I remember the exact moment in school when my relationship with Math went down the drain. My Math Teacher wrote in big size on the board “y = 2x”. Boom! I closed all doors towards what Math could offer to me. In my head goes – “What is even happening?”, “Am I dumb to not be able to understand this?”, and conveniently I also picked up a weird habit of throwing my pen up and catching it while it falls. (A pointless activity, yet somehow the most fascinating during my Math classes)
Cut to many years laters, on a cold winter morning in Himachal at Aavishkaar, during our morning Charchaa, we were exploring “Linear Equations and Graphs”. After a couple of initial explorations, Kavita, our lead, shares an equation with us on the board – “y = 2x + 3” (Ah! The trauma) and encourages us to share a story for the equation. Wait a minute – We have to make a STORY for the equation? What does that even mean?!
Enter the beautiful story-tellers of our class – our fellows.
“It was my birthday party. My mother made 3 ladoos for me and gave 2 ladoos to every friend that came. That’s y = 2x + 3.”
“I entered an amusement park whose entry fee was Rs.3. For every ride, it was Rs. 2. The total money I spent can be represented by 2x + 3.”
“I rented a cycle. For the first km, it was Rs.3 and for every additional km, it was Rs.2. The amount I spend can be represented by 2x + 3”
Now, that is some real skill. To be able to see Math all around us – in amusement parks, renting a cycle and even in ladoos.
For the next few days, Kavita led us through more exploration of Linear Equations and Graphs. And it didn’t stop with just stories. We were encouraged to make sense of, & plot many equations on the graph—equations with constants, equations without constants, and equations with both constants and coefficients. Did their graphs look the same? Do they all pass through the origin? What happens to their slope? Are they parallel to each other?
I watched as people discussed and shared their insights from what they were observing :
“The slope of y=2x is closer to the y axis than y=x/2″
“The slopes of y= x+2 and y=x-2 are parallel”
“The slope doesn’t pass the origin when it has a constant”
Beautiful insights that people discovered on their own! On their own—a joy that no one could replace by simply “telling” us.
And that’s when I finally understood: Everyone is capable of learning and understanding Math.
These experiences raised a very important question – Why wasn’t I given the slightest chance to do this during my schooling days?
Thanks to my work, I have gotten the chance to see many Math Classrooms across the country. It breaks my heart to see that we’re still struggling to accept that children are capable of making conclusions on their own. They can observe, they can share what they observe, and they are capable of much more.
Sadly, they also deserve more. I only hope that they are able to ‘Graph their own Math Journey!’ just the way I did!
By Varshaa R, M&E Lead