Throughout my undergraduate career at UNCW I am very
thankful for the professors that prepared me to look at math through a new lens
and push me beyond my comfort zone. Teaching to the common core standards and incorporating
the process standards into my daily lessons was not something that I was accustomed
to in my educational journey as a student. It was something that was very new
to me and took time for me to process. This became even more valuable to me
when I entered into the educational field. When I began teaching the North
Carolina teachers were learning about these new standards and experiencing the
challenge and shift that I had already been exposed too. It was nice to feel
prepared. With that being said, I view myself as a lifelong learner and know
that there are always areas that I can improve on.
The common core standards are the guidelines that we are to
teach and what our students should be able to do when they leave our classroom.
The process standards are what we should reflect on when are planning a math
lesson for our classroom. We should be asking ourselves “are we guiding our
students through an understanding of the content in a way that they will experience
problem solving, communication, reasoning and proof, connections, and
representation?” These documents are intended to help teachers engage students
in critical thinking when participating in a mathematical lesson. They are
intend to help teachers engage students in lessons that will prepare students
to use mathematics on a daily basis and feel comfortable doing so. The process
standards are the aspects that should be included in a meaningful lesson when
teaching the content of a specific or multiple common core standards. We are
wanting to prepare students to have the capacity to think critically and solve
mathematical problems that they are faced with in their everyday lives, as well
as in their professional careers.
In order to prepare students to have lifelong critical
thinking skills in mathematics educators must look at the way their classroom
is being structured. We do not want our students sitting and listening to us
talk throughout the whole mathematical lesson. Our students should be
challenged with problems that encourage them to activate prior knowledge and participate
in collaboration with other classmates. They should be given opportunities to
represent the given problem with objects of their choice. Teachers are becoming
more of a facilitator in the mathematics classroom. They are guiding students
using questioning and support. Teachers are not the only one doing the talking
and students are not just practicing mathematical skills in isolation.
This type of classroom requires careful planning and
preparation. We are still giving students examples of what good problem solving
looks like, but we are allowing them the time and opportunities to use the
skills we have taught them in many different math lessons. We are connecting
math to the real world, so that they can understand the relevance and
importance of math in our daily lives. I think this can be a challenging shift for
some, but it is very necessary to the future of our students.
