by John Troutman McCrann, a high school math teacher, NBCT, and MfA Master Teacher Fellow in New York City, writes a column for Education Week about “his quest to integrate inquiry- and performance-based learning into his instruction, and how these concepts might inform education policy.” He is also a curriculum developer for Math4Science’s Explore Math curriculum and math and science teacher at Harvest Collegiate, one of M4S@School’s partner schools.
His latest column is entitled “Orienting Students for Math” and he discusses leading a group of teachers in a two day mathematical orientation for new 9th grade students. One of their objectives was to help students see that “Math makes sense and is useful everywhere.” As John describes it:
We pushed students to think of each problem as one that ought to make sense and encouraged them to “make it make sense” when they were struggling. Groups of 10 – 15 students met with a STEM professional at her or his job site. We organized site visits — in part — through the wonderful organization Math 4 Science. Using their resources, students researched the STEM professionals and careers. On the visits, they discussed the usefulness of math in the work context: music/dance, sailing, cancer research, web design.
Thank you John for letting the world know about the work of Math4Science!
