Mathematics is a continuously difficult subject for so many high school students. Teaching and working with students who have had little success in high school especially in mathematics has been one of my successes. Students bring with them a high level of math anxiety because of the lack of confidence in themselves. Wilbur Cross Annex, where I teach, is designed to give these students a second chance to finish high school. Because of their poor attendance students operate with limited skills. For many students completing anything is a challenge for lack for self-esteem, self-motivation and confidence in themselves. Yet everyone needs to be able to use mathematics in his or her own personal life, in the workplace and the beauty of mathematics. Students need to learn a new set of mathematics basics that enables them to compute fluently and to solve problems creatively and resourcefully.
This curriculum unit will include a research of Fair Haven Community and the Grand Avenue Bridge for which students will use the internet, the library, the Planning and Zoning Office and the Department of Transportation as resources. Objectives that will be discussed in this curriculum will include: increasing students’ awareness of the Fair Haven Community, developing students’ appreciation and understanding of how a community, its people and buildings evolved over a period of years, understanding of urban development and historic preservation in the Fair Haven Community centered around the Grand Avenue Bridge.
(Developed for Mathematics, History, and Social Studies, grade 9; recommended for Social Studies, and Mathematics, grades 7-9)
