With these funds I will...purchase student engagement tools from Hand2Mind called Algeblocks that not only allow students hands-on contact with math but also increase conceptual understanding of math, in particular algebra. Knowledge and mastery of algebraic concepts is the strongest predictor of student success in high school and college mathematics. Through the use of the resources we will purchase, students will be able to collaborate in small groups and explore and discover algebraic concepts on their own. Through use of such materials students are empowered to discover their own learning and are positively motivated to draw conclusions based on patterns and findings. With these tools, students are able to make discoveries in more than one way, at their individual paces; the pressure to perform and answer questions in front of classmates is reduced and confidence is not at stake. Our students are not deficient in their capacities to learn; however at this point they need extra emotional support to feel comfortable and safe in their learning environments and more space to think creatively rather than through memorization and repetition. Allowing students to be in charge of their learning and explore with hands on materials will allow them to not only be creative in their thinking but creative in their conclusions, this will increase student engagement as well as long term acquisition of material and concepts better preparing them for high school and college math.

Our ultimate goal is a classroom set of Hand2Mind Algeblocks for $399.95 plus shipping and taxes. This will provide a class of 24 students with access to the materials at a time. This classroom set comes with a variety of blocks plus three different algebra mats: the Algeblocks Basic mat to explore positive and negative integers, the Algeblocks Sentence Mat to begin building and using order of operations, and Algeblocks Quadrant Mat which allows students to explore equations with positive and negative integers as well as variables. The cost per student comes to $16.66.

Please see the link below for a visual representation of the materials. 

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