Equity is a very important part of teaching and learning to me. Part of my teaching philosophy is that each student has access and entry to every and all lessons, which I discussed in further detail in my teaching philosophy. I want to ensure that I make my learning as approachable as possible for each student so that I’m providing them the best education they can receive. To help make lessons more approachable, I utilize a lot of making predictions and low-stakes writing for students to get thinking without feeling overwhelmed by the math just yet. I use a lot of “messy thoughts” to allow students to put any ideas down and make a mess of their work, since math is messy!

For students who get through the work super-fast, I have extensions prepared for them to work on to keep the thinking going. My aim as a teacher is to always have students thinking in class and to maximize their learning. If a student has reached the learning goal for the day, the thinking doesn’t stop there. Their new goal is to push higher and further to increase their understanding and develop stronger mathematicians.

In my class, I like to tackle important things going on outside of just our classroom and look at them through a mathematical lens. For one lesson, while learning about arc lengths and sectors, we took a look at the 400m sprint in the Olympics to determine whether or not the race was fair. This led to a discussion about equity versus equality, where the students connected their mathematical findings of how far each lane would run if they all started at the same spot to proving why equality doesn’t always mean equal. Throughout the year, we’ve also incorporated famous diverse mathematicians who had a great impact on the world and had an identity that reflected the students better. We looked at people like Gladys Mae West and Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson who used their mathematical skills to create massive breakthroughs.

To see some of these in practice, check out my teaching philosophy video here!