Introduction
At the beginning of the school year I spend most of my time getting know my students. The effort I make is to help me understand where each one sees him/herself as a learner across all subject areas. For the past two years I have had the opportunity to be a 3rd and 4th grade looping teacher. This upcoming school year I will continue with my class of two years into the fifth grade. As students entered third grade, I can recall that 75% of my students (mostly boys) responded that math was their favorite subject. This percentage dropped the following year when students were asked the same question as fourth graders. About 50% of students, a larger amount who are boys, stated that math was their favorite subject. These results made me think about the possible reasons why students felt less confident in math after third grade.
After further investigating, through class discussions and individual student feedback, I came to the conclusion that my students were struggling to understand the conceptually abstract math that they were learning. As the teacher, I began to reflect on my own teaching approaches and experience with math as a learner. In my own personal experience when learning math, I can remember the emphasis of recalling multiplication facts and the emphasis of relying on formulas to help solve problems that had no connection to real world application. Instead the emphasis was ‘drill and kill’ and learning that one ‘right’ way to solve math problems.
The challenges that many of my students face when it comes to math is something that I can relate to. In an effort to encourage students to have a growth mindset about math, I have begun to rethink my approach to teaching math content. For this particular unit I want to help my students to gain a better foundation for measurement. The educational goal of the lesson is to get students to have a conceptual understanding on how to apply the area formula through hands on activities and real-world application.
Diné Culture Environment
I am Diné (known to the general public also as Navajo), and most of my students are also Diné. It is well to start with a clear statement of the overall situation. As indigenous people, the relationship that we have with our environment is something we hold dear to our culture. We believe that knowledge and respect of the natural world provides us what we need to survive. Agriculture continues to be very important to the livelihoods of many families. It not only provides food and economic revenue but is closely tied to the traditions and knowledge that have been passed down from generation to generation. The Diné people use plants for spiritual and medicinal purposes. Across the Navajo Nation there are communities that continue to use ancient farming techniques and (now enhanced with) modern technology to continue this tradition. In the community of Shiprock, which is located alongside the San Juan River, many farmers are making an effort to revitalize ancient farming traditions, not only for economic purposes, but for the revived purpose of sharing these practices with our future generations. Even more relevant, the Diné believe that farming is a way to learn life lessons such as strength, patience and peace within us. It is through these farming techniques that we are gifted with stories that have been passed down by our ancestors. In addition to reconnecting our youth with these traditional practices, there is an effort to promote food sovereignty in hopes of improving the health and wellness of the community.
Through our Diné oral history, it has been shared by our ancestors that we have four sacred plants: corn, squash, beans and tobacco. Corn is often considered to represent human life, as corn has different stages in its growth and development. A phrase heard quite often: “Oh beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty to the left of me, beauty to the right of me, beauty above me, beauty below me, I’m on the pollen path”, provides some insight into the importance of corn in the traditions of the Diné people. We refer to this path as the Corn Pollen Path because it embodies our Way of Life.
In a strong effort to revitalize our Diné culture and language across the Navajo Nation there has been more of an interest to deliver culturally responsive teaching approaches in our curriculum. In the state of New Mexico, which includes 23 federally recognized tribes, it would behoove many educators to consider varied approaches that incorporate the culture of the students we serve within the school curriculum. This unit is designed to be culturally responsive. Again, a framing sentence can help the reader understand the context. Throughout this unit, students will learn the importance of farming in promoting cultural continuity, a connection with the earth that provides for us, and food sovereignty, which poses such a challenge to indigenous peoples living on reservations. Additionally, a multitude of life lessons will be learned through this process.
Demographics
I teach in the Central Consolidated School District. Mesa Elementary school where I teach is in the community of Shiprock, NM. It is located in the beautiful Four Corners (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado) region of the southwestern United States. Shiprock, NM is in the northeastern area within the Navajo Nation. Diné Bikéyah, or Navajoland, is bounded by the corners of our four sacred mountains which rise along the fertile river basin of the San Juan. The Central Consolidated School District covers approximately 3,000 square miles, and serves approximately 6,000 students (of the roughly 150,000 Navajos currently living on the reservation) in 15 schools in five rural communities. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Shiprock has a population of approximately 9,000. About 90% of the student population is Native American, and almost all (99%) of the students are considered to be economically disadvantaged. Shiprock comprises four elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools; one is an alternative high school. For the past two years I have had the opportunity to be a 3rd and 4th grade-looping teacher. This upcoming school year, I will continue with my class of two years into the fifth grade. I believe looping has been very beneficial to the students that I serve because it has provided them with consistency in their coursework and expectations. Furthermore, this teaching position has allowed me to guide their educational path through skill development to positively help achieve their learning goals.
Over the course of my teaching experience I have witnessed the challenges students have had to overcome while in the elementary grades. Aside from poverty and family issues, the lack of quality teaching and standardized testing cripples and sets back many students within this population. The elementary grades are the primary years in a student’s educational path that promote a love of learning. It is during this formation period that having access to a licensed and experienced teacher is critical to all children. Many foundational skills are not being well developed in the early years of schooling. As a result, students do not have adequate foundational skills to help support them as they move into higher grade levels. Another challenge is in the area of standardized testing. Predominantly, in grades three through five, licensed and experienced teachers are placed in these grades to focus on meeting specific student outcomes. Unfortunately, students in the lower grades are left with substitute teachers to fulfill their lessons. As a result, students miss out on quality educational instruction; this eventually leads to reading and math gaps. These types of unsupportive structures have failed our students and continue to increase the achievement gap.
In terms of data, it is relevant to note the status of my district to gain a better perspective on the educational environment. According to the 2017-2018 New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) school district data, grades three through five proficiency rates noted: 20% of third grade students were proficient, 21% of fourth graders were proficient, and 24% of fifth grade students were proficient in expected mathematical standards. Although the proficiency increases from grade third to fifth, it is still below 50% proficiency. This data reflects that students throughout our district are continuing to struggle with mastering required math skills necessary for math at the secondary level. In my school, grades three through five, the data indicated that only 15% of students were proficient. Equally relevant, according to The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 23% of 4th graders in New Mexico are proficient, and in the 8th grade only 16% of students are proficient. For this reason, I have found it necessary to design a lesson plan/curriculum devoted to remediating their understanding of area and perimeter before moving on to volume, the target material. The learning plan I formulate will use agricultural production as a model for mastering the concepts of area and perimeter. My goal is to provide an expanded curriculum design ultimately to address the expected standards of volume in a measurable way that is contextually coherent, consistent and culturally meaningful.
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