A Mathematical Revolution

What is YouCubed?

YouCubed is claimed to be a new movement that will revolutionize math teaching, as well as math learning. According to the website, YouCubed provides free and affordable math resources for the K-12 grades. It also provides professional development for teachers and parents. The reasoning behind this mathematical revolution is that there are better ways to teach math that can lead to empowerment rather than failure. YouCubed is a way for mathematics to be made enjoyable and allow students to see how math can help them in their lives. The ideas behind this project are developed by researchers and educators based on both research as well as experience. The leading lady behind this project is Jo Boaler, a Stanford University math specialist who is the driving force behind math change.

How Does it Work?

Once the YouCubed site is up and running fully, it will feature short videos that will be teaching how to build self-confidenct children who enjoy and are curious about mathematics. It plans to be able to increase understanding of the important math concepts and feature math problems used in today's innovative companies. Along with this, YouCubed will provide ideas and resources for helping children at home, not just in the school setting. Once the site is fully functional, it will be filled with games, videos, tasks, materials, and many other resources for parents and educators. Some of the resources that are shown as an example on the website so far include a full page of K-5 games, videos, as well as a few very intriguing articles written by Jo Boaler herself.

Is This a Mathematical Revolution?

Being a student who always had trouble catching up in math throughout primary and elementary school, I truly believe this is a spectacular project. I always found math to be my least favorite subject for the simple fact that I was always made to feel stupid if I didn't produce the right answer in the right amount of time. Upon researching this project, one thing that stood out to me was Jo Boaler's article Unlocking Children's Math Potential: 5 Research Results to Transform Math Learning. In this article, Boaler addresses many issues I myself struggled with as a student, such as those mentioned above. Boaler offers suggestions for these issues, saying that it is important that we do not limit students' achievement or put the focus on speed in math classrooms. Boaler argues that putting time limits on mathematics causes anxiety and stress, which I definitely believe to be true, based on my own experiences. Boaler also makes a few interesting suggestions in her article Twelve Steps to Increase Your Child's Math Achievement And Make Math Fun, such as to stay away from sharing stories of math failure, encouraging children to work on challenging problems, as well as to ensure to the students that making mistakes is okay.

My Thoughts

My initial thought before looking too much into this project was that it would be just another attempt at making math fun, without actually taking into consideration the perspective of a student. However, I was certainly wrong. Unlike many attempts I have seen from my previous math teachers to make the content more stimulating and easy to learn, I truly believe this method has potential to be a revolution in the world of mathematics. The first thing I liked about the YouCubed webpage was that it was extremely easy to navigate. Rather than having multiple pages with an extensive list of links to other pages, it was simply one webpage with all the resources, such as articles and videos, laid out for you. When I am unsure about how to do something, youtube is my go-to website, as I am a visual learner--I learn by watching others do. Because YouCubed has that element of visual learning, I believe it is a great resource for anyone who learns best this way. Because I always had less than stellar experiences with math, I do have a touch of anxiety or worry when it comes to teaching it in my own classroom one day. Even during my observation days, I try to steer clear of helping the students with their math work for fear of steering them in the wrong direction. However, with resources such as YouCubed available in such a clear and user-friendly way, I am more confident that I will have what it takes to teach mathematics one day. I am excited for YouCubed to take off and become the revolution I believe it can be.

If you haven't checked out YouCubed yet, I highly recommend having a look! :)
YouCubed