colleagues! :)

Blessings,

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