Customer Reviews:
 wasted time February 10, 2008
Mikhail Balachov (Centreville, VA)
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
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.
 Essential February 28, 2006
T. Flood-Coleman (Newark, NJ)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
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!
math book October 30, 2003
8 out of 17 found this review helpful
this is a great book.We use it in our tutoring program.Everyone concerned about Black children should read it.
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