Duran's Digital Math School

22/04/2023

If you saw my ad for “Fortnite algebra” you are probably thinking, how did this man make gaming into a tool for math education? The answer is it was quite accidental.

I was working at Cushman School and the young people loved Fortnite and it was all they ever spoke about. As a teaching assistant, my job was to make sure children were paying attention and following the lesson; any time I turned my back they would start talking about Fortnite.

I am a strategic thinker and also play video games as a hobby. This might not mean much to you (it may mean something to your child) but I was in the top 0.5% of players in League of Legends for a few years and I also regularly played Fortnite so I understand the structure of the game. In gaming, you have to make decisions fast, based on predicted outcomes and algorithms within the game. What made me a successful gamer was my ability to strategize and predict outcomes based on my pattern recognition within algorithms. In a more simplified form, mathematics, algebra, and geometry is what games consist of but this is often overlooked because graphics play such an obvious feature.

When working with the third graders I started asking them Fortnite questions such as “If it takes 100 wood to build a tower, and every pick axe swing nets 5 wood, how many swings do you need to have enough wood for a tower?” (equation: 100 = 5X). After they answered the question, I would say “Congratulations you just did algebra”. The World Economics Forum published that the most sought-after skill for employment is creativity and critical thinking - so the fact our children are criticizing how they learn is a positive thing. However, this makes teaching math difficult, so we have to find ways to incorporate math into their life in order for them to see its purpose.

My favourite way to incorporate math into life is through interests because children become obsessive over their interests and this makes it easier to teach. I have catered lessons to video gaming, dinosaurs, cars, Disney princesses, robotics, outer space, and animals.

Stay tuned, in the next coming days I will post some breakdowns of example lesson itineraries.

Thank you for following Duran’s Digital Math School.

22/04/2023

Welcome to Duran’s Digital Math School, a place where children and young people can learn math in an applicable way.

My teaching journey began with my strong aptitude for mathematics and efficiency systems, my mother Dr. Fay Martinez recognised my natural teaching abilities and started referring her tutoring clients to me. I have worked as a math tutor since 2010 and work with children and young people between the ages of 3 and 15. I then became a teaching assistant, workshop facilitator, and substitute teacher at Cushman School, Miami for 6 years before moving to Scotland. My strengths were finding common ground or interests with the young people I worked with and using those interests to help teach the curriculum.

I have incredible patience when it comes to mathematics and problem-solving; I enjoy teaching math because I regard it as an important subject which is often overlooked. Curriculums rarely teach how to apply math to life and this can make it feel “unimportant” to young people. Math is a subject which builds on itself, so if your child misunderstands a concept and doesn’t bring it to you, or a teacher's attention they may fall behind and lose motivation. This can be frustrating because math is conceptual, so if we do not apply value to numbers children fail to see the point in learning the formula or how it may be useful beyond school. My job as a tutor is to challenge that belief by finding interesting, applicable ways to learn.

During lockdown, I noticed more children were hiding behind the screen during lessons; it is not that children do not want to learn but the current teaching methods do not align with the modern world. For example, why learn long division when we walk around with calculators on our phones? Why learn algebra when we have AI and the internet? Why learn or remember anything at all when you can just Google it or watch a YouTube video? These were all of the questions I would be asked and find myself scrambling to answer because I, too, understood their point. Like many of the children I teach, I love to find an efficient shortcut to learn new information so their concerns prompted me to develop a tutoring program which integrates math with hobbies and interests.

My method of teaching is to identify what motivates the young person to learn. I ask myself the following questions in consultation:

What are this child’s unique learning needs?

What is their capacity for attention and how can I maximize the time spent teaching to help them stay interested and engaged?

Where do our hobbies and interests align?

If applicable, how much support do they need to do homework and past papers?

How can I integrate math study into their daily routine without them noticing?

I prefer to do free consultations prior to teaching because every child learns differently and I want to prepare a lesson that suits their learning style - the only way I can do this from the outset is if we discuss their needs, interests, and abilities.

Get in touch today to arrange your free (online) consultation.

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