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Pre - Test Drawings

they have developed a commitment to, are engaged in, and see value in mathematics. (Aguirre et al, 2013). We know through research that it is through social processes and shared experiences that individuals develop identity and gain a sense of self and mean ing. Students learn to engage in practices through communities and develop a sense of self in relation to the practices and communities in which they learn. A math identity is especially key to girls ’ math success. From my own personal experience and my re search, there appears to be two major pillars of mathematics: the belief that you can do math, and the belief that you belong (Froschl, 2018). Girls ’ math identity is about girls ’ math beliefs, disposi tions and attitudes about their own abilities in mathematics, and it is these beliefs, dispositions and attitudes that really affect girls ’ later decisions about careers and education. In essence, math iden tity is the story I tell myself and other people in relationship to my learning mathematics (Sfard and Prusak, 2005). This relationship might be a micro identity—things that happen that tell me who I might be as a math learner, or a thickening identi ty—once I hear it and feel it enough, I believe it is TRUE (Wood, 2013). Girls also position themselves socially and aca demically based on how they want to be seen and how they think others see them. This is why it is extremely important for teachers to position girls as participatory in mathematics. Math identity is Math Identity: A Key to Girls ’ Mathematics Success

also tied to one ’ s mathematical agency—the way I show you my math thinking and how I express and put my identity in action (Murrell, 2007). Teachers can create structures that position girls as mathe matically competent. How? By connecting them with tasks, the content, and with each other. As part of the larger study (Sfard and Prusak, 2005), the following pre - and post - survey study on 4 th and 5 th grade students shed a light on how girls

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 46, no. 2

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