Teaching Math With Manipulatives

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June, 2010

In 2000, one-third of high school students in British Columbia failed to graduate. In most cases these students lost their first chance at a productive adulthood because of one thing. Math. It's such a pity, especially when a proven teaching system -- available to any teacher or parent -- could have made them gifted, eager learners. It's called Mortensen Math. And now there is a simple handbook that makes teaching Mortensen Math as easy as learning it!

Dear Teacher or Parent:

Have you ever heard a child absolutely GROAN when it comes time do math homework? Have you ever watched how that child pulls out the textbooks as though just touching them was painful? As a teacher for many years, I have. Over and over again. And probably just like you, for years I told myself -- "there has to be a better way".

I'm writing you now to tell you there is!

I found a system, created by a brilliant instructor, that's fool proof at turning math haters into math lovers. It's his system, not mine. And I've used it for years to turn thousands and thousands of students around when it comes to math. I guess you could call me Jerry Mortensen's biggest fan. I've used his system so often, and with so much success, I've even developed a handbook to help others learn how to use it. That's how enthusiastic I became as a teacher when I started using Mortensen's techniques - and I guarantee if you'll spend just five minutes with me now, you'll be just as enthusiastic.

If you love teaching as much as I do…if you worry about your child's math performance, or struggle for ways to make the experience more palatable for your child…what I'm about to tell you will be worth every second of your time.

Before I tell you about this brilliant innovator and his system though, or about the handbook I've developed that makes using the techniques he developed absolutely the simplest teaching tool you've ever tried, I think I should introduce myself.

My name is Geoff White. I graduated from University in Southhampton with my degree as a math teacher in 1974. I've completed 15 years of part-time, post-graduate work at the University of Calgary and UBC Okanagan University. I've taught math in public and private schools both in Canada and other countries including Taiwan. I'm not a salesman with some catchy new tutorial technique to flog. I've taught the subject for years and I know what math teachers face every day of their lives. I know all about school budgets and how tough it is to get your hands on the tools you know you need to make a difference. I can't say it more plainly than that.

Seventeen years ago I realized I could accomplish more good as a math teacher if I could help others master the teaching techniques in the Mortensen Math system. While it's a brilliant technique - and it's guaranteed to give you the results you are after -- learning how to teach it effectively can take literally years. I'd put in that effort. I knew how to shorten the learning curve and make easy. So I started giving workshops.

I'm really proud to say that over the course of nearly two decades I've accomplished a big part of my dream of spreading the word. The response to my workshops has been nothing short of terrific. I've taught thousands upon thousands of teachers and parents how to ease math anxiety in their students. I've shown them how to achieve higher levels of understanding in math - one workshop at a time.

While that made me happy, by 1998 the demand on my schedule had become so heavy I knew had to find another way to reach more people. My solution was to record my workshop on video. I willingly sent the tapes to interested parties I couldn't teach in person. The problem with that scheduling solution was no one could ask questions. Extra explanations were missing because I wasn't there in person at the white board. That led me to the development of a handbook.

I'll tell you more about that in a minute. You probably want to know more about the Mortensen Math system first.

MORTENSEN MORE THAN MATH employs manipulatives to enhance the child's ability to visualize math concepts, to decode the mathematical language into spatial reality.

The best way I know to explain the Mortensen Math system is to talk about memory first. How good is your short-term memory? More importantly, how good is your short-term memory with numbers? Suppose I gave you 12 numbers, each of them seven digits long. Do you think you could remember them for an hour? Five minutes? Do you think you could remember them long enough to write them down, even right after I told you?

Not likely. That's because you've been taught like everyone else to memorize the hard way. The hard way is how most students are taught math as well.

The truth is the entire math curriculum used in traditional teaching situations, employing textbooks, relies on memorizing nothing but FACTS, RULES, FORMULAE AND PROCESS!

Our job as educators is to decode this mathematical language of symbols into a concrete reality. This is what the method does.