Mathematics requires creative thinking. Look at a problem, view it from learned perspectives and then think of a creative way to view it again. Visualize, imagine, play, experiment, rethink and do it all over again. Create a hypothesis, test it, wonder what is wrong, fix it then … do it all over again. Tweak your thoughts, expand your mind, look elsewhere for inspiration and apply new concepts to old problems, examine new tools, apply new tools, and do that all over again. Arithmetic is not mathematics. Using existing knowledge and reapplying it to the same problems is not mathematics. Mathematics is wondering.
Mathematics is creative play with ideas, shapes, formulas, spaces, machines, … the list will go on. Mathematics transforms a mind, expands it. Here’s a story that I wrote to illustrate different thinking.
Love Lego® Lesson
© 2009 Marlene E. Lacey
Primary grade teacher interupts a student lost in thought, “So what is 3 plus 3, Johnny?”
“Heck, I dunno.” he says. “I’m imagining putting my Lego together. I had these three kits that I got for my birthday. I was really excited about them. (‘Cause, I love Lego®.) Darn it all, my younger brothers lost pieces out of each one. I just want to play with my Lego. I was wondering what I can make with the pieces that I’ve got.”
After his spoken musing, Johnny looked at the irritated teacher. She was concerned about Johhny’s failing grade and it showed on her face. He saw three worry lines on his teacher’s forehead and thought, That’s one worried teacher!
“Oh, all right,” he reacted to her furrowing brow and put more thought into her question. Quickly, he put up both of his hands; three fingers were raised on each hand. “2”, he says, “three fingers on this hand and three fingers on this hand. That’s two hands. So, 3 plus 3 is 2. Can I think about my Lego now?”
“Johnny!” snapped the teacher, “I think you should remember that 3 plus 3 is 6. You need to know this before you can move on.”
“Oh, teacher,” he said as he had already got back to his wondering about his Lego. “I really don’t think I’m wrong. You know if I make one building out of my 3 Lego sets and if I do it again, I’ll have 2 buildings. So, I just don’t understand why you think 2 is a wrong answer.”
(If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy reading Lego® Love. You’ll see that I like playing with Lego in a different way, like Johnny, I think mathematics should be creative play.
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