The reason that I am focusing on these goals is because students have such a hard time relating what they do in math class to the real world. As much as possible, I will use problems that students can see how they relate to the real world. Ninth graders are still very concrete learners. They often have a hard time visualizing the problems that we do in math. Hands on activities usually help this age student to grasp the concepts that we are covering.
Most students come from low to medium economic families.
The students in my Pre-Algebra classes come from various backgrounds in mathematics. When students enter the ninth grade they must register for either Algebra I during their ninth grade year or Pre-Algebra. Since Pre-Algebra is the lowest level math choice offered at Cook High for ninth grade students, the classes have a wide range of ability levels. The weakness that almost all of my ninth grade students lack is the ability to see the usefulness of mathematics and how the topics that we cover relate to the real world. This common weakness found in almost every student that I teach was the major contributing factor for my decision to focus on the goals that I have chosen.