Metaphorically Speaking, x = y

According to James Geary, we utter six metaphors a minute. “Metaphor is a way of thought before it is a way with words,” he says. It's about the brain's disposition to patterns and connections. 


Watch Geary teach us more about this cognitive function and shake up our own ideas a bit in this TED Talk about metaphor.

In our professional learning sessions on Similarities & Differences, teachers especially enjoy Silver, Strong, and Perini's resource, The Strategic Teacher. Math teachers are surprised to be included—in fact, the focus of—Chapter 10 Metaphorical Expressions. In the chapter, middle school teacher Susan Billows says, "Metaphors and math go together better than most people imagine." 

Not surprising, once you hear Geary's definition of metaphor. Simple. It's x = y.


See also: Similarities & Differences: Part 2


M.E.