What excites me about the New MN Math Anchor Standards!
I wanted to share how excited I am about the new MN Math Anchor Standards. I know they are a work in progress and the benchmarks will not be out until May but I am excited with this first round. I am impressed that they include math found “in historical and contemporary Dakota and Anishinaabe communities and in other communities.” I know this is included because it is in our State Statutes but it is a welcome addition. We should be giving credit to the cultures who created the math we are using and learning how they did.
The two main concerns I heard:
- “It appears to be in 50% of the standards. Does this mean we are teaching half Anishinaabe math?” I believe it is only woven in where it makes sense not in every benchmark. We will know more when the Benchmarks come out.
- “How am I supposed to know what parts of the math I teach have Native or other cultural origins? Where are my resources?” I agree that we have enough to do with what we are teaching now. If I understand correctly, MDE will be adding staff who will find or create resources from Dakota & Anishinaabe & other communities for math teachers to use. SciMathMN will have resources, too, I assume.
I am excited to be including the cultures from Minnesota & other cultures. I would love to see math being representative of all the students I teach.
Jane Juten
Region 8 Director