I need to be a better teacher for young black men.

I lost two former students this past spring to two different and tragedies that are devastating young black men.

I lost one student to COVID. Though none of us are immune--COVID is killing black men at alarmingly higher rates that white people. I remember Andre as a sweet and smiling young man who loved video games and (like a lot of Freshman) would much rather be playing them sneakily on his chromebook than doing his math assignments.

The second former student I lost to the bullet of a Police Gun. I remember McHale as a polite and quiet student.

In the cases of both these students, I also taught their sisters. I'm haunted by the fact that as I think back to our relationships I was much much closer to each of their sisters. I wonder how I might have let my own biases and prejudices get in my way and I want to be better for young black men in the future.

I remember Andre and McHale and I will do the hard work to get better for them. May their memory be a blessing.

Comments

Estimation 180 as a Number Sense Review

I have been back at teaching middle school for a month now. It has been challenging, amazing, and also so deeply tiring! Years ago I read that the biggest barrier to high school and middle school is lack of mastery of number sense from elementary school. I've tried lots of things as daily routines to help students close this gap but my favorite by far is an idea I got from 4th cohort Desmos Fellow friend Sarah Furman. Sarah shared that she uses Andrew Stadel's Estimation 180 problems but gives her students a clue that allows them to review a key number sense skill. I decided to try it in my classroom and I don't really have words for how amazing it has been. Here is what I do: I give them an Estimation 180 problem that is either from Andrew Stadel's amazing website ( http://www.estimation180.com/ ) or one that I created about myself, my family, or my community: I ask students to write their first guess down. I walk around to get a sense of what they are w...

The Pet House Project: Math Art Instead of Math Tests

Are you still giving tests in virtual math classes? Math teachers are so tied to tests they some times cling to them like a life preserver. My biggest struggles around testing are usually other math teachers. If this pandemic does anything good I hope it helps us evaluate how we assessing in math classes. With traditional math tests, students have gotten good at finding ways to get other people or computers to do the thinking for them. (Photo Math). This is of course even easier to do when your teacher isn't there watching you take the test and you take it at home. One way that other contents get around this is through essays and projects. Those are much harder to just ask a computer to solve for you. But math teachers don't usually do this....in part because they aren't sure how to make it happen. I'm writing this as a way to share an example. Right before winter break we squeezed in the first half of Unit 3: Linear Relationships. I saved a lot of it for January but...

Google Slides Portfolios

I have a new Saturday morning ritual. I get up before the kids and make coffee and sit in the basement and grade portfolios. But it's actually fun. (unlike grading tests) I am only 2 weeks and 4 slides in BUT THIS IS SO FUN! I was deeply inspired by Adele's (@mathinct678) Blog Post Here. And as soon as I heard we were 1-1 I wanted to find a way to try this.... After each class (we meet twice a week virtually) students are responsible for creating 2 portfolio slides summarizing their learning. These are from a template that I share with them via Schoology (our LMS). Schoology makes it so easy to assign a Google Slide Presentation. It automatically copies my template into their google drives AND shares with me. When I grade I can do it through my Schoology account and I don't have to wade through the unorganized swamp that "Shared with Me" can become. I can comment in the Schoology Gradebook or Insert comments directly into the Slide Show. My first slid...

Leading From the Classroom

Search This Blog