Core Standards

I looked at second, third and fourth grade standards. For the most part, Nevada State standards and core standards are similar. Nevada State standards have different strands for the different topics. For example, Number and Operations one of the strands is 1.3.1. Identify, use and model place value positions of 1’s, 10’s, 100’s and 1000’s. In the common core standards, this standard will be taught in 2^nd grade and students should have mastered this standard before they come to 3^rd grade. I do like for place-value, that it starts in second grade and students should be able to understand the value and place of each digit and when they get to third we are able to teach rounding and students should have mastered past value. Currently in 3^rd grade we are teaching them the values of the given digits. In Geometry, our third graders are expected to demonstrate and describe the transformational motions of geometric figures. This is not mentioned in the core standards for 3^rd grade. It is also not mention in 2^nd or 4^th grade. Our current state standards are having student’s compare, contrast, sketch, model and build two and three-dimensional shapes. Three-dimensional shapes are not discussed in 2^nd, 3^rd or in the 4^th grade common core standards. I do feel that these standards are important and that students need to know the difference between two and three-dimensional shapes. What we have to teach according to CCSD’s report card, does not completely align with common nor state standards.

It appears to me that Number and Operations are heavily focused on. The common core standards are very specific and allow time for students to reach mastery by the end of the year. If students are not at grade level by the end of the year, this will have an impact on the students learning, since these standards are scaffolding on each other.

I do think that it is very important for states to have common standards, however, I am very concern on how this will be rolled out and the support/training that the teachers will get. I did like how the common core standards give us example problems and shows us what they are expecting us to teach, but some of the expectations may vary between teachers. How are we going to make sure that all teacher have the same understanding for each standard and what proficient, exemplary should look like?

As mathematics stand point, many of these core standards, students should be developmentally ready to learn the materials. In second grade, students should be ready to add/subtract with and without regrouping. I do see an issue with teaching some of these math standards. I see issues on how teacher interrupt the different standards.

Abstract 1

Abstract:

This research study was to see if a four-week professional development class over the summer would help math teachers improve their ability to integrate technology into their math lessons. The study took place in Southern Mississippi. The study took place over four years.

Reflection:

I found this article to be interesting. Each teacher was given a pre and post test during this summer workshop. The study was taken place in the summer of 2005, 206, 2007 and 2008, each year there was significant gains from the pretest to the posttest. The article stated, “In math education, using various strategies to motivate students to learn math concepts is important” (pg 53). I completely agree. Math is typically known as the boring/hard subject. As teachers, we do have to make it more appealing to students, especially the older they get. We need to be creative with our assignments and not always make it book work. For example, when I was teaching area and perimeter with my third graders, they had to use sugar cubes and create a rectangle or a square. They had to write a word problem, solve it and explain their answers. Each figure had a key. As technology changes, so does some of the ways we teach.

“Teachers are key agents toward initiating changes in education. They are the individuals who teach, mentor, and support learning in the classroom. An effective teacher can motivate, stimulate, and help students acquire academic and professional skills to become successful” (pg 55). I found this statement to be very powerful. We are the ones that are making the difference and have to keep our students motivated and wanting to come to school and be successful. We are competing with the world of video games and technology. If we are going to stand up there and lecture and do drill and kill all day, than what is the point of coming to school. I do understand that in math we have to lecture and drill, but at the same time we have to be creative and find ways to keep them engaged. As we are drilling, it is important to make sure they understand the concepts of what they are learning as well. We have moved from the time we used a slide ruler to graphing calculators.

The teachers learned how to use a graphing calculator from being able to build bar graphs and pie charts. I would love how to learn how to make bar graphs and pie charts on the computer. I think that this would be a wonderful skill for elementary teachers learn and not just middle and high school teachers. When I am teaching them graphs, I can also be showing them how to make graphs on the computers. As long as they understand the data they collected, than they should be able to go on the computer and create their graphs.

I am also in agreement to having workshops where we can become more familiarize and understand how to use the technology that is given to use and not allow the technology just to sit there. Technology is just like math in a way, as when you do not use it you loose it. I know I can use a refresh course in some of the different ways to use excel. Technology is something that we all should keep up with, so we are not afraid of it.

Reference:

Hartsell, Taralynn, Sherry Herron, Houbin Fang, and Avinash Rathod. "Effectiveness of Professional Development in Teaching Mathematics and Technology Apllications." Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange. 2.1 (2009): 53-64. Print.

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