Author: lamathgirl

I have been focused on mathematics education for students who look like me for more than half of my almost 20-year career! I'm interested in connecting with teachers, leaders, and parents about increasing opportunities and outcomes for Black students in mathematics. The connection begins where it started for me...in the classroom.

More Talk to Create Equitable Spaces

One of the areas where I focus my work is on creating spaces for students to develop learning communities where they can see themselves as capable mathematicians who learn from each other. In a recent webinar, one of the Talk Moves authors, Dr. Nancy Anderson, and I discuss some specific strategies to support teachers who … Continue reading More Talk to Create Equitable Spaces →

Back to School 2020

My newly organized remote office space It’s that time of year again! Going “back to school” this year has a different look and feel because of the pandemic. Many school districts made painstaking decisions to either start school online, in-person, or in a hybrid due to the safety precautions based on the number of Covid-19 … Continue reading Back to School 2020 →

Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk

Note: This post was originally published in June 2020. Last week I had an opportunity to share my work on how to engage Black students in productive mathematical discourse as part of #NCTM100 Professional Learning series. In the wake of the recent events following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, I wasn't sure … Continue reading Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk →

Connections Matter 2

My former 4th and 5th grade students playing math games with classmates. In April, more governors decided to close schools for the remaining of the school year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. More closings mean that more schools will be moving to remote learning and more time that learners will be learning at … Continue reading Connections Matter 2 →

Celebrating One Year with Black Girl Math™

It's Black Girl Math's first year anniversary! One year ago this week, I published my first post Representation Matters because it highlighted the importance of Black students seeing other mathematicians to develop their own identities in mathematics. My first post garnered 390 views in February 2019. In one year, Black Girl Math™ had 1,274 views … Continue reading Celebrating One Year with Black Girl Math™ →

Supporting Leaders to Create a Culture of Learning

When I became a classroom teacher, one of the first books I received was The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Henry and Rosemary T. Wong to help me set up my learning environment and classroom management system. I continued to adopt and adapt many of the ideas as I … Continue reading Supporting Leaders to Create a Culture of Learning →

Community Matters 2

"You can't go it alone. We're neuro-biologically hard-wired for connection with other people. In the absence of connection, love, and belonging, there is suffering."--Brené Brown from The Call to Courage Netflix special I wholeheartedly feel the same way as Brené about my learning community. I can't do this work alone! I loved that I had … Continue reading Community Matters 2 →