Real Math vs. Fake Math: What Meaningful Math Experiences Can Do

Guest blog post by Olivia Despotidis, a South African math educator, a Math is FigureOutAble team member, and a busy mom!

What Is "Fake Math”

There is a moment I look back on often, that I wish I could redo. I had recently sent math assessments home and there was a fourth grade parent that didn’t agree with my mark allocations. His son had arrived at the correct answers but did not get all the marks because he didn’t follow the method I had taught in class. It makes me cringe now but back then it was my reality of math class. You taught a method and assessed the method. That’s how students “learned math.” Right? Oh boy was I wrong.

Like most math teachers I know, I knew nothing different. But I have since been exposed to the world of math being figure-out-able and wish I could go back in time. Even if it were just to see what strategy he had used. I was stuck in the land of fake math and I had no idea.

An unconventional approach, however, is to give students experiences in math where new knowledge unfolds. Not just one isolated activity, but a series of thoughtfully designed experiences that build on each other, that allow students to see content in a different way. 

What Does Real Math Look Like?

The difference between teaching Real Math and fake math lies in the experiences students are given in math class. For too long, the focus of math class has been to teach a method, steps, or an algorithm to get answers to a certain set of questions.

I have had the privilege of taking the Math is FigureOutAble Building Powerful Fractions 1 online workshop, in which I’ve experienced fractions in a way that is not tied to a particular grade level but rather for us as educators to see fractions from different angles. 

Before this workshop, I mostly taught fractions as procedures to follow: find common denominators, multiply straight across, simplify at the end. But through these experiences, I began to see fractions as relationships that could be reasoned about. 

Pam Harris has structured the first part of the workshop around looking at fractions using different models. We uncovered equivalent fractions organically, explored fraction multiplication and division through reasoning, and noticed patterns emerge naturally through carefully crafted tasks. 

I found myself grappling with fractions in a way that I never had before. In one of the modules we had to reconsider the fraction of something because the unit changed within the problem we were solving. It was so eye-opening. A fraction can completely change meaning depending on the unit, and that idea alone transformed how I think about teaching fractions to students. 

The Feeling of Real Math

Experiencing math in this way is an example of Real Math – where the math comes to life and starts to make sense. I, as well as the in-person participants, am captivated by the questions Pam presents. There is a feeling of inclusion, creativity, and a confidence that is growing in me as a student and teacher.

This excitement is not just for educators who already have a passion for the subject but also for all of us as students. There is no doubt in my mind that students of various grade levels will be enthralled in the learning of math when Real Math is brought forward.

 I don’t want to teach fake math. I want to show students the excitement of exploring Real Math.

What’s next?

If Building Powerful Fractions 1 shifted the way you think about fractions, Building Powerful Fractions 2 continues that journey even further. 

In Building Powerful Fractions 2, Pam Harris dives into fraction operations with “uglier denominators,” helping educators reason through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in ways that make sense instead of relying on disconnected procedures. The workshop builds on the relationships and models introduced in Building Powerful Fractions 1 and continues developing the kind of mathematical reasoning that helps students truly understand fractions.

The workshop has officially launched and is available now. If you want to deepen your own fraction understanding and experience Real Math for yourself, now is the perfect time to join.

Purchase Building Powerful Fractions 2 today!