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
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
4th grade students playing a math card game Some of my favorite memories growing up were when we played games as a family. I loved playing math and word games with my family such as Scrabble, Checkers, and Connect 4. My father and my older brother taught my two younger brothers and me lots of … Continue reading Connections Matter
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™
Photo Credit: Dr. King Memorial in DC. In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Day this year, I chose to dedicate this post to awareness of the injustice of how Black girls are treated in schools today and how to build safer learning environments for Black girls so they feel like they belong in their … Continue reading Black Girls Belong
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
Just like I did when I was a classroom teacher, I had to take a much needed break this summer to finish some work projects and to get my professional learning on to deepen my learning as I get ready for back to school. My favorite part of my summer were the opportunities I had … Continue reading My Summer Break
"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
When I was in elementary school, I was made fun of a LOT because I earned high test scores and mostly "As and Bs" in most subjects including math. I definitely remember being called a "teacher's pet" and "nerd". Nerds were not cool when I was growing up so being a labeled a "nerd" left … Continue reading Community Matters
Recently, I was in a school bathroom and saw a beautiful painting of an African woman dressed in African garb hanging on the wall. I was immediately filled with awe and joy because the painting radiated beauty and was a positive image in a surprising place. I am often one of few African American women … Continue reading Representation Matters
Black Girl Math™ 