How my first class went...

The first class of "social justice mathematics" happened yesterday. There were 7 students who attended, grades 6-8. There were 4 girls and 3 boys.

Overall, I felt like the class was great! I felt like the place I started was a very good place. We were able to start with ideas the students were familiar with, and build upon those. The lesson wasn't obscure for the students, culturally or mathematically, but the students engaged in higher level thinking in both areas.

None of the students could define what a census was at the beginning. One student knew that it might have something to do with our government. The activity where small groups examined the census results from our city in a particular area worked out really well. There were two groups of two and one group of three. I think that groups of three was a better size. One group looked at age distribution in Albany. I asked them which age range the majority of the population was in, and which age range the minority of the population was in. Then I asked them why they thought that particular break down in ages might occur. And then, how that information could be useful. The last two questions didn't have one right answer. Some of the students took a little while before they felt comfortable talking cause they thought they might get the "answer wrong". Once they felt more comfortable talking, their ideas were totally viable solutions to the question.

One major thing I would change was to break that lesson into two lessons; one on census and one on surveys. I was nervous ahead of time thinking that I wouldn't know enough to keep the students engaged, but it turned out I had way more input and ideas than I had thought I would. I thought the class would go about an hour, but we ended up staying in class for an hour and a half, and we could have spent longer. After class, the students continued to work on their surveys.

The part of the class where the students got to create their own surveys was especially exciting for them. Many of them had conducted surveys before, but it was a new experience for them to consider bias in their questioning, population and sample groups. This process of creating their own surveys enabled the lesson to become more relevant to the student's experience.

Next class we will get more into number operations as we begin to analyze the data results from their surveys.

Many of the students requested homework. I didn't have anything in mind ahead of time besides administering their survey. I told those students that wanted homework to look through a newspaper and find an article which used numbers, statistics, and/or mathematics.

My first ever lesson plan. Wish me luck!

Understandings

 

What overarching understandings are desired?

7.2 Investigation - Students design and conduct a variety of their own investigations and projects

            b. Design and conduct a systematic observation

            d. Complete a data study.

7.6 Arithmetic, Number, and Operation Concepts – Students understand arithmetic in computation, and they select and use, in appropriate situations, mental arithmetic, pencil and paper, calculator, and computer.

            a. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, with and without        calculators.

            c. Describe and compare quantities by using simple fractions and decimals, and        whole numbers up to 1,000,000.

            bb. Interchange fractions, decimals, and percents; know that irrational numbers        neither terminate nor repeat when written in decimal form.

7.9 Statistics and Probability Concepts: Students use statistics and probability concepts.

            a. Collect, order, display, and analyze data in order to answer a question or test a      hypothesis.

 

What will students understand as a result of this unit?

            Students will understand how surveys are often used in our society, including          census. They will understand how to conduct their own survey, compile the data,          evaluate it and present it.

 

What are the overarching “essential” questions?

• What is a census?
• What is a survey?
• How can surveys be used?
• How can you evaluate survey results?

 

Evidence

 

What evidence will show that students understand surveys, number operations, and presenting data in multiple forms?

 

Performance tasks, Projects: Students will conduct their own survey, asking at least 3 different questions of their determined population. This project must include results presented as fractions, percents, decimals and one form of graph.

 

Quizzes, Tests, and Academic Prompts: Students will be prompted in class to convert statistics to different forms (decimal, fraction). Students will be given prompts to see if they can understand the significance of certain data.

 

Student self-assessment: At the end of this unit students will be asked if they can use their survey results in any way, is so how? Also, they will be asked how they would conduct the survey different in the future, and what new questions they would like to conduct surveys about.

 

Learning Experiences and Instruction

Given the targeted understandings, other unit goals, and the assessment evidence identified, what knowledge and skill are needed?

            Students will need to be able to add, and a basic understanding of multiplication       and division.

 

What teaching and learning experiences will equip students to demonstrate the targeted understandings?

            We will begin to form an understanding of what a census is by finding out what students already know about a census.  I will present some figures from the 2000 census of Albany. The students will break up into groups and I will give them each a data set, like race, gender, income, etc. They will be asked to determine which identity groups are the majority and which are the minority. The groups will also be asked to discuss how this data could be useful, and what the causes might be for certain distributions (for example, if there is a predominant racial group, or income level, what are some probable reasons why ). Then the groups will present to the class.

            I will touch on certain ways that census can be used in public policy that may not have been discussed yet, and talk about the usefulness, and conflict in utilizing surveys and census. I will explain definitions like population, samples, qualitative, quantitative etc. I will demonstrate changing a number out of a total, to a fraction, to a decimal to a percent, and demonstrate different ways of graphing.

            As a class we will brainstorm questions that students find interesting for themselves. We will talk about what sort of questions would be important to know within our school community. What questions could inform policy within our school community (this is a very broad idea, because the students have a lot of autonomy in school policy).

            Students will break up into small groups to decide on a couple of questions their group would like to explore. The questions should be relevant to each other, and relevant to the school community. They need to discuss which population they will exactly be surveying. Will the answers to their survey questions be quantitative or qualitative, and how will they group the data together.

            Then as a class we will discuss how the survey should be administered: all groups questions together, one class at a time, anonymously…? Then students will administer their surveys.

            Bringing their data back to their groups they will create a display of their data represented in different forms. Together they will come up with overall understandings and findings from their data, as well as any suggested further steps.

 

 

 

           

 

I created a blog while I took a week long trip to Germany, so that my students could keep up with my travels. The blog was especially interesting to them because they are studying German with me. I could tell all of these stories when I got back, but they said it was exciting to them to read about it as it happened. I think blogging while traveling could be especially useful for extended travels, or for keeping contact with a penpal or partner school. 

My favorite part was adding photos!

Here is the link: http//kristenindeutschland.blogspot.com

study plan - spring 2008

• The Big Shebang (i.e. really important documentations of my work that are due this semester)
• Progress Review 2
• Pre-student teaching portfolio
  

• Broader Subject Area Theory
• An exploration of "Social Justice Mathematics"
• product: Essay
• resources:
• Rethinking Mathematics by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson
  
• articles from Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal (http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/PErnest/)
• www.radicalmath.org
• Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights by Bob Moses
• http://tubmanfreeschool.wikispaces.com/Mathwalk
  
• http://www.populareconomics.org/About.html
• www.tolerance.org
• interview with Julian Tresize?
• Components addressed: Mathematic Instruction and Comprehension, Culture and Society
• Ethnomathematics
• product: Essay
• Resources
• "Ethnomathematics challenging eurocentrism in mathematics education" article (see bib)
  
• www.ethnomath.org
• http://www.wfu.edu/~mccoy/multmath.html
• http://www.rpi.edu/%7Eeglash/isgem.dir/links.htm
• http://www.science.org.au/nova/073/073fur.htm
• http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ethnomathematics (bibliography)
• Components addressed: Mathematics instruction and comprehension, History and Cultural Geography
• Theory of Teaching Social Studies
• product:essay
• Resources:
• People's History by Zinn
• Lie's My Teacher Told Me
• Thornton, S. J. (2005). Teaching social studies that matters : Curriculum for active learning
• http://www.ashp.cuny.edu/index.html
• http://www.splcenter.org/center/tt/teach.jsp
• Components addressed: History and Cultural Geography, Culture and Social Studies
• Early Adolescent Learning and Development
• Product: essay
• Resources: ?
• Components addressed: Early Adolescent Learning and Development
• Specific Content Area Studies
• Numbers and Operations
• Product:lesson plan
• Assessment
  
• self reflection
• Components Addressed:Numbers and Operations
  
• Algebra and Functions
• Product:lesson plan
• Assessment
  
• self reflection
• Components Addressed: Algebra and Functions
• Geometry and Measurements/History and Cultural Geography
• Product: integrated lesson plan
• assessment
• self reflection
• Resources:
• www.ethnomath.org
• http://www.wfu.edu/~mccoy/multmath.html
• http://www.rpi.edu/%7Eeglash/isgem.dir/links.htm
• http://www.science.org.au/nova/073/073fur.htm
• Components addressed: Geometry and Measurements, History and Cultural Geography
• Data Analysis, Stastics, and Probability/Culture and Society
• Product: integrated Lesson plan
• assessment
• self reflection
  
• possible subjects: racial profiling, prison growth, community surveys
• Resources:
• Rethinking Mathematics by Gutstein
• www.radicalmath.org
• www.tolerance.org
• Components addressed: Data Analysis, Stastics, and Probability, Culture and Society

• Self-reflection/blogging
• website: http://teachkristen.blogspot.com
• I plan to continue to blog in my online journal. I will blog regarding my experiences in the Albany Free School and the Harriet Tubman Free School, especially regarding experiences related to math and social studies. I will blog about my learnings at the Sowing Seeds workshopthe radical mathematics conference. Blogging was a new experience for me last semester. I found that I started out by mainly putting academic prewrites, outlines and essays on it. However, as time went on I shifted to using it more as a traditional journal would be used to document and process events that I had experienced, and to explore my feelings on being a teacher. Blogs have unique benefits, such as being able to be read from far away, to post pictures and links, and one particular benefit I especially enjoy is not getting hand cramps from holding a pencil for to long. The writing is also then in an easily saved and reproducible format.
• Goal: to blog at least once a month