Exploring Culturally Responsive Strategies in Math Education

Running head: MATH JOURNALS 1 Mathematical Educational Journals Professor Lissette Martinez Farah Sattar MAE 4360 Miami Dade College

MATH JOURNALS 2 Table of Contents Observation Entry 1: One Child’s ExperienceError: Reference source not found Observation Entry 2: Culturally Responsive Instruction Teacher Interview Entry 3: Student Diversity Possible Adaptations and Instructional Strategies Teacher Entry 4: Environment and Students Teaching Entry 5: Lesson Adaptations Teaching Entry 6: Sheltering a Lesson for English Language Learners

MATH JOURNALS 3 Introduction This assignment aims to actively engage in a clinical school setting to understand how students. in grades K-12 learn inside a mathematics classroom. It is essential to understand. the several cases future educators may encounter in a classroom, such as observing to what extent lessons are culturally responsive/diverse, understanding the various lesson adaptations for differentiated instruction and creating accommodations and developing strategies to teach. English Language Learners (ELL). The purpose of the first observation in this journal is to focus on one child who has a specific need . Mathematics is a subject that many people believe does not incorporate most of these strategies mentioned or having these encounters, but what most do not know are the several methods that exist to accommodate everyone’s learning styles.

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MATH JOURNALS 4 Observation Entry 1: One Child’s Experience Beginning the first observation, I chose to observe a student name Alex. Alex is an English Language Learner whose mother emigrated to the United States of America when he was five years old. The first time I met him was in his 3rd grade ELL classroom. In the classroom, Alex was struggling with the subject of mathematics because of his seating arrangement at the moment within the classroom– while he does do well when he can see the problems in question, his reading comprehension may make it difficult for him to fully understand what a problem may be asking. In order to combat this, another teacher, works with the co-teacher, This paired with recurring informal multiplication drills with practice flash cards can help students like Alex reinforce their multiplication skill at a young age. Since many of the students in the classroom are children of immigrant parents, there is a shared experience with the student and myself, I made him feel comfortable to speak with me and then it helped him complete his work with me due to our comfort level. In order to help Alex in the subject of math, I had to break up the question into manageable sections in order for him to process the information. While helping him in class, it was apparent that he wanted to do his best in order to exit the ESOL program, to the point that her mother ended up contacting me through in order to ask if I could provide him with extra time to tutor in Language Arts and Mathematics. During this time, I have helped Alex work through a multiplication difficulty that he was having, as well as an English Language difficulty. As educators, it is important to remember that students are multifaceted learners and need more than one way to learn– we are active facilitators for students in the pursuit of knowledge.

MATH JOURNALS 5 Observation Entry 2: Culturally Responsive Instruction The first thing that is noticed is that Ms. Chaves has a great amount of ELL students in her classroom. This often calls for consistent intervention such as addressing the needs of that ELL as well as some struggling learners that require differentiated instruction. For instance, the first week we have been covering lessons in geometry where students must have a prerequisite knowledge of solving two-step equations and there have been moments that we pull out students in small groups of three and we reinforce their knowledge on said topic for them to better grasp the geometry they are learning, which composes about 25% of the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment). Students are always expected to engage in problem solving, as well as generate their own approaches to problems, many times, this is shown through the practice of many problems and scenarios. In the class, connections are always being made between mathematics topics, in order to relate the content to familiar aspects of students’ lives, either teacher, or I bring up everyday examples during lessons– these examples can include virtually going into local stores and observing situations as they occur. As the lesson goes on, the teacher asks questions before lessons continue– these questions help gauge student knowledge and can help students further understand the examples the teacher may come up with. Another thing I noticed from the diverse group of classes (7th grade Accelerated, Regular, Intensive, and 6th grade Pre-Algebra) is that there exists a great deal of mathematical discourse inside the classroom. Ms. Chaves loves to start her class with an open discussion question from a

MATH JOURNALS 6 prior knowledge for better understanding. From there, she engages in asking a variety of guiding questions in which students engage in open mathematical discourse and collaborate to answer questions in class. Students have also been observed helping their peers who have been identified as struggling learners or even ELLs. Ms. Chaves always likes to include a wide range of classroom activities that are supposed to give students a visual and conceptual understanding of what they are learning in class instead of having them repeat procedures in a mechanical process. Real-world applications are also incorporated into the classroom lessons where students are asked word problems to have them use critical thinking and think outside the box to answer questions related to things they will see outside of school. I observed this during the lesson on classifying angles where they had to identify vertical and adjacent angles, a concept unfamiliar to them. In the lesson they covered triangles, the teacher used a classroom activity with straws to show if three straws (of various measures) would form a triangle and have them come up with conjectures from what they did during the activity. Having students engage in different classroom activities and moments of mathematical discourse inspires them to think outside the box and prepare them for different levels of advanced mathematics that will provide them a better understanding of the things they will see in real life.

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MATH JOURNALS 7 Teacher Interview Entry 3: Student Diversity Students in the class were surveyed by gender, intellectual disabilities, giftedness, cultural and ethnic diversity, ‘English Language Learners’, and ‘struggling’ learners. The following learner profile data was collected from Ms. Chaves’s 7 th Grade Regular Math Class (Period 3). Students were surveyed by gender, intellectual disability, gifted, cultural. diversity, English Language Learners (ELL), and struggling learners. Categories ALL Students Female Male Total 20 12 8 Intellectual Disability 1 0 1 Cultural Diversity Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic English Language Learner (ELL) 8 4 4 Struggling Learner 5 3 2 Explore-Before-Explain : This instructional strategy emphasizes the idea that rather than having the teacher jumping into an explanation, he or she has the students explore the concepts using physical objects or even prior knowledge to be successful in the new topic they are going to study. This has been very useful during distance learning that started during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATH JOURNALS 8 Explicit Vocabulary Instruction : In order for students to understand the lesson for the day, they may need to learn the underlying vocabulary that comes with it. This provides students with vocabulary instruction that is meaningful and tied to the lesson at all times. Schema Approach : Schema is the pattern behind a mathematical concept. All subtraction problems revolve around a certain amount of something being taken away from an original amount. Once students grasp the schema, they’ll be able to notice it in different problems. Teacher Entry 4: Environment and Students Ms. Martinez is an interesting person, having observed her classes, she likes to provide students with respect, provided they respect her as well. Her high expectations for students within the classroom are admirable, as the class goes on, students are expected to maintain a certain level of academic proficiency-- students who are more successful academically are verbally appreciated in front of the class, making other students want to receive praise from the teacher and class. Students often complete grade level work, but there are times that Ms . Martinez provides students with more advanced work as a look into what they will have to complete the following year. Seeing that there is an access student in the classroom, the therapist comes in three times a week, depending on what the student needs for the day. Even though he is required to complete a certain kind of work for the class, the teacher also provides him with work that the class is doing at any given moment, starting at the beginning of the school year with increased intensity. she loves to engage in activating prior knowledge with her students to be able to tie in all the lessons together and for her students to see the relationships between each lesson that they learn. She loves focusing on the conceptual understanding for students not to only be able to learn the material to successfully pass the summative assessments, but also to retain the

MATH JOURNALS 9 knowledge in the long run. I was intrigued to listen to what she had to say about how her knowledge of parents influences her decisions in mathematics teaching. Using this knowledge, she often reviews these basic skills through a series of differentiated instruction with the students and she builds them up gradually by activating their prior knowledge and have them gain essential understanding. Teaching Entry 5: Lesson Adaptations Student Adaptations Tasks 1 Work with text in a larger print size Fraction Flash Cards : These fraction flash cards provide the student with enlarged text when reading through the flashcards. This will help the student properly see the questions. 2 Mark texts with a highlighter Highlighter Give the students a word problem sheet . Then, give them this worksheet and a highlighter. Have them go through and highlight the code words and record them. Helping students to recognize code words helps them solve word problems and pull out the information from them 3 Use visual presentations of verbal material Hands-On Activities : When teaching a lesson of fractions on a number line hand on activity is a must. itwould be to use pipe cleaners as a number line with an attached bead. This provides students with a more tangible example of fractionated number lines. 4 List of Instructions Differentiated Worksheets :

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MATH JOURNALS 10 The worksheets will help the student with questions they may not have understood because they prefer to receive lists of instructions in order to properly complete their lessons. 5 Give Extra Time Task Cards : Students will be provided cards that have fractions and will provide them with simple questions that may help with remediation. Teaching Entry 6: Sheltering a Lesson for English Language Learners Lesson Topic : Fractions Objectives : 1. Given an assortment of pipe cleaners, students will be able to represent different fractions on a number line with 70% accuracy. 2. When provided with a lesson on fractions, the students will be able to recognize and show, using diagrams, equivalent fractions with small denominators with 70% accuracy. Before the Lesson : 1. Have the students complete a check on fractions and equivalencies learned in the previous lesson and implement ESOL strategies within the classroom in order to help students understand the concept of fractions. Using physical manipulatives can help students cement learning concepts. 2. Complete the check with students and walk through the examples with them at a certain pace in order to make sure students understand the subject matter.

MATH JOURNALS 11 Modifications for ELLs : Focus on Mathematical Vocabulary– providing students with explicit vocabulary instruction can provide students with an entryway into the subject. During the Lesson : 1. Start the day’s lesson on fractions– involve the use of both physical and digital manipulatives. These manipulatives will help students understand the concept of fractions not just verbally, but visually and kinesthetically as well. 2. Walk students through the key questions of the lesson, making sure that students fully understand what they know about fractions and how we use them in our day to day lives. Modifications for ELLs : Use Tools, Visual Models, and Manipulatives– using these resources helps students benefit from visual learning, physical manipulatives provides students with tactile learning. After the Lesson : 1. Wrap up the lesson with students by recapping what was learned during the lesson, if needed, start conversation about fractions with real life examples. 2. Arrange students into groups of five and have one person from each group pick up a basket with materials in it (cardstock, assorted color pipe cleaners, wooden beads, hole puncher, washable markers, ruler, clear tape). Once all students have the necessary materials, they will be prompted to create their own number lines with fractions on varying points. Each student will complete their own fraction number line. Modifications for ELLs : Collaborate with Colleagues– this strategy transcends most other strategies because of its facilitation in language production, and most other things as well for ELLs.

MATH JOURNALS 12 Assessment : 1. Finish the group activity and have students work on a worksheet which will help students practice their fractional part of a set skill. 2. Conclude the group activity and print out benchmark handouts that are designed to have 3. students prepare for the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment). 4. Students will work quietly on the worksheet and as they work on the assignment, I will walk around the classroom and assess students in the best way possible. This paper is a Mathematics Education for All Journal, is a collection of six journal entries– each journal entry contains excerpts that describe a variety of topics, such as a child’s experience, culturally responsive instruction, student diversity, environment and students, lesson adaptations, and sheltering a lesson plan for English Language Learners. Each student needs, that in and of itself can improve student achievement and makes a significant, positive difference when regarding mathematics achievement. This would help educators make informed decisions about parts of their lesson that can be used to guide further action in the classroom. Developing a reflective practice culture can improve schools by creating a foundation for improving your teaching practices as well as the learning process. As a result of reviewing, evaluating, and designing activities in order to meet diverse student needs, I have since learned that there is so much more that goes into a lesson than just a lesson plan. By involving students in the lesson process, I believe that students will better understand the plan, thereby increasing student engagement.

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MATH JOURNALS 13 References Last Name, F. M. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title , Pages From - To. Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name.

MATH JOURNALS 14 Footnotes 1 [Add footnotes, if any, on their own page following references. For APA formatting requirements, it’s easy to just type your own footnote references and notes. To format a footnote reference, select the number and then, on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, click Footnote Reference. The body of a footnote, such as this example, uses the Normal text style. (Note: If you delete this sample footnote, don’t forget to delete its in-text reference as well. That’s at the end of the sample Heading 2 paragraph on the first page of body content in this template.) ]

MATH JOURNALS 15 Tables Table 1 [Table Title] Column Head Column Head Column Head Column Head Column Head Row Head 123 123 123 123 Row Head 456 456 456 456 Row Head 789 789 789 789 Row Head 123 123 123 123 Row Head 456 456 456 456 Row Head 789 789 789 789 Note : [Place all tables for your paper in a tables section, following references (and, if applicable, footnotes). Start a new page for each table, include a table number and table title for each, as shown on this page. All explanatory text appears in a table note that follows the table, such as this one. Use the Table/Figure style, available on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, to get the spacing between table and note. Tables in APA format can use single or 1.5 line spacing. Include a heading for every row and column, even if the content seems obvious. A default table style has been setup for this template that fits APA guidelines. To insert a table, on the Insert tab, click Table.]

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MATH JOURNALS 16 Figures title: Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Figure 1 . [Include all figures in their own section, following references (and footnotes and tables, if applicable). Include a numbered caption for each figure. Use the Table/Figure style for easy spacing between figure and caption.] For more information about all elements of APA formatting, please consult the APA Style Manual, 6th Edition .

Mathematical Educational Journals

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