Help me give my students interactive, project- and standards-based math lessons and experiences.
$190 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
The students at my school represent historically underserved groups; ninety-two percent are socioeconomically disadvantaged and for more than half, English is not their first language. I’m telling you this because these statistics show that our students are truly inspiring! While speaking another language at home and representing diverse populations is a precious gift, it also presents daily challenges for our students. Yet, despite this, the students show up each day, ready to learn. It is our responsibility to provide them a safe place to learn, grow, problem-solve and thrive.
The thing is, students are innately and intensely curious about the world in which they live.
They are pioneers and explorers, ready to discover new things. They want to know about who they are and why they are. They want to get lost in a book and journey to new places, whether it’s another country, a civil rights protest or Hogwart’s. These learning experiences are extremely empowering. Providing them with these tools and opportunities is also simply a matter of equity. Our students don’t just deserve these educational experiences; it is their right as children.
My Project
Growing up, I hated when the teacher announced it was time for math. I cringed at the thought of sitting through a confusing, endless lesson, memorizing algorithms that made no sense to me. As a college student, I felt the same way. It wasn't until I was an adult that I really developed a conceptual understanding of many mathematical concepts that I should have learned a decade or two earlier! This too was the first time I actually enjoyed math! Many students enter my class feeling the same way I felt as a student.
My hope, however, is that students will leave fifth grade as confident mathematicians with a deep, conceptual understanding of the concepts covered.
Currently, my district's math curriculum is not aligned to the current state standards, which makes it essentially useless. On top of that, it is boring, which is the opposite of what math should be! The math units I am requesting (which I have now taught several of in class, thanks to a prior funded project), are engaging, interactive and project-based. They help foster a conceptual understanding of the topics covered and engage many learning modalities. Learning happens through whole class experiences and mini-lessons, group work, math congresses (essentially math debate and conversation to determine answers to the daily problem), writing and a whole lot of deep thinking. The students work hard, persevere through challenging tasks, and have fun.
This is what math learning and instruction should be like!
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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 Ms. Israel and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.