Human Map

Description
Group Activity | 20 minutes

This activity helps Express Care by inviting students to “plot” their relationship to math as the learning experience begins. Click here to download this page as a PDF. Designed for group settings, this activity can:

Allow students to share their experience without speaking in front of the group.
Expose learning assumptions and a diversity of attitude and feelings about math.
Highlight both students' unique perspectives and commonalities within the learning community.
Lay the groundwork for ongoing conversations about learning and math.

Instructions

1. Write an “I” statement.

Choose a central “I” statement like “I am a math person” or “Math is my favorite subject.” The statement should provoke students to evaluate how similar or dissimilar their own views are to the statement.

2. Draw a line with contrasting values.

On one end of the line write a statement that agrees (“ I agree!” or That's me!”), and on the other end of the line write a statement that disagrees (“I disagree”“ or That's not me.”).

3. Instruct students to “plot” their own statements.

Invite your students to take turns adding their name on the line that best represents how they relate to the statement. Encourage them to include one or two sentences with more detail. For example: you create a human map with the statement “I am a math person.” One student doesn't feel confident about math, so she places her name near the “that's not me” side and writes “I'm not really good at math, but I know it's important.”

4. Facilitate conversation.

After everyone “plots” their relationship to the “I” statement, analyze the responses. There will most likely be a variety of answers, and responding to them is an opportunity to Express Care. Tell students you believe in their ability regardless of their map placement, share stories that connect to their personal statements, and share that wherever they are on the map, there's room to grow.

Tips and Tricks

Online Adaptation. You can adapt this activity with digital tools like Google Slides, Jamboard, Mural, or other crowd-editing platforms. You can also encourage them to share emojis that best represent how they feel about the central “I” statement.

Drawing the Human Map. Make sure there's plenty of room for students to add their statement to the board. Also, to minimize any social pressure, keep their responses casual by having them come up all at once instead of one at a time. Finally, you can also share the central “I” statement and have students write their responses alone at their desks on sticky notes before having them add their responses.

Embodying the Human Map. Instead of drawing a map, you can make a human map by standing around a room. Place a marker in the center with your central “I” statement and invite students to “plot” themselves, where standing closer signifies agreement and standing further away signifies disagreement. Once they’ve chosen a spot, invite them to talk with others nearby about why they decided to stand where they are.

Make the Human Map fun and personal. Try alternating a math-related “I” statement with a lighthearted, fun “I” statement. For example, ask students to respond to “I’m a cat person” or “I’m a dog person.” Then in the next round, offer a math-related “I” statement like “I think math is useful to my life.” Alternating math and personal statements lightens the mood and shows students that you care about their lives outside of math learning.

Invite everyone to the Map. When facilitating this activity in your program, invite everyone to participate (e.g., tutors, program leaders, students) instead of just the students. This helps build a sense of community and can break down any perceived hierarchy between tutors, leaders, and the students in your care.

Engaging Families. You can invite families to try this activity at home by providing this activity as a handout or sent electronically.

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