Currently my students do not have a 1-1 calculator ratio, meaning that they often have to share calculators or go without, which can be especially hard during exams! Especially at the high school level, calculators are necessary to be academically competitive.
Having these calculators will help everyone be on an equitable playing field with access to technology.
Imagine trying to solve a big long math problem, only to realize that you messed up a negative in an early step. If you had written the problem in pen, you might have to scratch out the problem and start all over. I require my students to use pencils every day, to encourage them to embrace the revision/learning process that occurs in math and to not be afraid to make mistakes.
My students LOVE playing white board games in class. It engages their competitive nature, involves a lot of team building, and also builds their math skills. We play these games so often that we are constantly running out of markers. A supply of white-board markers means more games and more engaged learning!
Math is a subject that lots of my students struggle in, and I like to give them a space where they can explore both the left and right sides of their brain when they learn. We often have color-along notes or color by number homework that can help the students stay focused when they start to feel stressed about learning new material. The students love these coloring pages, and have learned to self-regulate, so that when their stress gets high, they help themselves to a coloring page and stay engaged in the classroom, rather than misbehaving or skipping class.
About my class
Currently my students do not have a 1-1 calculator ratio, meaning that they often have to share calculators or go without, which can be especially hard during exams! Especially at the high school level, calculators are necessary to be academically competitive.
Having these calculators will help everyone be on an equitable playing field with access to technology.
Imagine trying to solve a big long math problem, only to realize that you messed up a negative in an early step. If you had written the problem in pen, you might have to scratch out the problem and start all over. I require my students to use pencils every day, to encourage them to embrace the revision/learning process that occurs in math and to not be afraid to make mistakes.
My students LOVE playing white board games in class. It engages their competitive nature, involves a lot of team building, and also builds their math skills. We play these games so often that we are constantly running out of markers. A supply of white-board markers means more games and more engaged learning!
Math is a subject that lots of my students struggle in, and I like to give them a space where they can explore both the left and right sides of their brain when they learn. We often have color-along notes or color by number homework that can help the students stay focused when they start to feel stressed about learning new material. The students love these coloring pages, and have learned to self-regulate, so that when their stress gets high, they help themselves to a coloring page and stay engaged in the classroom, rather than misbehaving or skipping class.
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