Chapter 2: Mathography: A Tool For Fostering Mathematics Identity

Every September, my seventh grade math classes begin the year with the same homework assignment—creating a mathography. The project has become almost a rite of passage at our school. Completed at a time when students return from summer break and eager for the fresh start that fall brings, they have produced some inspiring and insightful products to share with their classmates and me over the years. What they may not realize is how this playful, seemingly “unmathy” start-of-school task has become an invaluable tool for assessing mathematics identity and student growth over the course of the year. The mathography—essentially a mathematics autobiography—has evolved along with my teaching, since I first assigned it more than a decade ago.