Yes, TV can teach you something!

In the simulated classroom on the set of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader", a contestant tonight made the exact same error that dozens of my students have habitually made throughout the years - she didn't read the question! I'm not a normal watcher of the show (though my students constantly beg me to throw my hat in the ring), but I had it on in the background as I painted a living room tonight. (As an aside, I tend to use home improvement as my means to refresh in the first weeks of summer).

Anyway, I was painting away and listening to the first contestant (the hot-dog eating champion of the world) do quite well but not know the name of the person who developed the immunization for small pox. I didn't know it either - Edward Jenner for those keeping track - and realized that I, too, would have lost on that question. There was enough time in the hour for another contestant, and she breezed through the first couple questions. Then, she chose a math category (pointing out that she's pretty good at math), listened to the question, said, "This is like taking candy from a baby", and proceeded to give the wrong answer. The question was: if four shelves out of five are filled with six dolls each, and then the final shelf holds only three dolls, how many total dolls are there? The contestant firmly and confidently answered "nine", at which point Jeff Foxworthy (the host) took on his best teacher voice and asked her to read the question out loud - something I've done thousands of times myself. She immediately found her error, then queasily withstood the next couple moments as she realized that she had just lost $25,000 for her mistake.

I might not watch this game show again any time soon, but I saw something there tonight that made me think about my own practices with my students. So many times they read too quickly and are confident about what ends up being the wrong response. The problem is not, of course, their math abilities, but rather the ability to understand what a question means. It's a tricky thing to teach - self-critique, that is - but it is essential. I will definitely be using this example in the fall, not as a way to bring an old teacher saying to life, but rather as a means to start examining the situations in which a person should allow themselves doubt, even when confidence abounds. We might not all lose $25,000 on the deal, but it's a valuable lesson nonetheless!