The purpose of this group is to build and sustain a community for the personal and professional support of Black women educators (pre-service and beyond), broadly, and in mathematics, more specifically. The group centers opportunities to enhance our professional growth in the areas of teaching and leadership and we care deeply about wellness opportunities to support a healthy mind, body, and spirit as this sustains us to move forward leading with love.
All sessions are from 6 – 8:00pm EST
You can choose to only attend the virtual sessions. Food will be provided at the in-person sessions.
Group Activities
- Monthly gatherings (in-person and virtual)
- Speakers or wellness service providers
- Vision boards & goal setting
- Book study
- Wellness meet-ups
- Educational Hot Topic discussions
- Bonding through games and other activities
2024 – 2025 Book Study
This year, we have chosen to read Cultivating Mathematical Hearts: Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching in Elementary Classrooms by Maria del Rosario Zavala and Julia Maria Aguirre. Though it says it’s for elementary classrooms, we believe that we can all learn from its contents. (Contact Missy Cosby for a copy – mdcosby@utk.edu)
Here’s what the book is about: Cultivating Mathematical Hearts: Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching in Elementary Classrooms, aims to re-center mathematics as a humanizing endeavor because putting children and their humanity at the heart of mathematics education can result in more engaged, meaningful, and joyful learning.
This book introduces a model and a tool for Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching, constructed to create a safe, inclusive space where all learners can come together in their own educational journey and develop a love for math that centers their experiences and comes from the heart. Implementing the Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching Tool (CRMT2) will help you cultivate and sustain meaningful, rich, and rigorous mathematical learning spaces for all your students–experiences that foster mathematical curiosity and joy. The book walks you through each aspect of the framework and tool, guiding you to consider how your classroom structures, lessons, tasks, and assessments:
- Honor the existing cultural strengths, experiences, and lived realities of all your students
- Elicit diverse mathematical thinking and ideas
- Support equitable access to rigorous mathematical learning and discourse for all students
- Invite a sense of agency in each student’s learning experience
- Promote high engagement and excitement while learning mathematics
- Nurture an understanding that mathematics is a powerful tool for making sense of the world
By weaving these strategies into classroom lessons, teachers can humanize mathematics instruction to successfully build a love for math while providing equitable learning opportunities that empower student voice and promote success in mathematics.
Missy D. Cosby, PhD 