TEACHING MATHEMATICS

  Genius hour question:  How can mathematics be used to teach cultural responsiveness? Hello Everyone, This post will discuss more strategies for supporting diversity and inclusion in a math classroom.  Retrieved from  https://blogs.ams.org/matheducation/2017/03/06/six-ways-mathematics-instructors-can-support-diversity-and-inclusion/ As mentioned already in this blog, it is important as educators to foster an inclusive learning environment for all students. Here are some more strategies that you can implement to help make your classroom a more inclusive environment for your students:  1. Use students’ interest in contextualized tasks - represent communities, students, locations, and students interests in the daily tasks you assign 2. Expose students to a diverse group of mathematicians - show that math is for all through different mathematicians, role models, cultures, genders 3. Design assessments and assignments with a variety of response types - give students choice and empowerment,

  Genius hour question:  How can mathematics be used to teach cultural responsiveness? Hello Everyone, This post will discuss recent articles in the news that have been focused on inclusive education.  Link to B.C. article: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023ECC0003-000066 On Monday January 23rd, B.C. officially launched their anti-racism action plan for K-12 students. The plan focuses on creating more inclusive schools. The plan outlines partnerships and different resources that are available. These resources will help to empower students and staff to identify biases and address acts of racism or discrimination with new incident-response guidelines. This is an excellent step towards improving the school experience for racialized students, staff and families so that everyone feels a strong sense of belonging.  Link to Ontario article: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-school-boards-struggling-to-implement-anti-racism-plans-report-1.6233104 On Monday January 16th, a CTV news article s

Genius hour question:  How can mathematics be used to teach cultural responsiveness? Hello Everyone, This post will discuss specific lesson ideas that support culturally responsive mathematics teaching.  Lesson Ideas: Adding and Subtracting Fractions - prior to lesson, ask students to bring in their favourite recipe (from home or favourite food). Pick one recipe to focus on for lesson. Have 2 or 3 students share their recipes. Working with Fractions - ⅔ of the classroom space is reserved for students. Ask them to calculate the amount of space each student has based on the total size of the room, the space they get, and the number of students in the class. Share that it’s recommended that each student has 75-100 square feet of space. In some higher-income areas, students have as much as 200 square feet of space each and in many lower-income, urban areas, students have as little as 10-15 square feet of space each. Dividing & Multiplying Fractions - Host a pizza party. Dividing ½ by ⅓

Genius hour question:  How can mathematics be used to teach cultural responsiveness? Hello Everyone, This post will discuss some ideas for culturally responsive mathematics lessons. As an educator, first and foremost it is important to know your class and the backgrounds of your students. From there, you can design culturally responsive lessons. Here are some key points to consider when creating/designing culturally responsive mathematics lessons...  Ways to incorporate cultural responsiveness into Mathematics instruction: - Experiences of community - Real world math scenarios that connect students’ language and background... better deal travelling, conversion of currency) - Present math problems in various languages and cultural contexts - Math experiences that connect (working in pairs, get-to-know-you activities) - Embed local community into instruction - Traditions of oral language and dance - Elements of local and native language - Culturally responsive manipulatives... the colors

Genius hour question:  How can mathematics be used to teach cultural responsiveness? Hello Everyone, This post will discuss the importance of culturally responsive teaching. To start off this post, a quote from Dr. Jim Ewing says that "if educators are not culturally responsive, some students may develop the belief that math is for 'others', not for them". If educators are not culturally responsive, some students may develop the belief that math is for “others,” not for them. Bottom-line: If we are culturally responsive, each student will feel like they can be successful. Ultimately, culturally responsive teaching will help students to develop their cultural competence and critical consciousness. It will even help to further students' intellectual abilities, problem solving abilities, and appreciations of other cultures.

  Genius hour question:  How can mathematics be used to teach cultural responsiveness? Hello Everyone, This post will discuss what ISN'T culturally responsive teaching.  Be mindful that culturally responsive teaching is more than just having students of color see themselves in images, it is about changing your way of instruction so that it does not unintentionally contain bias.  What cultural responsiveness is all about: Cultural responsiveness is the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people of one's own culture as well as those from other cultures. Culturally responsive classrooms offer a learning environment where every student's cultures, languages, and life experiences are acknowledged, validated, and celebrated. Reference: