Ms. C Teaches Math

  “Wait…That Graph Looks Off”: Teaching Students to Spot Misleading Graphs in Media Not long ago, I was scrolling through social media when I came across a post that claimed a certain product was “the fastest growing in history.” Below it was a bold, colorful graph with skyrocketing bars that looked pretty convincing, until I noticed, the y-axis started at 90 instead of zero. The data was not technically wrong, but it was definitely distorted . The more I paid attention, the more I realized how often these kinds of visual tricks show up, in news articles, advertisements, political campaigns, and everyday social media.  That moment stuck with me, it made me think: If I almost took that graph at face value, what are my students seeing and believing every day, and it is exactly why I chose this as my topic: How can we teach students to spot misleading graphs in the media, and what math skills do they need to do it? Why This Matters to Me as a Math Teacher We teach students how t...

As a first-year high school math teacher, I have been thinking a lot lately about how we design learning that actually reaches kids, not just through screens, but in ways that really collect. With so many digital tools out there, it is easy to lean on the tech. But the bigger question for me has been: how do we go beyond the screen to create learning that is meaningful, equitable, and rooted in the real world, even in a math class? One framework that really helped me make sense of this is from Aguilera and Literacy Today (2017). They talk about digital literacy through three lenses: on the screen, behind the screen, and beyond the screen . It is not just about what students see, like a graphing calculator app or a math video. It is also about understanding what is behind that tech (how it works, who designed it, what assumptions it makes). And most importantly, it is about thinking beyond the screen, asking questions about power, equity, and whose voices are centered or left out in ...