Let’s Bring the JOY Back to Learning

"Joyful Experience" Photo created by ChatGPT

I smile every time I watch Alysa Liu's skating performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics. In 2022, Alysa retired from elite figure skating competition where every move and jump is judged, where mistakes mean lower scores, and the pressure to perform is intense. When Alysa returned to the ice after a two-year hiatus, she made it clear that she was no longer performing to satisfy a scoring system. She was skating because she loved skating. And guess what? That did not make her worse; it made her freer, And freedom made room for excellence and her pure joy while performing. 

School once worked the same way. Children entered kindergarten as curious explorers, full of joy, trying new ideas, learning to work together with others, discovering a whole new world, not afraid to fail and try again. We encouraged them to ask questions and guided them to find answers. We taught them that failure was an opportunity to not give up and to maybe make a minor adjustment. We encouraged them to keep going and celebrated when they were successful. We exposed children to exciting new experiences through books, music, art, science, and play - blocks, house corner, books, math games, puzzles, nature walks, and so much more. Learning was joyful!

Unfortunately, we've replaced children’s natural curiosity with a culture that emphasizes grade level standards, high-stakes testing, Advanced Placement classes, and grade point averages. By standardizing education and focusing on improving test scores, we have ignored what makes students special: their strengths and challenges, their interests, their individuality and the experiences that make them unique. As educators, we should be building on the strengths of our students so they feel like essential members of their classroom community. Assessment was originally meant to measure learning, but that is no longer the case. In many schools and classrooms today, assessment directs and drives learning. The saying is that "what gets tested gets taught." 

Ask any adult this question: What do you remember from your school days? Their memories might include a field trip they took, or a special teacher, or a musical performance, or the friendships that lasted a lifetime. I doubt that anyone would mention a standardized test or a worksheet or their grade point average. And yet, we treat the most memorable things - the joy for many students - as "enrichment" and spend most of our time in school on "essentials." We have it backwards. We would have more engaged students if we focused less attention on the test-taking culture that dominates many schools.

Joy in learning is social before it is intellectual. Students engage when they feel known, when teachers notice them, when peers depend on them, when communities need them. Students have many opportunities to make a difference. They can tutor younger students; they can help out at school events or volunteer in their community; they can even influence public policy by testifying at their City Council or State Legislature. The purpose of school was never to produce high test scores. Rather, it is to help our young people to find their purpose in life. A community does not thrive because their students had high scores on tests. It thrives because students found a passion and give back to their community. 

There is a ray of hope: many schools are choosing to focus on engaging students through strategies such as project-based learning, Socratic seminars, children-as-authors, choice boards, math talks and a focus on problem-solving, creating murals that share aspects of their school history, and community internships. Rather than focusing on standardized test-taking skills, these students are learning real-world skills by creating, collaborating, thinking critically, and communicating with others to address real-world problems that will impact them now and in the future. 

School should be a joyful place; don't we want students (and teachers) to look forward to coming to school? We can all learn from Alysa Liu's Olympics experience where she valued the process of improving. School should be more like the practice rink, a place to fall safely and to get up and try again. When students are judged every time they get an assignment, they will learn to not take chances. If we want students to be confident adults and thoughtful citizens, we need them to find joy in the learning process. This means they will sometimes fall and fail, but they can pick themselves up and try again. Schools should be a safe place in a chld's life to try something challenging and difficult. And when learning is practice instead of performance, achievement and joy follow. And don't we believe that school should be a joyful place? 

“Multiple Choice”

What do you think about when you see the photo above?  Maybe you did well on those standardized multipe choice tests which was also reflected in a positive grade point average and acceptance to a college of your choice.  Or maybe those tests were stressful and didn’t really reflect what you actually knew about the content. And maybe you just didn’t care because you didn't like school and knew that you weren't planning to go to college anyway.

I am not a proponent of high-stakes multiple choice tests. As expressed by Tony Wagner in the film, Multiple Choice, "Students are graduating with the primary skill being how to pass tests so curiosity withers. It's a muscle. It has to be exercised. We have no way of developing our advantages, our human capabilities unless we transform education." What gets tested gets taught, and that is why teachers often focus on reading, math, and science But more often than not, the lessons don't stick. That is why teachers need to spend valuable time reviewing previous lessons before the "important" test. 

Back in January 2015 when the Smarter Balanced Assessments were being rolled out, when students, teachers, and schools would be "rated" based on the results, our staff took part in a practice test for sixth grade math. The adults struggled. Here are some of their comments:

• There were so many factors that affected my performance on this test like reading comprehension, familiarity with the computer, keyboarding skills, etc. that I fail to see how this gives a true measure of a child's content knowledge in math.
• I can see why students are guessing.  It was difficult.
• Moving from one section of the test to the next is not intuitive; the test is text-heavy.  It seems never-ending - too bad they don't show a progress bar in the window.
• I have concerns over a computer-graded test as multiple solutions may not be counted due to the lack of thought on the computer's part.  Students may also lack the perseverance to follow through on some of these questions even if they have the skills necessary to solve.
• I think students may be thrown by the format of the test and all of the buttons.  Students may possibly fixate on the technical aspects rather than the academic purpose.
• Students will be limited in writing quality responses due to their lack of confidence in keyboarding skills.  
• The test needs to be scrutinized further because we want to set student up for moderate success, not doomed failure.

We realized that the test was not a true measure of what we knew. Fortunately, our teachers came to the conclusion that testing was required for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, but we would be careful to not put additional stress on the students. And these tests just measured reading and math. There are no high-stakes tests for students who may be gifted in other areas such as art or music.  What about a student who has great interpersonal skills, who has advanced physical motor skills, or who may have creative out-of-the-box ideas but struggles with reading or math or science? A test score does not define a student, and our responsibility as educators is to guide and support all students, not just those  who plan to continue their education, post high-school. We should be exposing them to many different activities so they can discover what they might be interested in or passionate about. School shouldn’t be focused on high stakes tests. 

My husband Randy and I recently attended the Hawai`i premier of the film “Multiple Choice” which was produced by Ted Dintersmith. It is an amazing film with so many thoughts about what education could and should be. Hint: It's not about being good at taking multiple choice tests. The film showcases the Emil and Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center located in Winchester County, Virginia. It's a small regional workforce city with students attending from the surrounding rural areas. The school emphasizes real-world skills in their Innovation Academy which includes a Health Sciences Academy, an Advanced Technology Academy, and a Workforce Academy in addition to college readiness classes, All students are encouraged to take a course in the Innovation Center where they gain skills and possible certification that can lead to jobs right out of high school. The film shared the stories and voices of several young students including a young lady who has aspirations of becoming an attorney. She shared that her experience taking welding and carpentry courses at the Innovation Center were valuable skills that she can use throughout her life. I think all high school students should have opportunities to take non-college prep courses that could help them in adult life. 

Our world is changing rapidly. In December 2013, my op-ed was published in the local newspaper where I shared that schools needed to introduce their students to coding. The prediction was that we would face a severe shortage of coders by the year 2020. Well, it's now 2026, and recent college graduates who majored in coding are having difficulty finding jobs and there is a high probability that other professions could be replaced by AI. (Article here.) And those who attend a four-year college often graduate with a huge student loan debt which impacts their personal lives.

But do you know what kinds of jobs are in demand? Carpenters, welders, electricians, plumbers, and other trade jobs. There is a huge demand for these jobs in our country. Workers are aging, infrastructure needs to be upgraded, new housing projects are being developed. This is a great time for students to explore options in the trade industry. Often, there are on-the-job training or apprenticeship programs available so those who opt to enter the trades could begin earning a salary right away. 

My husband and I reflected about “Multiple Choice” as we were driving home. “That was good,” Randy said. “I’m glad we came.” And then he added, “How can we get more people to see the film?” Randy is not an educator. He is an attorney and former legislator so his positive comments were validation that the film has the potential to make a difference in our educational systems.

Dr. Jason Van Heukelum, the District Superintendent responsible for the Emil and Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center says it best, “The purpose for school is not to be good in school. The purpose for school is to prepare students for life.” Let’s stop focusing on multiple choice test scores and instead focus on engaging our students so they can be the passionate learners and leaders we need to address the challenges we are facing now and in the future.

Will you join us?

Note: I’m sharing this blog by Dr. Mark Hines; he clearly articulates his thoughts and wonderings after viewing the film. I think these 10 points are worth discussing. Mahalo, Mark!

Teaching Math Differently

 A recent article in our local paper stated “Math at center of Hawaii’s education priorities for 2026 session.” While I agree that math education needs to change, I don't agree that the way to do it is to hire math coaches for every complex area. If math were a priority, schools and complex areas would have already created those positions with their present funding.. I also don't agree that we should be using test scores as a way to measure student performance in math when the tests themselves - using multiple choice questions - are, in my opinion, flawed. 

I do, however, agree that math education needs to be improved in our state and in our country. Check this ChatGPT comparison of how math is taught in the United States as opposed to high-performing PISA countries like Finland, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. ChatGPT  further details math instruction and testing in our country which validates my own experiences as a teacher, a school administrator, and a university student teacher evaluator. 

As an educator and a blogger, I wrote several blogs about math. There is no overnight fix; it will take years to change perceptions about math and math instruction from educators and the general public. Adding a math coach to every complex area is not the answer. Instead, we should be having discussions about what it means to be literate in math and how we measure student competency. 

I am sharing a blog which I wrote in January 2024 because I believe it is applicable to this discussion. I would love to hear your thoughts. 

"I'm Not a Math Person"

I hear it from adults. "I'm not a math person" or "I don't like math" or more likely, "I hated math when I was in school." That concerns me, especially when these adults say it in front of  children. What message are they sending when they say that? 

When I was in school, math was a subject I enjoyed. Memorizing procedures came easily to me, and I got good grades as a result. But I realized years later that I remembered very little of what I had learned in high school, and today, I would struggle to do even the most basic algebra, geometry, or trigonometry problems without assistance. So did I really "learn" that math? I don't think so.

As an early childhood teacher, our students learned math through hands-on exploration activities - counting objects, matching pictures, making patterns, and learning about number concepts like more and less, one-to-one correspondence, and ordering objects by size. At that age, math was fun.

When I began teaching second graders, I admit that I followed the grade level curriculum and students completed assigned work in their workbooks. Those who were finished early were able to "play" in the math center which had a variety of games and activities, and I provided extra assistance to the struggling students. My teaching changed dramatically after I had the opportunity to attend a series of sessions throughout the year on math problem-solving. We met with same-grade teachers from other schools, created a common assessment task, examined student work, and had deep discussions about what we observed about student understanding. We learned with and from each other, and I was so grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with teachers from other schools. More importantly, I no longer viewed math as a series of problems to be answered in a workbook; I saw it as an opportunity to talk about numbers and to have discussions with students to understand their thinking. 

I transferred to another school, and the expectation from administration was that teachers would collaborate, create common assessments and rubrics, and share our student work. Math was integrated into our interdisciplinary units, and I found many opportunities to extend and expand students' mathematical thinking. It was an exciting time for me, as a teacher, to have a principal and colleagues who understood the value of going beyond the surface level, and math was an important part of our school day. 

When I became a principal, I observed that students were primarily using grade level math textbooks and workbooks.  One of my goals was to help our teachers to transition to a different way of teaching math. We had two wonderful instructional coaches who worked with grade level teams to make their lessons more relevant and engaging and to listen to students to check for understanding. It was evident through our observations and conversations that many of our teachers were challenged with using concrete objects to solve math problems so we learned about the Concrete Representational Abstract Approach  Teachers had the opportunity to explore different manipulatives to discover and discuss how to use them with their students for deeper understanding. We had other professional learning opportunities focused on math such as  Lesson Study, Math Misconceptions, and Math Problem-Solving. It was challenging; teachers struggled to have conversations about math with their students. They were so used to following the textbook and looking for correct answers, but to their credit, they realized the importance of changing how they had always taught math. In fact, many teachers chose to have me observe a math lesson for their required educator evaluation, and we had rich discussions during our post-observation discussion. That, to me, was validation that we were on the right track. Schools are often so focused on "covering" the curriculum and raising test scores; our teachers were having conversations about math. I knew this was not the norm, and even in my retirement, I continued to explore how we could change math instruction in our schools, which is like a staircase, going in one direction, one step at a time. Learn a concept, do some practice worksheets, take an assessment, move on to the next chapter. Math instruction needs to change.

I recently listened to a podcast "Why a New Teaching Approach is Going Viral on Social Media." The introduction states, "When a professor's research showed that standard methods of teaching problem-solving weren't working, he set out to figure out what led to more student thinking." What was this new teaching approach? I was intrigued and listened to the podcast, and it was an 'aha!' moment for me. How do we get students to do the thinking where math is concerned? The word that shouted to me in the podcast was "mimic.". Instead of having students work in teams to grapple with a problem, we adults teach them how to solve it, and students follow the example to work on similar problems. They aren't thinking; they are mimicking the process. 

That is a problem. No wonder we don't see the beauty in mathematics. No wonder kids hate the monotony of math class. Rather than thinking and being challenged, our students are just mimicking. Often, teachers spend valuable time reviewing math concepts after a break or before high-stakes tests. If students forget what they learned, have they really learned it? 

Students need to be exposed to real-world math experiences with opportunities to struggle, to think, to ask questions, to research, and to problem-solve. This article, Understanding the World through Math shares how important it is for students to explore math in a real-world context. Our high school grandsons take advanced math, but our math conversations focus on NFTs, baseball cards, and more recently, Fantasy Football. They patiently and confidently explain about their investments and are learning about buying and selling. They make mistakes, but they are thinking and learning in the process. They are learning to look at statistics to determine if they should switch out a member of their team. As this year is an election year, we will have discussions about the presidential race, looking at polls in different parts of the country and discussing how candidates decide where to focus their campaigns to get the 270 Electoral College votes to be elected. Politics is an important topic of conversation in our family, and there is so much math involved. 

So back to my opening statement about adults who say, "I'm not a math person" or "I don't like math" or "I hated math when I was in school." I am positive that math plays an important role in their everyday lives. It might not be analytical geometry or calculus or trigonometry, but they are adjusting recipes for their families, looking for the best deals at the supermarket, determining how many buckets they'll need to paint the exterior of their home, tracking their daily exercise, deciding where to go for a loan to pay their child's college tuition; the list is endless! 

I've posted this poster before in my previous blogs, but I am reposting it because I think it most accurately depicts what math education looks like in many schools and districts and what it can and should look like. 

I am hopeful that maybe enough teachers will change the way students learn math to be less mimicking and more thinking.. Our students deserve it. 

The following are a few of the blogs I wrote about math education:

Textbooks or Professional Development?

Opportunity to Model Math Problem-Solving

Math Literacy

Thoughts about Math Fluency and Homework

I Wish I'd Learned Math This Way

Playing with Math

Playing with Math - Part II

A New Generation of Learners