Developing Fluency for Future Mathematical Masterminds
Help me give my students an exciting and innovative way to develop strong foundational math skills every day, boosting their confidence in math and paving the way for future success.
My students…how do I put into words the young minds entrusted to my charge that will grow and change the world through respect, creativity, energy, excitement, knowledge, problem-solving, and collaborating…I don’t. Instead, I spur them into action by creating an environment filled with opportunities that challenge them to think and grow beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
My students come from various cultures and socioeconomic levels, but in my class they are a family of learners, growing their genius through experience, mistakes, trials, determination, perseverance, hard work, and constantly living in pursuit of knowledge and understanding.
I tell my students to dream big and in return, they challenge me to dream bigger. They do not want to be bystanders in their learning but at the center of the action creating, constructing, and exploring. They want to learn in nontraditional ways that challenge them to think deeply and are counting on me to make it happen. The focus is not on the learning of today but the education they will need tomorrow to make a lasting impact on the world around them.
My Project
Being a champion of children and their learning encourages me to seek materials and strategies that actively engage students in the educational process, resulting in a deeper understanding. ETA hand2mind is an expert in this area and designs math materials to develop numeracy and the ability to use mathematical relationships to reason with numbers and numerical concepts.
"Mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms: it is about UNDERSTANDING." William Paul Thurston.
To bring about that understanding referred to by Mr. Thurston, ETA hand2mind has developed a Daily Math Fluency Kit for kindergarten which provides students with a variety of hands-on materials interwoven with strategies and problem-solving that support flexibility in their thinking. Number Strings and Math Talks devised to encourage my students to reason about the relationships in numbers and make mathematical connections. Mark Van Doren once said, "The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." The materials in this kit allow me another path to support my students in discovering their mathematical masterminds and offering them a world of possibilities. Please consider supporting this project and being apart of the dream.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Spiker and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.