East Muskingum Middle School Students Discover Math ‘IS’ Fun

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“I just think it’s cool how he knew all our answers,” said Taylour Hoyt, an eighth grader at East Muskingum Middle School. Hoyt and her classmates experienced college as Dr. Pramod Kanwar, associate professor of mathematics at Ohio University-Zanesville, visited her classroom last week.

Kanwar gave the students a challenge to think of a three-digit number. He told them to reverse the digits of the number and subtract the smaller of the two numbers from the larger. He then asked students to give him just the last digit of the difference and he quickly told them what their answers were. The students were amazed.

“See, math is fun,” Kanwar said with a smile. He went on to do a few more math activities including one where two volunteers, Liam Kerrigan and Clare Adams, were asked to write a five-digit number on the chalkboard. Once Liam and Clare chose their first numbers, Kanwar gave each his or her anticipated sum of the original number and four additional numbers, two picked by the volunteer and two picked by him.

            Once the five, five-digit numbers for each volunteer were on the board, Kanwar allowed the class to use their calculators to verify the sums he predicted in the beginning were indeed correct. “Wow,” was the reaction of the class.

“Dr. Kanwar is a great teacher and brings great energy to math class,” says Adam Hines, East Muskingum Middle School math teacher. “He is very knowledgeable and positive about learning mathematics.” Hines took several math courses at Ohio University-Zanesville while working on his middle childhood education degree. He explained that Kanwar has a way of engaging even the quietest student.

            “Mr. Hines challenged me to get the students to talk with me and participate,” explained Kanwar. “He succeeded,” said Hines. “The students were talking about it all day.” In addition to mathematical concepts, Kanwar shared a bit about his native country, India.

            “India is the land of Gandhi,” he explained. “We spell color ‘colour,’ honor ‘honour’ and flavor, ‘flavour,’ because of the British influence.”  He went on to say that India is rich in culture and known for good food.

            “Many jobs are being outsourced to India,” he said. The lesson the students learned was more than just mathematics. They experienced diversity in culture too.

            “I wanted the students to see first-hand what college will offer them,” says Hines. “The cultural diversity and the strong work ethic Dr. Kanwar demonstrates is something these students need to experience.”

            “He is really smart and funny,” said Guy Long about Kanwar. “He taught us a lot in just one day.” Taylor Bugglin agrees adding, “It was fun!”