Math was always my most challenging subject. I barely survived my last year of high school’s pre-cal class and barely got by in college despite camping out at the tutoring center to get help. For my younger brother, the struggle continues as he wraps up his first year of college. There’s only so much that a student can pick up during class lecture and while the tutoring center can be helpful, if you struggle with math, its often not enough since you’re not the only one there who needs help. Offering my help also compromised my brother’s time that he needed to get assignments done and prepare for tests since I found myself trying to learn the material before giving my advice.
When I was enrolled in college math, social media sites like YouTube didn’t exist. At the time we were the guinea pigs for free file sharing and chat systems. That was the extent of time I wasted on the internet as an undergrad. Today, social media has blown up and linked just about everything and anything with an ‘on’ button. Realizing I wasn’t qualified to help my brother through the more complex math problems he was confronted with as the semester went on I encouraged him to tap into YouTube. Searching for topics he was working on opened us up to a digital community of step by step tutorials, lessons, and examples of how to deal with just about every math problem in the world.
Last night he emailed me a few videos that he was watching to prepare for today’s test. I thought I’d share a few of those videos and encourage parents and siblings to learn how to search social media for tutorials if your child or sibling needs more information on a particular subject for school. YouTube has an archive of video tutorials for just about every subject and for all ages.
While social media may have the reputation of being a junk yard of mental waste and nothingness, it’s also one of the most resourceful places for an individual able to connect and search. It’s all about how you use it and we can definitely use it to teach and learn.
Shout out to MC Zoo. All best on your test today!
This post is also inspired by 8th grade math teacher Lamar Queen and his slope intercept rap which I discovered a few years back.
Tarver Academy Math
Math & Social Media education and information channel.
MathHelp
Giving everyone a second chance to learn math.
There’s an archive of various math tutorial videos posted over the years by different groups and instructors, such as this one about the Systems of Linear Equations uploaded by Mr. E.
GreenMath.com
Provides free math education to anyone with an internet connection.
“Do your class work do your home work, yes…”
Every1Plays 