There\u2019s another response that I like much better, and I\u2019ve heard it from lots of people. It\u2019s that, in fact, you may not<\/em> end up using a particular skill, but the act of studying it is training for your brain. We make our brains stronger and more flexible by struggling with challenging concepts. To use an athletic analogy, a basketball player will do a lot of exercises in their physical training that are never used in playing basketball, like lifting weights or jumping rope. However, these exercises benefit the athlete because they make the body stronger and more capable of reacting to the conditions on the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I like this metaphor for two reasons. One is that I have seen personally how studying math has made my own brain stronger and more flexible, and I have seen students grow as thinkers, question-askers, and investigators through studying math. The second is that it points to how we should and shouldn\u2019t be teaching math. If we recognize that the goal of studying math is to build our problem-solving, thinking brains and not to get the answers to the questions in the textbook, then there is no point to teaching tricks that get us to the answers. To go back to the athlete, we recognize that the value in lifting weights is in the athlete using their muscles, not in getting the weights to go up and down. Suppose you invented a machine where you could push a button and it would lift the weights up and down for you. Do you imagine anyone at the gym would want to use it? People go to the gym to use their bodies, not to operate machines. The gym equipment provides a context for exercising our bodies. Math class provides a context for exercising our brains. If we as teachers and learners enter math class with the expectation that we will think hard, that our purpose is to exercise our brains, and that we\u2019ve done well if we are tired from thinking at the end of class, then we won\u2019t wonder, “When am I ever going to use this?” anymore. We\u2019ll already be using our learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arriving at answers is like lifting weights. If we find ways to get the answers without working for them, the endeavor will have as much value for us as if we had pushed a button to watch the weights go up and down. The value of the exercise, physical or mental, is in the challenge and the struggle<\/strong>. When we try to make math \u201ceasy\u201d with tricks and shortcuts, we are removing the struggle, and thereby removing the value of studying math in the first place. Our students\u2019 time is precious. Let\u2019s make sure we treat it with the respect it deserves by providing them with challenging work and supporting them as they work toward understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aren Lew has worked in the field of adult numeracy for over ten years, both as a classroom teacher and providing professional development for math and numeracy teachers. They are a consultant for the SABES Mathematics and Adult Numeracy Curriculum & Instruction PD Team<\/a> at TERC<\/a><\/em> where they develop and facilitate trainings and workshops and coach numeracy teachers. They are the treasurer for the Adult Numeracy Network<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n![\"Aren](\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/adultnumeracycenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2026\/02\/Aren_headshot_2026-768x1024.jpeg\")
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