I could say that math and I are not good friends. Matter of factly, we are more like enemies.
When I was young, I would throw fits and scream in exasperation every time I wasn't able to solve a mathematical equation that my head was unable to desirer decipher.
To be honest, it still happens.
This is why when I was wondering through CNN , and I found the tittle :"What do dance and math have in common", I was very confused.
Since I am way too curious I decided to watch the video in the link.
It turns out, dancing and math have much more in common than I ever expected.
Kirin Sinha, MIT graduate, and math genius started tutoring teenagers. Apart from helping them with their work , she started to notice that when a girl didn't understand the problem they were most likely to say " I can't do it", while boys said "I don't understand" .
Kirin decided, that it was time to mark a difference and help girls feel and be as successful as they can be.
Here is were SHINE was created. An all girls dance program ( sorry boys) that uses kinaesthetic learning to teach girls math.
*kinaesthetic learning- is learning through movement
The program is set to establish a positive energy to the students, and eventually turn their I cant's to I can.
Girls end up learning a incredibly hard geometric equation while dancing and singing to taylor swift. Who wouldn't want that?
Currently there are shine programs in Chicago, Boston and Washington.
After watching the video, it urged me to investigate more about the program and its founder. It really excited me that there are programs like this that don't only focus on the academics but also self esteem. I am glad that there are people like Kirin who are innovating new ideas, to make learning something enjoyable.
What do you think of shine? Would you join?
http://www.shineforgirls.org