How to Overcome Math Anxiety: Tips from An Experienced Math Teacher
If you’re like the hundreds of students I’ve worked within the past, you’re relaxed and not thinking about math during the summer or the winter holiday break, but you get SUPER ANXIOUS right before school starts and just before exams.
Do you know what this graph shows? Drum roll, please…
This is the Google search trend for “math help” over the last 5 years worldwide! There’s a clear pattern here.
Although you may see similar patterns across all subject areas, as a high school math teacher who has taught hundreds of students over the past 7 years, I can tell you that this is definitely a common story when it comes to high school math.
So let me walk you through what math anxiety is, how to know if you have it, how to overcome it, and where you can get some math help.
What is Math Anxiety?
Math anxiety is a feeling of worry, uneasiness, or fear when it comes to learning math and solving math problems. A student with math anxiety may not be able to explain why they are nervous but may display physical symptoms like sweating or a racing heart rate when they are asked to answer a math problem in class or right before they write a math test.
Although we may develop math anxiety at any age - during elementary school, high school, college, or adult life - it often shows itself in full form during high school. I think the increasing complexity and abstraction of the math concepts and the pressure of testing (standardized or not) have something to do with this.
Do you have Math Anxiety?
Not sure if you have math anxiety? Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you often skip or think of skipping math class?
- Does it terrify you to think that your math teacher is going to call your name in class?
- Have you cried or come close to tears when doing math homework or writing a math test?
- Do you sometimes feel angry or frustrated when looking at a math problem even though you can’t explain why?
- Do you feel like you are trying very hard in math, but keep getting stuck and not getting the grade you want?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might have math anxiety.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone! According to some U.S. surveys, almost 70% of teachers said that math anxiety is a challenge for their students, and almost 25% of these teachers self-reported having math anxiety themselves!
How can you Overcome Math Anxiety?
Here are three effective ways that you can use to overcome your maths anxiety. I use these with my students and it’s helped them tremendously.
Math Test Interventions
Many studies have shown that math anxiety is linked to working memory. If you are feeling anxious before a math test, try writing down those feelings and thoughts so that they don’t “crowd up” your working memory. This can help free up your “memory power” to solve harder strategy and procedure-based problems with more working memory.
You could also do some breathing exercises before a math test. The calmer you feel, the more working memory you will have to solve those math problems on the test.
Support & Practice
For most students, hearing your teacher explain a new math concept once isn’t enough to commit it to memory. Even after seeing one or two more examples, you might still feel lost. Lucky for us, we have the internet! There are many math help resources online to help you with your math, including Wize!
You want a supplemental learning platform that allows you to review the same concept or example as many times as you need, with many practice problems to help you not only build up your math skills but also your math confidence.
Wize supplementary math resources give you plenty of opportunity for practice. All lessons and practice questions come with full written lesson notes, videos, and Q&A opportunities, so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck on something.
The “I Love Math” Culture
There is no such thing as a “math person” or someone who is naturally “bad at math”. Last year, I tutored a student who was terrified of math. Before each session, we recited the mantra “I love learning new math concepts” and “I will succeed in math”.
With some hard work, this student ended up with 100% on her final exam and an overall math grade of 95%! I believe that positive math messaging can be very helpful when learning math. So give it a go if you are experiencing maths anxiety
The bottom line is you can overcome math anxiety! Don’t let your temporary fear in math prevent you from learning new concepts and doing well in math class.
Here are a few math help resources to make you more confident about your math skills:
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