Ted

Welsh
Prof. Keeley and Prof. Leo
Education 302/303
14 November 2016
Statement of Faith-based Teaching and Learning

I believe that we serve a God that values wisdom and knowledge, and loves people.

Because God values wisdom and knowledge, I think God should be involved in my teaching of
mathematics at East Grand Rapids Middle School. In the words of James Bradley, a Christian
approach [to teaching mathematics] says that mathematics is not autonomous but rather is an
aspect of an interconnected creation (Bradley, 2007). So, as I planned my lessons and created
my unit plan, this is something I made sure to have in mind. I wanted to make sure that my
lessons not only provide students with the necessary knowledge of Mathematics, but that they
also reflect God and open a door to learning more about Gods creation. The interconnected
piece is very important. In addition, because God loves people, I should do everything that I can
as a teacher to love and care for my students. This was also something I kept in mind as I
planned my lessons.

Specifically, as I teach my decimal computation unit, I will connect decimals to other

parts of creation. In each lesson, I start off with a question about decimals in the real-world. I
want students to be looking for how math class connects to things going on in their lives and I
want to give students a place and time to think about that and share it with their peers. The
easiest connection, especially for decimals, is with money. This is a connection I expect my
students to jump to right away. Sixth Grade students do not have to worry about money
management or paying bills, but they are most certainly aware of how much things cost. Every
sixth graders could name a video game, a piece of clothing, or some other object that they
would like to purchase or have and most of them know how much it costs. I dont want to leave
it at that though. As I teach decimals and as we, the class, have conversations about where
decimals are used in life, I want to bring up charities, time spent serving, and other life-giving
tasks or purchases that use decimals. In each lesson, I make sure to talk about this. Being in a
public school, I am restricted and cant directly talk about God, but I think that by living out my

faith and stressing the importance of the things that are important to God, I can encourage my
students to live God-honoring lives. By teaching values, I can help students develop a
conscience that will enable them to judge whether their own actions are right or wrong
(Stronks and Stronks, 1999, p. 35). I hope that by talking about uses of decimals, and money
management, students feel encouraged to consider how they spend their money and their time
and why they spend it that way. It is important for students to explore and to express their own
worldview, and I hope that by discussing the relationship between decimals and our lives,
students feel that they have the proper space to do that. And hopefully, by giving space in this
unit, we as a class can develop a common trend in worldview seeking throughout the rest of the
units in this semester. Because I feel that this is really important, I made sure to begin class with
discussions of real-world applications for decimals and how they should could be used.

I also want to love my students well because God calls me to. In teaching, that means

providing for my students and meeting their needs. In my unit plan, I provide many means of
representation, so I can meet the different needs of different students. Specifically, I used a
document camera, my voice, worksheets, as well as computers to teach things. I also use
varying activities both within individual lesson plans and throughout the whole unit. Students
have the option to express their knowledge and to learn through teaching, partner activities, a
tic-tac-toe game, a board game, worksheets, a station activity, and computer games over the
course of the five lessons I planned. If I were to plan a whole ten units, I would try to include
more activities so that I can give students opportunities to express themselves and use their
God-given gifts, and also accommodate for all of their learning needs.

In conclusion, I chose to allot time to discuss the value of decimals, and to encourage

students to be charitable because I believe that God calls us to do so. I chose to include multiple
means of representation and expression because God calls Christian to love their neighbors. As
a teacher, loving my students means giving them the tools they need to succeed, and giving
them the freedom to explore. I hope that through the decimal computation unit, sixth graders
at East Grand Rapids Middle School not only learn how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide
single-digit and multi-digit decimals, but that they also learn to spend their money wisely, to
think of others when spending their time and money, and to be conscious of the world we live
in and the things going on in it.


Works Cited
Bradley, James. "Teaching Mathematics from a Christian Perspective." Transforming Teachers.
TeachBeyond, 9 Oct. 2007. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
Stronks, Julia K., and Gloria Goris Stronks. Christian Teachers in Public Schools: A Guide for
Teachers, Administrators, and Parents. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999. Print.