Colleagues I met with four of my colleagues at our grade level meeting. They had graciously allotted me the time on the agenda to help me with my ImagineIT dilemma or question from Phase 4 of how to show my students that they live in a mathematically base world and that it would be very hard for them to go even a day without experiencing or seeing some form of mathematics taking place. One colleague suggested that I should make them keep a journal for a period of time and at the end of the allotted time have them go back and pick out the math that was seen or utilized by the student. Another colleague, a World Studies teacher, told me I should have the students point out the significant achievements in mathematics that has taken place at various points in history. Another colleague had brought a government employee into their classroom who demonstrated for the students how a whole city was built just by using the mathematical concept of slope or rate of change.
Students After meeting with my students, I came away a little discouraged. Why, because when I first picked my ImagineIT project, I stated that I was going to start each unit by bring a real world example that is the overarching concept for the unit. I have done this and at least once a week I have tried to reinforce this. My focus group of students still declared, for the most part, that they still did not like math. They said that they do realize that they use math and see math being utilized constantly now without thinking about it. They said they feel I have been doing a good job showing them the importance of math especially in their future when they are grown and have to make “adult decisions”. When asked how can I make more of a difference in their perception of mathematics now, they stated that I have been a positive influence on them and that they feel I teach math in a “user friendly way”. They suggested I give my classes smaller projects connecting mathematics to the real world as opposed to a few larger projects. ImagineIT Phase 5 Reflection After meeting with my colleagues and students, I had mixed emotions about my project. My colleagues invigorated me with their ideas and their support of my ImagineIt. They unanimously agreed that we should do a cross curriculum project so that the students can see how not only mathematics are important but that their contents also have a strong relationship with math. On the other hand, my students initially left me a little discouraged about truly changing their perception about mathematics and its influence in their world. Then I had to put my teacher, psychologist, philosophical hat on and say that they have been trained to think about mathematics a certain way for fourteen or fifteen years. I have been with them for two months. I must be patient with them. I do have all the way to June to change their perceptions of math. For now, I will increase their writing assignments about the math they see or experience in their daily lives. I will assign definitive roles when they do their projects. And finally, I will let them lead the class discussions on how a concept connects to the real world when we start a new unit. I must be patient.