Elanna Worthy Dr.

Bettie Hicks Charleston Program 19 March 2014 Weekly Session #4 On our fifth day traveling to Charleston through CU-LIFE, our fourth session was instructed by Dr. Manning-White, math coordinator in Richland District I. She felt more comfortable with us at this meeting, so we had a casual, mature conversation prior to beginning the informational session. She expressed how her three presentations would be based on strategies for teaching mathematics Common Core Style, since Common Core is being fully implemented in the next full school year. The standards for mathematical practice are carried across all grade levels (K-12). The Standards for Mathematical Practices SMPs are (1) Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, (2) Reason abstractly and quantitatively, (3) Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, (4) Model with mathematics, (5) Use appropriate tools strategically, (6) Attend to precision, (7) Look for and make use of structure, and (8) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. She expressed how when grouping the Practice Standards, (1) and (6) are grouped together, (2) and (3) are grouped together for Reasoning and Explaining, (4) and (5) are grouped together for Modeling and Using Tools, and (7) and (8) are grouped together for Seeing Structure and Generalizing. Dr. Manning-White stated an Ancient Chinese Proverb: Tell me, I forgot; Show me, I remember; Involve me, I understand. if you are just hearing information, like a teacher lecturing, you will forget it. This quote means, if somebody actually physically shows you themselves, like a teacher demonstrating, you will remember. If you actually have to do it yourself, like a hands-on experiment, you will understand it. I completely comply with this quote because this is how I learn in the classroom, especially math and science. Dr. Manning-White referred back to the design and organization of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Content. The standards for K-8 are presented by grade level. The Standards for Mathematical Content are organized into domains that progress over several grades and grade introductions give 24 focal points at each grade level. The High School Standards are presented by conceptual theme (Number & Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Modeling, Geometry, Statistics & Probability). Content Standards define what students should understand and be able to do. Clusters are groups of related standards. Domains are larger groups that progress across grades. She pulled a sample of a math standard online and explained the actual content standard, cluster, and domain to us for a visual understanding. She also explained how each grade level has an overview of what the students should be learning and the teacher should be covering throughout the entire school year. Common Core has organized the standards very simplistic for the teachers to follow in order for their students to be successful. There are four key advantages to Common Core State Standards Focus and Coherence, Balance of Concepts and Skills, and Mathematical Practices, and College and Career Readiness. Focus on key topics at each grade level. There are coherent progressions across grade levels. Content standards require both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Foster reasoning and sense-making in mathematics. Level is ambitious but achievable.