Diversity
In my Math Classroom
My Classroom Environment
Because it is important to me that all students feel comfortable in my classroom, I want to make sure I have visuals that will convey this. I also want my students to see representations of people who are not like them. As a result, I will:
- have a Safe Space poster in my room. I feel comfortable inviting students who may need to talk about LBGTQ issues with me
- use different people in math examples. Research shows that girls and boys are used about the same amount in recent math textbooks, but girls are seen as needing help more (Stacy needs your help. She cannot figure out how many apples to buy. As opposed to Jimmy figured out how many apples to buy. How many was it?)
My Curriculum
I would like to do a lesson in which we graph data that shows inequalities. I worry that for some students, this might just result in a self-fulfilling prophecy or might even encourage racism. So I will probably not look at, say, race and SAT scores. However, I will have them compare prison sentences for the exact same crime by race and salaries for doing the exact same job by gender. I could have them look up the data and make bar graphs, or graphs of another type if they are a better fit for the type of data (and meet my learning goals).
US reviews prison sentences for drug crimes 13 August 2013
Relating to My Students
Team-Building Exercises
I will occasionally play games to help us learn to care for and trust one another.
Learning about Their Culture
I will spend time learning about my students' culture by attending community events that are not my norm. One example is events put on by Amigos, a Latina/o group in town. I have been to one of their cultural fairs and would like to attend more.
Relating to Individuals
I also think that getting to know each of my students in the best way I can will be key. I will work to ask them about their hobbies and outside activities. Because I am not very athletic, I will especially make an effort to attend games and get to know my athletes. However, I also will attend arts events such as band concerts and plays, because those students need my support as well. Most difficult will be connecting with students who do not have the family support to do any activities. I will work to have conversations with them whenever I can.