Relationship-building with our students is a vital aspect of creating community in our classes. Come learn how to embed yourself into your content through captivating stories. Such sharing about yourself can strengthen your relationships with your students because they will get to know you while your curriculum comes to life. By modeling how we can mathematize our lives, students will recognize mathematizing as a valuable human activity and a useful tool for problem-solving in their own lives.
This session invites teachers to learn about integrating community-oriented learning in math classrooms through a sample geometry design-based lesson. Through a short presentation, participants will learn integrating human-centered design in math classrooms to support creative ways of learning, empathic awareness, and collaboration among students. Participants will experience design in a hands-on workshop to create a lantern with math modeling. Throughout this session, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their designing experience, hear stories from the lesson implementation, and discuss ideas for future ways of integrating math, design, and the community.
How can students use mathematical modeling to reveal systems of power and privilege? This session invites participants to explore justice-centered modeling tasks on issues such as gerrymandering, housing, and climate change. Using authentic district maps and data, participants will analyze how mathematics can expose and challenge unfair voting boundaries. Grounded in critical mathematics education, the session highlights how modeling can cultivate students’ civic reasoning, agency, and ethical awareness. Participants will gain practical frameworks for designing learning experiences that position mathematics as a tool for understanding and transforming social realities.
