Spanish Version

Mathematics is beautiful. It is stubborn, it is easy, it is hard, it is used to justify, to sway policies, to influence politics, to influence beliefs, and to defend arguments. It is expansive and it is minute. Its history is complicated, intertwined with racism, colonialism, and concurrent discovery. Its influence is mighty; those who know it, use it to influence and manipulate those who do not. Mathematics, flaws and all, is beautiful.

This year, I get the honor and privilege of helping you explore the beauty (and challenges) of mathematics. For 7.5 years, I taught math and loved it, then transitioned to be a math and technology coach for CJUHSD for another 7.5 years. Now in my 16th year as an educator, I am more eager than ever to be in the classroom (whatever that may look like) to learn and share in this journey with you. When it is deemed safe to be in the same physical space, I look forward to the opportunity to meet you in person. You won't just see me in the classroom. You might catch me on the baseball field, on a hiking/biking trail, fishing at a lake or on the ocean, or at a soccer/hockey/baseball game of my kids'. In the meantime, our virtual interactions will have to suffice, and I will do my absolute best to make the most of them. 

Here are my commitments to you for this school year:

• For my Black students and families, to know that your life matters. I will continue to learn how to value what you bring to this space. 
• For my families whose primary language is not English, to know that I will do my best to support the translation and communication of classroom materials and resources.
• For my families of students with higher needs, to know that I will work with you to ensure that your child(ren) get the services they deserve to be as successful as possible.
• For my students (and families) with difficult schedules, to know that I will work with you to ensure that you have what you need and that I will be as flexible as possible in making that happen. 
• For my students with family in law enforcement, in the medical field, and all who continue to serve on the front lines of the pandemic, know that I appreciate you and the work you are doing.
• For everyone, to see you. I plan to check in regularly with you, not as a way to make sure you're doing your homework or that you can graph a line, but to make sure that you are doing well. And when you're not, to help you find the support necessary. 
• For my students, to not overwhelm you with countless websites and apps and programs and logins. When you go to Canvas and open the page for your math class, the day's activity and everything you need will be right there to access. 
• At the same time, I will work to challenge you as much as I can without overwhelming you. There will be things we don't know. Mistakes will be made. Mistakes will be celebrated. And yes, we will work to understand our mistakes, because in that space, we learn. 

Regarding the content of the course, we will follow the Mathematics Vision Project materials, which are completely free online. I will send out more information as the week goes on about specific material and when you can pick up a printed copy. Out of respect to those affected by the Coronavirus, I will not be incorporating COVID-19 content into the lessons unless students specifically ask for/about it. There is a lot of data out, and it could be useful for conversation. However, I am keenly aware that this pandemic has caused a lot of strain and stress, and my hope is that this class can serve as a respite for some, while empowering all.

In summary (for now), I am thrilled to be a teacher right now, as odd as that may sound. 

Welcome to Room 206, and welcome back for the 2020-21 school year.

​- Mr. Stevens

Here's the TL;DR version: 100% online, then be grateful for if/when I get to spend time in person with students.

While I've been out of the classroom for a few years, I'm still far more comfortable with my ability to build relationships and engage students in content when I'm in person rather than trying to do so digitally (whether synchronous or asynchronous). Knowing this helps me prepare for a few different scenarios, the most intense of which I'll try to explain in this post. I'm aware that being a high school teacher affords me privileges that elementary does not have. I'm aware that my location affords me privileges that more rural areas do not have. 

Assuming that we begin on a completely digital platform (remote 100%), I have started to build out all of my content into modules on our new Learning Management System, Canvas. Sure, why not learn a new LMS while also learning differently?! I'm up for it, to be honest. Why not? In terms of pacing and content, I am hopeful that I can run it like an online college course. Lectures and in-class activities will be kept to a minimum, and a lot of the energy will be put into the forum. The online college courses I took (now, keep in mind that I was paying for them, so I recognize there will be a slight difference in motivation) were weak on community-building and strong on relationship-building. Right now, I need to realize this.

Here's our tentative schedule, which I appreciate our district sharing with more than a month to plan for it.

The idea of in-person instruction is optimistic, but this schedule seems like it would be easy to transition to online if we needed to. Therefore, I'll have 5 sessions of ~45 minutes for each group each day. Let's assume that this is what happens. If so, I get 90 minutes a week with my students in an online setting, so my job will be to plan for the best possible experience with that parameter. 

The thing I've been talking to my teams about is the desire to reduce the number of variables. The reason why is because as much as I like taking risks, they need to be calculated risks. With fewer variables, the risks can be more guided. I'll be using Mathematics Vision Project (Integrated 1 and Integrated 2) to guide the flow of concepts, Desmos Activity Builder to elicit a lot of the student responses, and Canvas to host it all. 

(Nearly) every lesson will:

• start with a wellness check or relationship-building prompt (probably a version of Sara's name tents)
• engage in a brief warm-up (I'm a big fan of Would You Rather Math, ya know)
• lean on a "blue sheet" thanks to the idea from Sara Ven Der Werf. We won't want to reteach content from previous grades, so we will be providing a support sheet that offers the foundational material that students may need for the module.
• allow students to engage with a mathematical prompt (guided by the Mathematics Vision Project content)
• build in as much time for students to talk to each other as possible
• lower academic expectations (can I say that? I think I can. After all, this is not normal!)
• maintain professional expectations (because yeah, we still have those)
• end with an exit ticket to help me prepare for the next day
• follow up with a mathematician from this list (thanks, Annie!)
• be accompanied by practice problems, solutions, and a video to explain some of them

I'm not the person who can wait until the week before school to get everything planned out. Yes, I'm aware that this is probably going to change. However, my hope is that by planning right now, it will limit how stressed I'll be when the actual plan comes out.

This sounds like a lot. Maybe I'll just go on a 300-day deep sea fishing trip instead...

What are you planning for? Any ideas to share?

Happy "Who The Hell Knows" Fishing