22) "Combating Anti-Blackness in the Math Classroom" (Dr. Nickolaus A. Ortiz)

In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming Dr. Nickolaus Ortiz to the podcast to share his personal math journey, the ways in which anti-Blackness manifests itself in the math classroom, and so much more!  To learn more about Nickolaus, you can follow him on Twitter (@ProfessuhNAO) and LinkedIn.   BIO: Nickolaus Ortiz earned his doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a focus on mathematics education from Texas A&M University in 2018. Following graduate work, he served as a post-doctoral research associate at Michigan State University and is currently a tenure track assistant professor in the College of Education & Human Development’s Department of Middle and Secondary Education.  Ortiz is a mathematics teacher educator and researcher whose research interests deal with Black/African-American students and the impact that teachers have on these students’ performance and appreciation for mathematics. He is very much interested in how ontological Blackness is manifested and/or stifled during high-quality mathematics instruction that involves, for example, teaching for conceptual understanding and utilizing mathematics discourse, as well as identifying new and innovative ways for Black children to demonstrate the mathematics proficiency that already exists within. His scholarship deals with these issues, centering the brilliance of Black children in mathematics as an irrefutable reality. Ortiz is also a musician and loves everything from Gladys Knight to J. Cole, and utilizes music and Black vernacular in his approach to culturally relevant mathematics pedagogy.