Context
Teaching 7 th and 8 th grade mathematics in an urban elementary school whose population is extremely diverse poses substantial challenges, but also offers substantial opportunities. Our school is a public, neighborhood school that serves about 850 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grades who live within our attendance boundaries. With over 30 languages spoken among the families who attend my school, many cultures and backgrounds are represented in our building. We also serve students from a nearby boys' group home for displaced youth, so social-emotional needs are prevalent and require special attention in our planning.
The diversity represented in our student body is also evident in our staff. Our vision of shared leadership is truly realized, with all staff taking on managing roles to provide diverse programs to our students in partnership with local agencies. Entering our third year with a new administration, our school has seen some turnover with staff. Stagnant, low standardized math test scores indicate a need for change in the way mathematics is taught. With students whose second language is English making up over half of our population, our reading scores are notably higher than our math scores. To address this disparity, we are beginning a team teaching model to fully include and reach the potential of all of our students. This rebuilding phase is exciting and is allowing us to experiment with various techniques to increase our effectiveness as a school, but growing pains are inevitable.
Part of the vision of our administration requires high school algebra I for all 8th grade students, regardless of their math backgrounds leading up to this benchmark year. This creates an extremely difficult teaching context in which I attempt to balance addressing deep gaps in prior knowledge with the rigorous pace required to successfully meet the algebra standards. With completely heterogeneous classes, the range in readiness is challenging to accommodate effectively. This unit sets out to rethink the first unit of our year to better engage students in problem solving and mathematical reasoning within contexts that matter to them and to transform algebra from something dreaded to something seen as useful in their daily lives.
Comments: