Luke Wilcox
Teach Blue Fellow
A student’s sense of belonging in my classroom is one of the most important factors that leads to success. This is especially true in a math classroom, where students often feel like they aren’t capable of high-level work. It is part of my job to build a classroom culture where every student believes that they can participate and contribute.
Problem of Practice
Lecture-based math instruction in the United States leads to inequitable outcomes, with low-income and minority students being disadvantaged the most. A lecture-based math classroom has few opportunities for students to truly engage in thinking and reasoning about mathematics, and students often lose interest in the subject area. Furthermore, this I Do, We Do, You Do approach to teaching mathematics encourages students to memorize facts and algorithms in order to mimic the work of the teacher, leading to minimal long-term retention of mathematical knowledge.
About Luke Wilcox
Luke Wilcox is a math teacher at East Kentwood High School, the #1 most diverse public school in Michigan. He is the 2018 Michigan Teacher of the Year and was previously recognized as the Presidential Award winner for mathematics.
Luke is also the cofounder of Math Medic, a website that provides free daily lesson plans for every high school math course.
Accounts from Luke Wilcox
A 26-century old fable becomes part of a new fable on more effective math instruction.
What’s a solution to the problems with traditional math instruction? Flipping the power hierarchy. Students belong at the top where they take ownership of their learning, leading to increased motivation and authentic buy-in.
The traditional model of teaching and learning mathematics only works for some students.