PHASE ONE

Let's say we are meeting at the advising center and are talking about what classes would be good in your first college quarter. There are quite a few options but the discussion is about what time in the day for class and about content and credits. As I review your reading-writing-math placement scores, I comment about what appears to be a high skill in English but a low placement in math and I ask if the scores are accurate, or did something happen that could have altered the results, like maybe being impatient and wanting to get out of the testing center. You affirm the results are what you expected since you are "good" in English and "bad" at math, in fact, you "hate" math.

To which I respond with a comment or two about eventually having to do the math so the best way is to start it as soon as possible and stay with it until completed. I also mention that I have a "secret of math" that helps students to be more efficient with their time and energy – it doesn't make it easier to do – but it will make their journey in math just a little more pleasant. You are the one doing the work, so would you prefer to wait until the last part of your degree to do the math, or, start sooner than later? Whatever your decision, you are also interested in hearing about "the secret". We then begin.

I start with a background discussion about the moment when a student makes a decision to attend college. That decision must conclude, either in self-dialogue or in discussion with others, that there will be a requirement to "do" math. The result can be one of four possibilities: there's the I-Love-English/Hate math group, and, the opposite which is the I Love Math/Hate English group.

There also is the I-can-do-well-with-both group, that is, equally balanced with both subjects, and, finally, the fourth group which is the I-hate-both (these are rare students but I've met a few who usually show up under pressure, such as in response to a court ruling). Figure 1 below shows the four possibilities:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

If there is a concern about the meaning of the word "love" and "hate" in this context, the word "prefer" and "avoid" could be substituted, as in "I prefer English and would avoid math if I could." If the LE/HM position best describes the relation to English and math, (optional) then a measurement of how strong the attraction toward English versus the repulsion of math can be made. Start at the center of the line, with a pen or pencil, move toward the left and make a dot on the line where the best estimate is related to preferring English and rejecting math. Since you, the reader, would do this, I have no idea what it is for you, but I have had some students actually point to a spot off the paper that I'm writing on as an indicator of the strength of their avoidance of math and their embracing of English.

Next is a list of characteristics and behaviors of those who prefer English and would avoid math if they could. They are:

Creative

Sensitive

Spontaneous

Negotiable

People (interested in people)

Cook (when around food would prefer to do this)

Don't like the rules (they know they have to live with them,
but just don't like them)

Bad with money

Close enough (usually in measuring something)

Emotional

Future thinkers

Opinions (lots of them)

Speculation

Crossword/word search

This isn