When I first started teaching, I began to encounter the "I'm just bad at math..." comment from a variety of students. I didn't find it helpful to the situation, but what was I to do? I wasn't in their head... maybe they really did have math deficit disorder, but it sure seemed like the large part of my students who would use this phrase, seemed to connect it with their inability to get their homework completed. The longer I taught, the more I began to see a connection. I even noticed that those students who were typically labeled the "math people" were also very diligent in their work. Now, I know that we live in a society that isn't allowed to make a judgment call on anybody for any reason, so even talking this way tends to ruffle some feathers. My response is that you should stop judging me by calling me judgmental! But that is a different blog post, I just want to share an article about this myth of "bad at math" that is plaguing...
Striving to be a Samwise Gamgee in a world of Smeagols.