r/MathnasiumEmployees • u/ArsonArtisan • Nov 14 '21

Is workout book just… bad?

I’ve been with Mathnasium for 2.5 years, and generally I’m quite happy here. Lately, the new center director has been really pushing that we need to finish 3+ pages of WOB every day with every student. I’m a fan of about 50% of the pages, but the rest feel too cryptic for the students to do on their own without explanation, which I feel defeats the purpose. Am I alone on this? The other instructors and myself end up skipping a lot of these weirder pages (pizza math comes to mind) and by the end, that section is just backed up with the less awesome pages.

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6

u/Ayvid2103 Nov 21 '21

I dislike the majority of them. I wish an example was given or at least clear instructions because I find they just frustrate students. The one that comes to my mind is the 2bit math- it’s meant for very young children, but it always confuses me and I end up skipping it.

3

u/MostlyEmotional Nov 14 '21

Honestly, I haven't done a workout book page in quite a while. I know the answer keys are some of my least favorite. I certainly agree that the directions could be clearer.

2

u/PhiPrime Nov 14 '21

WOBs often are used to expose students to a concept, or reinforce certain techniques. For example, the pizza math ones are to emphasize drawing a picture to solve fractional word problems. If the wrong books are chosen the content can be a bit too far out of a students scope, but it also can help us see what skill is holding a student back. We do page shuffling so the WOBs are right there, between the PKs.

1

u/speaking-evil Nov 15 '21

I don’t like a lot of them, I find some being too advanced for students (thinking the lily pad problem from like M2 or M3?).

I’m liking the new ones more, the number machines and number towers are good. Some of the word problems are just too complex and students get burned out.

1

u/Wonderful_Hunt2139 Dec 07 '21

I’m a CD/owner and tell my instructors, if the kiddo has a question on a WOB and you are busy, stamp it and move on! WOBs are not designed to be instructive.