The I'm W.O.K.E. Project - Widening Option through Knowledge and Empowerment

Tonya Clarke, Charlene Matthew, Tiffanie Nealy, and Alana Pittman

 

The “I'm W.O.K.E. Project” improves mathematical disposition and opens access for all students by creating positive and supportive relationships, including a variety of lesson entry points, building and embedding vocabulary, reinforcing and enabling reflection, providing multiple opportunities for mastery, incorporating relatable experiences, and embedding content in context. With each project, students are guided through the critical thinking process necessary to investigate, analyze, strategize, and intervene in social systems. The highlights of the project are the teacher and leader training and the student community action project. Through the project, teachers are provided practical methods for engaging all students in the learning. Equitable instructional practices are modeled and intentionally shared to help teachers appreciate and learn how to ensure equal access for all students. Students are required to use the mathematics embedded in the context to effect community change.