This Perspectives on Practice manuscript focuses on an innovation associated with “Engaging Teachers in the Powerful Combination of Mathematical Modeling and Social Justice: The Flint Water Task” from Volume 7, Issue 2 of MTE. The Flint Water Task has shown great promise in achieving the dual goals of exploring mathematical modeling while building awareness of social justice issues. This Perspectives on Practice article focuses on two adaptations of the task—gallery walks and What I Know, What I Wonder, What I Learned (KWL) charts—that we have found to enhance these learning opportunities. We found that the inclusion of a gallery walk supported our students in the development of their mathematical modeling skills by enhancing both the mathematical analyses of the models and the unpacking of assumptions. The KWL chart helps students document their increase in knowledge of the social justice issues surrounding the water crisis. Using the mathematical modeling cycle to explore social justice issues allows instructors to bring humanity into the mathematics classroom.
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Ashley Schmidt, Treshonda Rutledge, Tandrea Fulton, and Sarah B. Bush
Do you use mathematical discussions to increase engagement in your classroom? In this Front and Center article, authors provide a discourse tool that can be used to reveal potential biases found in the implementation of the Five Practices.
Blake E. Peterson, Shari L. Stockero, Keith R. Leatham, and Laura R. Van Zoest
Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.
Catherine A. Little, Sherryl Hauser, Jeffrey Corbishley, and Introduction by: Denise M. Walston
From the Archives highlights articles from NCTM’s legacy journals, as chosen by leaders in mathematics education.
S. Asli Özgün-Koca and Monica G. McLeod
Growing Problem Solvers provides four original, related, classroom-ready mathematical tasks, one for each grade band. Together, these tasks illustrate the trajectory of learners’ growth as problem solvers across their years of school mathematics.
Sandra Vorensky
Design projects to encourage your students’ self-efficacy and motivate mathematics learning by helping them apply their prior knowledge from real-world experiences.
The Math Learning Center Content Development Team and J. Michael Shaughnessy
Problems to Ponder provides 28 varying, classroom-ready mathematics problems that collectively span PK–12, arranged in the order of the grade level. Answers to the problems are available online. Individuals are encouraged to submit a problem or a collection of problems directly to mtlt@nctm.org. If published, the authors of problems will be acknowledged.
Dorothy Y. White
Use this activity to support students in working together, recognizing one another’s contributions, and leveraging their mathematical strengths to solve challenging problems.
Allyson Hallman-Thrasher, Susanne Strachota, and Jennifer Thompson
Teachers can use a pattern task to promote and foster generalizing in the mathematics classroom, presenting opportunities to build on students’ thinking and extending ideas to new contexts.
Michael S. Meagher, Michael Todd Edwards, and S. Asli Özgün-Koca
Using technology to explore a rich task, students must reconcile discrepancies between graphical and analytic solutions. Technological reasons for the discrepancies are discussed.
