How to Teach Math to Black Students [Paperback]

Shahid Muhammad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

Intended for parents and teachers of African American students, this book provides strategies for correcting the racial achievement gap in upper-grade mathematics. Advice is provided on instilling confidence in African American students and on teaching math in a less sterile and theoretical way. Also explored is how critical thinking skills are essential in understanding math. A wealth of ideas is provided on creating relevant word problems to help students better understand basic math functions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shahid Muhammad has been a math teacher in public and private schools for more than 10 years. He has received numerous awards, including America's Teacher Award. He lives in Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: African American Images (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913543977
• ISBN-13: 978-0913543979
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #970,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, February 28, 2006

By 

T. Flood-Coleman "wisdom" (Newark, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to teach math to black students

Teaching middle school mathematics to inner city students is what I do on a daily basis. This book changed my approach and made a world of a difference in the performance of my students. It changed my perception of reality of unequal access to education in America for most poor African Americans. There is a completely different way that a student looks at the world when he or she may not have had a decent dinner the night prior to coming to school. There are a laundry list of socioeconomic issues that make it almost crucial to approach the teaching of mathematics to most African American students differently. Different motivations for learning is the key to this understanding the author's point of view. This understanding can be applied for success in teaching every subject. Changing a student's motivation by using things that are unique to his or her ethnic group as motivation does not constitute racism or advocate the teaching of it - it's common sense!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great buy, December 15, 2011

By 

Rosemarie Dawkins - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Teach Math to Black Students (Paperback)

My students struggle with math. I've tried a few techniques to increase their confidence level but I have seen little results. After reading this book, I, myself am more confident in how to approach my students and by using the techniques in this book I'm sure our math 'experience' will be much better...

11 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars wasted time, February 9, 2008

By 

Mikhail Balachov (Centreville, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Teach Math to Black Students (Paperback)

The book combines questionable statements (Al Kharizmi is a black mathematician),wrong statements ("mathematics is prevalent in almost all careers and professions"), and mostly trivial statements ("teachers must ...extinguish all negative verbal communications and interactions with the students"). Also you can find there derogatory generalizations about students ("youth occupy most of their free time watching television, listening to music,playing sports and games, or eating")and teachers ("Educators are producing robots as opposed to thinkers").Some advices suggested by the author are really funny,like the advice to college instructors to"have students develop songs, poems, sories, cartoons or rhymes on some math concept, pricipal,or skill"). What I couldn't find in the book is the answer for the title question.