Drinking Water

I am terrible at staying hydrated. I don’t drink enough water and as a consequence I often end up with a headache.

A few weeks ago I was having a routine check-up at the doctor, and she asked how much water I drink per day. My answer was ‘hardly any’😯.

I think she was mildly horrified, considering I had just told her I run 10km most mornings!

She advised me to make a concerted effort to drink more water. Since then, I have tried really hard to stick to this plan. I now have a drink bottle next to me and am (more) regularly sipping through the day.

When I looked up the daily recommendations for water intake, the rule of thumb that stuck with me was 1 litre per 30kg (maths is everywhere!). According to Google, this needs to increase in hot/humid climates, with exercise, when you are sick, pregnant or breastfeeding.

When I was breastfeeding my children, I remember imagining that my body was magically transforming the water I was drinking into milk. While physiologically this isn't quite accurate, (breast milk is made from the nutrients in your blood... nonetheless, I still think the whole process is absolutely amazing!). Imagining the water-milk transformation appealed to my visual brain and certainly made me prioritize hydration! 

Since my breastfeeding days are behind me, I have slowly dropped off the 'hydration bandwagon'. But going to the doctor reminded me to hop back on!

Since drinking more water, I have been amazed at how much better I feel. While my action (drinking water) achieved the intended benefit of reducing my headaches, I am most surprised by the unintended benefits- I feel like I have more energy, I feel less 'stiff' in my joints, and I seem to have a 'clearer' brain (mostly)!

These unintended benefits that made me think about other scenarios where we may experience the same 'bonus' perks.

Maths fluency immediately popped into my mind.

Fluency has a variety of definitions in the research space. From the Behaviorist perspective Fluency is: a combination of accuracy plus speed that characterizes competent performance (Binder, 1988b, 1990a).

From a Constructivist perspective Procedural Fluency is defined as the ability to apply procedures accurately, efficiently, and flexibly (NCTM 2014, 2020).

These are two similar, but different, interpretations of essentially the same word.  In a way, it is like 'fluency' is a homonym. It is the same word but can have different meanings for different people. As you can imagine, this can easily lead to confusion and misinterpretation. 

My definition of fluency is being able to respond with ease and speed. Whether this is in the area of basic facts, renaming numbers in place value or being able to read 6-digit number, I believe students need to be given the opportunity (through targeted and repeated practice) to develop the fluency required to perform key skills and procedures in maths. Do I want students to display flexibility with numbers? Absolutely I do, but I believe this develops alongside being able to respond with ease and speed. 

For me the intended outcome of developing fluency is to improve student achievement in mathematics, however, like with staying hydrated, I see several other 'unintended' benefits that emerge from a focus on fluency.

These are:

1. Increased confidence- correctly or incorrectly, students consider classmates who are 'fluent' at maths to be 'good' at maths. Of course, as teachers we need to challenge this mindset and help students to see we also value deep thinking, but the reality is, it is much easier to do the deep thinking if you have fluency! 

2. Reduced Maths Anxiety- Maths anxiety can be a bit of a chicken or egg scenario. Many students with Learning Difficulties in Maths display characteristics that suggest they may have maths anxiety. Do these anxious feelings arise because the student struggles with maths, or do they struggle with maths because of their maths anxiety? For me there are many contributing factors, but in my experience helping students to develop their fluency (when and only when they have moved through the Aquisition phase of the Instructional Hierarchy) increases their confidence and feeling of self-worth and thus reduces their feelings of maths anxiety.

3. Improved Flexibility with numbers- The more students develop fluency, the more they can begin to see the 'forest through the trees'. They begin to see the 'big picture', because they are not taking up huge amounts of working memory trying to 'remember' disconnected random facts. Making connections and developing flexibility is key to developing Number Sense.

4. Deepened conceptual understanding- By developing fluency in foundational skills, we then 'free up' our working memory. This allows us the 'space' to think deeply and conceptually about the next idea or skill we are being taught. When we develop strong schema, we can then connect our new learning and build a connected web of understanding. Knowledge builds knowledge.

5.Increased Engagement in Maths- when you feel good about your abilities in maths, you experience regular hits of dopamine in class, you start avoiding cortisol the stress hormone, and suddenly learning is easier. Things start falling into place. You find yourself more interested in Maths, you sit forward and engage in the lesson and eventually you begin to enjoy Maths! Who doesn't want that?!

Just like the extra energy, supple joints and fog-free brain I am experiencing from making one simple change in my hydration routine, I believe through providing a systematic and school-wide focus on fluency we can help our students to experience not only increased achievement in maths but also some amazing (and in the long term, possibly more important) 'unintended' benefits.

I encourage you this week to think about the fluency routines you have (or don't yet have) in your classroom and across your school. Are you providing opportunities for students to regularly practice key skills, are you regularly assessing their fluency in these skills? If you are, wonderful, I am sure you have seen the unintended benefits I mentioned above. If not, perhaps think about a simple way you can build in some more fluency practice in your day- it doesn't have to be long- 5 minutes is plenty- but just like drinking water- consistency is key!

Ange🎲🎓

PS: I will say, another unintended (but negative) consequence of drinking more water each day is having to visit the toilet more regularly!

I appreciate that for teachers, the simple act of 'spending a penny' (as my Pa used to call it- I never understood what this idiom meant... but Google tells informs me that in the 19th century you had to pay a penny to use a public toilet!), is more difficult than for other professions (sometimes toilets are a LONG way from our classrooms and you can't just walk out in the middle of a lesson!). So, while I do encourage you to drink more water, I also suggest that you consider your personal circumstances before taking on this advice! :)

PPS. You can download the PDF version of this blog to print or share with colleagues here.

PPPS: If you are interested in finding out more about my Number Fluency Program, click here.