Reflection: Wagner & Herbel-Eisenmann on textbooks

I thought a lot about what a math textbook meant to me as a high school student. Unfortunately, it was nothing close to what teachers or authors may have intended- it was simply a place where homework problems came from, with a cool fact here and there. My sisters, both AP Math students, also agreed that their textbooks did not mean very much to them, simply a responsibility to keep it in good condition until the end of the year. 

On one hand, that meant that we relied a lot more on the teacher's notes and other contents to succeed during the year, but on the other, the textbooks don't seem to have served their purpose. 

After roughly comparing my usage of a social textbook, to a science textbook, to a math textbook, I think it would help if teachers assigned brief readings in math textbooks so that way students would know how to access the knowledge in there. Some educators put a significant amount of thought into selecting or writing a textbook, and teachers have the flexibility to provide supplementary or primary information to content they may want to stress further. Often while tutoring, I've had to teach my students how to read the textbook so that they know the fine print of when to apply some formulas, what words mean, what to plug in where, what the applications are, and so forth. It can be really difficult to pick up all the knowledge at once in the classroom, and if students aren't good at taking notes then it is significantly harder to study properly later. 

As a post-secondary student, I really appreciated the guidances of textbooks in a number of courses. However, the goal of textbook was to make sense of the content in the shortest time possible. Inspiration often came from other sources, but nonetheless was definitely a thrill when it described how some ideas came to be. I found that textbooks that were reader-friendly, included footnotes and sidenotes, and contained images made the content more memorable. 

I think that whether or not math teachers consult textbooks to create their lesson plan, there should be some incentive for secondary students to engage with it (or some other math style reading). I believe that there is value to the content in math readings, and it gets students familiar with the thought processes they need to read a math text on their own. Reading a socials studies textbook is not the same as a math one; students are often expected to memorize details, cover content chronologically, use sticky notes to highlight key points and events, and so forth. A math text is not the same at all! A reader should be equipped with a pencil + paper to work on examples alongside the text and fill in the missing gaps. Readers should also note the meaning of variables, where formulas are intended for, and may find it interesting to understand the applications. It is good practice for high school students to learn what to pay attention to in math texts so they gain more familiarity and comfort for future ones. In this, students might be more willing to attempt reading some more historical or creative texts with guidance! The goal is to nurture students' curiosities and inspire their growth - if textbooks help, that's great, and if not, there are plenty of other resources.