Author Archives: Xi Yu

Virtual engagement strategies that don’t require webcams

This post follows from my Notice/Feel/Wonder/Act about webcam visibility. 1. Jamboard Opening Circle I’ve used this opening circle on Day 1 with each new group of students. I then use it to start each week (See #10) and each time we do a restorative justice circle. Students sign into my class, and I greet themContinue reading “Virtual engagement strategies that don’t require webcams”

Notice/Feel/Wonder/Act: Webcam visibility in my mathematics classroom

The following is the evolution of my thoughts about webcam visibility in my virtual classroom. Some of these thoughts are hard to commit to words, but I hope they will help others dismantle the policing of students’ turning on webcams in class.  Notice I notice that only White students in my honors classes voluntarily turnedContinue reading “Notice/Feel/Wonder/Act: Webcam visibility in my mathematics classroom”

High school rehumanizing mathematics project, Take 1

I’ve been teaching a credit recovery high school geometry course for the past three summers. This summer, the program was offered virtually, with half as much in-class time as we’ve had in the past (appropriately so). After hearing from so many students that they were in summer school with us because a) they didn’t turnContinue reading “High school rehumanizing mathematics project, Take 1”

Every single thing that a student touches in my class

I stand outside my open door as students trickle in. I have my clipboard, and I mark attendance using a pencil. A few students opt to fist-bump me. They go inside to find their seat. I realize that I made copies of a handout for the day and the copies collated but did not staple.Continue reading “Every single thing that a student touches in my class”

Subject: Ideas for alternative forms of assessment

The following is an email I sent to my math department on May 25, 2020 with a few edits in [] for clarity and to preserve anonymity. Dear Math Colleagues, I write this email as a fellow math teacher, not necessarily as a facilitator of the Geometry CPT [common planning time team], or any otherContinue reading “Subject: Ideas for alternative forms of assessment”

On the absurdity of mandating ‘diagnostic tests’ at the end of a COVID-19 interrupted school year

We received an email from our principal on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, saying that teachers are expected to give “year-end diagnostic tests in lieu of exams” to start in less than 14 school days. No expectation for any tests or exams during our two months of emergency distance learning had been communicated priorContinue reading “On the absurdity of mandating ‘diagnostic tests’ at the end of a COVID-19 interrupted school year”