PRINCIPLE 1: ENABLE SIGNIFICANT WORK

WITHIN COMMUNITIES OF LEARNERS

Teaching for Social Justice

HOW HAVE TIMES CHANGED FOR MATH INSTRUCTION?

1940 2010

HOW HAVE THEY NOT?

KEY POINTS OF PRINCIPLE 1

1. Assume that all students are capable of

dealing with complex ideas

2. Translate and represent knowledge

appropriately for students

3. Provide opportunities for students to learn

academically challenging knowledge and skills

4. High expectations for oneself as a teacher

5. Fostering shared sense of responsibility for

learning within collaborative groupings

GALLERY WALK

Walk around the room and examine the different sets of pictures

Try and determine which of the 5 points on the previous slide best fits the set

Write the corresponding number on the chart paper and a brief comment

Feel free to comment on other posts

Write your name if you would like to elaborate on your comment after the walk is finished

1

2

3

4

5

Think of a personal experience or situation in

any math class where you have witnessed

this principle in action (either positive or

negative)

Write the situation on a piece of paper and

put it in the bag. Do not write your name on

it!

You do not have to share anything if you

don’t feel comfortable doing so

SHARING CIRCLE

SHARING CIRCLE CONTD…

Now choose another topic from the bag, read

it and feel free to share it with the rest of the

class.

If you pick your own, you may put it back in

and choose again.

SOME SHARING CIRCLE RESULTS:

“I visited a „math essentials‟ class where grade 11 students were only

allowed to do basic math like adding columns of decimal numbers.

What made it even worse, there were two students who were recent

immigrants and English language learners. The teacher told me that

their math skills were great but they were put in this low-level class

because the teachers thought they would fail an academic class

because of their trouble with English.”

“In second year university calculus (although this strategy was not

implemented in class) I was able to find a community of learners in

the Math Aid Centre. This made all the difference from my first year

class. Having people to bounce ideas off of, mutually learn and

teach with and share answers really made for a pleasant learning

community.”

“I had a professor in Undergrad who would always give us small problems to solve in lectures and he would ask people to share their solutions. He also had really high expectations for his students, which I respected, but sometimes made him seem like a mean teacher.”

“I had a math class in high school where the teacher took it upon herself to help every student succeed in the class. This is a difficult task and I knew a few students who didn‟t reach their goal in that class, but I remember the teacher genuinely feeling disappointed in herself for not being able to help every single student succeed in their own way.”