Why are the NCTM process standards important in the mathematics classroom today?

Asking good questions and promoting discourse is an integral part of the teaching and learning in a classroom. It is worth our time!
Using the NCTM process of standards really help us as teachers to understand the challenges our students face and it helps us provide several means and methods to open learning to our students.

• posing questions to challenge student thinking;
• listening carefully and monitoring understanding;
• encouraging each student to participate – even if it means asking, “Who can repeat what Andrew said?” or “Who can explain in another way what Bailey did?”

I feel that setting up the classroom norms is so important for you as a teacher and for your students. It sets the standards an expectation of which both you and your students can rely on to do good work and be fair.

Teachers can reflect on their practice by examining a model for representation. Students’ thinking about problem solving as reflected in these representations may differ from their teachers’ thinking. The Representations Model provides a lens for making sense of students’ responses to tasks. (I think that this says it all.)

o Which NCTM math process standards—problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation—did you encounter more throug

Which NCTM math process standards—problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation—did you encounter more throughout your years of learning mathematics?

I seem to remember having to do a lot of problem solving. These are really difficult if a student hasn't truly understanding their numbers and operations.

I think that there were times I felt lost because I was just following the motion, but never truly grasped my numbers and operations.

Having to problem solve became a challenge and it discourage me in math. I really hope that I can as a teacher show my students several methods of understanding the numbers and operations, so that when we get to problem solving, they can be creative in finding the solutions.

What type of assessment did you encounter most often while you were taught mathematics throughout your school years?

What type of assessment did you encounter most often while you were taught mathematics throughout your school years?

During most of my schooling from K - 12, I remember a lot of multiple choice questions.

I also remember having to work out a problem and showing the steps as to how I got the answers.

The show the steps were more challenging, but in the end these types of questions helped me to understand where I made the mistakes. A lot of times it was error in adding or just writing the numbers down in the wrong place.

Teachers who use these types of working out a problem can identify what steps I had a hard time understanding and can later help me by showing me how to work it out.

The multiple choices was always a 50/50 chance of getting it right when i didn't know or understand the questions. These types of questions did not help me out. Although, I know it saved the teachers a lot of time in correcting the test.

I'm not keen on multiple choice when it comes to math.

Which NCTM math content standard—number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, or data analysis and probability—did you most enjoy learning

I think the numbers and operations is what I enjoyed learning most.

I makes sense to me to visually see a pie chart cut into sections.
knowing that 1/4 is the sames as 25% or .25.
The relations tied together makes sense if I can see the numbers and visualize the amounts in a form I understand.

Taking half of my apple away leaves me with half an apple. taking 1/4 away leaves me with 3/4.

Though learning it was challenging in some aspect, because using water or other parts like cutting an odd shape item can sometimes throw a child off. I know that it took a few methods for my Dad to show me in order for things to sink in.

Even now as an adult sometimes I forget the simplest aspects and get a little nervous when I use numbers and operations.

What was the classroom atmosphere in my math class?

So, again back to ninth grade...you may be curious as to what my classroom atmosphere was like?
I can recall there was a lot of tension...some of the kids hated coming to class and some were terrified. I believe I was in the middle.

I like a challenge and I wanted to prove to my teacher that I understood math, that there were other ways to figure out a problem. Some had shorter steps, which of course is what all students look for when doing work.

My Dad was brilliant in math and he taught me different ways to figuring out a problem. If he showed me a method that my head couldn't grasped, he would find several other options until I caught on to one style which made more sense to me.

He often told me that there are always tricks to learning math and finding the steps that make sense to me was the most valuable thing I could learn. He said to never give up and to always try until I found someone who could explain things to me that I could understand it.

My classroom did not provide a safe learning environment...she was mean and forceful and if not all the kids, most of us feared her and did not ever challenge her. We just struggled and gave up.

How was I taught mathematics in school?

I recall loving math up until I was in ninth grade and had a teacher who was strict and only new one way of teaching...she was the type that was my way or the high way sorta gal!

I recall not understanding her explanation and I raised my hands to ask her a question to clarify...I recall her saying something that made me feel so stupid I dared not ask her again.

So I went home that day feeling frustrated and humiliated...I had always gotten high marks in math and did well, so what went wrong this time? I went home that day showed my father my homework and he sat down and started to explain the problems to me in a different way. I practiced a few problems, understood the steps and completed my assignment.

I turned the assignment in only to get it back saying I didn't follow instruction and got a low grade even when we corrected it and my answers were correct. The steps I did to get the answers were different. They were not how she taught it to the class so she said I didn't do it right.

I took it home to my Dad who was furious that I got them wrong when my answers were all correct. I just did it a little differently but got the same results. He went in and fought the battle with me. She changed my grades, but made math a living "h" that year, so I refuse to only look at things one way...