Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at the NCTM Annual Meeting, which is a gathering of 7,000+ math teachers who are passionate about mathematics in some way, shape, or form. While my presentations at conferences have centered on advocating for more math-based discussions, this was an interesting twist: present about how to improve your math community. I didn't know what direction I wanted to take it, so I relied on myself as an attendee: If I were attending, what would be something useful for me to bring back to my team? And thus, the session was born.
You can look through the slides for all the content, but I wanted to go through some of the key points made in the session. For me, it comes down to creating a space where I want to occupy. There are plenty of staff lounges that are toxic, divisive, and repellent of any good/fun/interesting ideas. This is what I'm trying to avoid. At the same time, I also want to recognize how exclusive our teaching practices have become and begin to push on that thinking. Here were the main points:
1. Do some math
When did it become acceptable for math teachers to avoid the beauty of doing mathematics? Sure, the overwhelming majority of us love to teach kids how to do math, but how often are we getting the opportunity to engage in a rich mathematical conversation amongst colleagues? You're presented with a prompt, given a chance to think about it, and then provided a space to discuss the strategies for solving a problem.
We're worse than the kids. We get caught up in the daily grind of making sure content gets covered that we forget the fun and interest that mathematics can provide. We need to make the time and space in our staff lounge to pose problems and hear how others may solve them.
We're worse than the kids. We get caught up in the daily grind of making sure content gets covered that we forget the fun and interest that mathematics can provide. We need to make the time and space in our staff lounge to pose problems and hear how others may solve them.
Here's the fun part about all of this. Lisa Garcia, a teacher in my district, has a door of math problems outside her room. The new School Resource Officer came by, knocked on her door, and came in. Not to take a student out for something they had done wrong, but to talk with her about the solution to one of her problems.
Unprompted.
During class.
In the middle of the day.
People want to be challenged, they want to be curious, and they want to be right. Let's provide that on a more regular basis. Plenty of prompts are over at tabletalkmath.com/resources.
Unprompted.
During class.
In the middle of the day.
People want to be challenged, they want to be curious, and they want to be right. Let's provide that on a more regular basis. Plenty of prompts are over at tabletalkmath.com/resources.
Our awesome Resourse Officer came in and solved my riddle, won a prize, and chatted with my class! Student said " That was the best ever!" @MontclairCavs @ pic.twitter.com/jQRlu4himR
— Lisa Navarro Garcia (@lisagarcia28) February 6, 2019
2. Get Uncomfortable
Let's face it: the field of education has been a very comfortable space for white teachers since, well, at least 2006 when I started teaching. My guess, based on plenty of historical data, is that it goes back a bit longer than that.
Even if you have zero educators of color on your staff, there are some things that you should be doing to bring in diverse perspectives and history. One of my favorites is the work that Annie Perkins started in her Mathematicians Project.
In this Awesome Table, Annie has listed over 100 mathematicians who are not Straight White Dudes, which is an important thing to discuss. If you think about the people we celebrate for "discovering" many of the things we use in math class, most of them are... white dudes.
Here's a challenge for you, then: pick out one of the people on the list that Annie created, print out a picture and description of that mathematician, and post it in the staff lounge. The history teachers, science teachers, and ELA teachers could all benefit from seeing prominent figures of the math community highlighted as well!
Even if you have zero educators of color on your staff, there are some things that you should be doing to bring in diverse perspectives and history. One of my favorites is the work that Annie Perkins started in her Mathematicians Project.
In this Awesome Table, Annie has listed over 100 mathematicians who are not Straight White Dudes, which is an important thing to discuss. If you think about the people we celebrate for "discovering" many of the things we use in math class, most of them are... white dudes.
Here's a challenge for you, then: pick out one of the people on the list that Annie created, print out a picture and description of that mathematician, and post it in the staff lounge. The history teachers, science teachers, and ELA teachers could all benefit from seeing prominent figures of the math community highlighted as well!
3. Surround Yourself With People Who Will Push You
Without the online math community so awkwardly dubbed the #MTBOS (Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere), I wouldn't be the teacher I am today. In fact, I wouldn't be a teacher at all today. It is because of you in the math community who have encouraged me to keep going, to share and learn and grow and become the person I am, so it was only right to thank you.
Not only that, but there are two other groups of people who have begun to influence my thinking in the last year or two. #EduColor and #ClearTheAir are two hashtags that cause me to reflect on my practices and push myself to be better. I encourage you to do the same, even if it doesn't mean that you engage. Just read, learn, listen, and find a way to put something into action.
Not only that, but there are two other groups of people who have begun to influence my thinking in the last year or two. #EduColor and #ClearTheAir are two hashtags that cause me to reflect on my practices and push myself to be better. I encourage you to do the same, even if it doesn't mean that you engage. Just read, learn, listen, and find a way to put something into action.
4. Take a Risk
It has become a central theme of what Matt and I talk about in The Classroom Chef, as well as presentations that we do, but it also needs to be something that gets put on display at work. How are we pushing ourselves to be better if we are constantly living in this comfort zone? How might we step out of it, just long enough and far enough to get better?
I am a very reserved person, believe it or not. I don't like large crowds, don't like public attention, and would much prefer the 1-1 interactions than the 300-1. With that said, there needs to be some risk that I can take to get better, to be better.
One way of working on this is to create a different feel for the staff lounge in terms of the conversations that we have. Below are a few sentence frames that you can print out and post in the staff lounge to remind teachers that we are here for positive reasons, that our kids are what matter most, and that our jobs are meaningful in ways we cannot always see.
I am a very reserved person, believe it or not. I don't like large crowds, don't like public attention, and would much prefer the 1-1 interactions than the 300-1. With that said, there needs to be some risk that I can take to get better, to be better.
One way of working on this is to create a different feel for the staff lounge in terms of the conversations that we have. Below are a few sentence frames that you can print out and post in the staff lounge to remind teachers that we are here for positive reasons, that our kids are what matter most, and that our jobs are meaningful in ways we cannot always see.
What risk are you willing to take? How are you going to make sure it gets done?
Thank you to everyone who came to the session and shared their own vantage points and ideas. It was a great discussion!
Happy "Staff Lounge Under Construction" Fishing
Thank you to everyone who came to the session and shared their own vantage points and ideas. It was a great discussion!
Happy "Staff Lounge Under Construction" Fishing
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