Understanding Probability

There is an adage: Work Smarter, Not Harder. Teachers need to be this kind of worker. Students are pulled in many directions in their life outside as well as inside school. Teachers can make life inside school easier by creating school work that speaks to the students’ strengths. By using smarter, not harder curriculum that is tailored to how low- income inner city students learn, vocabulary and math skills and concepts will become easier to grasp and retain. Students will feel successful and teachers will feel less stressed out. The classroom will hum with activity that is productive and fruitful.

I am a sixth grade teacher at William C. Longstreth. I teach in a self contained classroom at a K-8 elementary school. This week long (90 minute daily block) curriculum is designed to enhance the current probability curriculum that lacks a literacy component. Students will work in group settings learning tolerance and cooperation along with working with each other’s strengths and weakness to teach and learn from each other. Students will create the lesson's activities to grasp a deeper understanding of probability before transitioning that knowledge to formulas and abstract probability concepts.