Phase IV
Problematizing your Imagine IT
My two dilemmas are related to designing and planning a curriculum and how to assess appropriately.
Planning an appropriate curriculum that integrates math, but at the same time engages my students in the topic of healthy food is difficult when everything they see, hear, and most of the time eat, is delicious unhealthy food. I wonder how I should teach my students about foods in a such way that they get excited. I worry about ending up with only statistics and data that are not encouraging and conducive to helping my students make better food choices. I want to be able to set up realistic expectations supported by math facts that demonstrate why eating healthy is a good idea. Based on what I have observed, most of my students love pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries. I don’t want this unit to be one more thing to read about it, I want to see a transformation in their learning that implies that they are making decisions about what to eat.
My second dilemma is how to appropriately assess my students in a way that integrates their ability to use what they know about math, and their understanding of eating healthy food. For instance, what it really means consuming foods with 24 calories, or 15mgs of potassium; or choosing 580 mgs of sodium, or 10 carbohydrates. How can I assess my students in a fair way and meet their needs, if they don’t see the connection of what they are learning to their own reality at home? How can I provide my students with multiple ways of demonstrating what they know, not only in math, but in their understanding of making better food choices?