"Your knowledge of mathematics and how students learn mathematics is the most important tool you can acquire to be an effective teacher of mathematics" (p.1)
First of all, I should answer some important questions:
What does the NCTM do?
From their website:
""NCTM provides professional development opportunities for members, such as regional conferences, annual meetings, and online workshops. We also offer books on mathematics education and other special products for classroom use in the NCTM catalog. More material for teachers, including archived journal articles and free downloadable resources such as the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, as well as links to other relevant sites, can be found on our Web site"
"Student Explorations in Mathematics (SEM) is published five times each year (September, November, January, March and May). The availability of a new issue is announced in Summing-Up. Each SEM presents classroom activities and problems appropriate for upper-elementary - to high school students on a single general-interest topic (such as the Olympics, baseball, or election statistics). Student Explorations in Mathematics is not available as a separate subscription."
Link to the NCTM website: http://www.nctm.org/
Everyone should care about math. Not everyone loves math, but each person should have the chance to learn the skills that you develop by doing mathematics. Everyone should be able to get that rewarding feeling after you struggle with a stubborn problem and find the answer without too much frustration. We should be able to teach and learn skills in mathematics that allow us to approach problems so that we can be successful and build up our abilities, no matter what level you start from or what your strengths and "weaknesses" are.
What should you care as future teachers?
As future educators of math and other subjects, it is our job to care. We will not be able to grow into caring and supportive teachers if we don't have the enthusiasm or basic interest needed to show our students how important math is. We can't expect to have a class of excited learners if we don't have the skills it takes to have a safe learning environment for children to explore.
Why should children care about mathematics and about learning mathematics?
Mathematics is everywhere! I missed the opportunity to get truly excited about math when I was in school, because I didn't have effective math teachers. The earlier students start caring about math, the more they can enjoy it and explore it.
So What?
Why do I care?
I care because I relate to the information in Chapter One. Although I agree with each of the content and process standards, I have listed some sections of Chapter One that really stand out to me personally.
- The Six Principles fundamental to high-quality mathematics education:
- Equity - doesn't mean "the same" for everyone. It is high expectations for all students.
- Curriculum - teach students that mathematics isn't isolated bits and pieces, it is an integrated whole.
- Teaching - for high-quality education, teachers must understand the mathematics they are teaching, understand how children learn the mathematics, and select instructional tasks that will enhance learning
- Learning - using mathematics to develop the ability to think and reason in order to solve the new problems and learn the new ideas that students will face in the future, and develop their reasoning skills
- Assessment - not to be done to students, but to be done for students to guide and enhance their learning
- Technology - using calculators and other technologies as essential tools for doing and learning mathematics in the classroom (p.2-3)
- Curriculum - instead of teaching straight from the textbook, lessons should be planned using a number of resources to develop students' deep understanding of concepts (p.7)
- The Teaching Standards - I agree with the importance of each of these standards. but the two that stand out the most to my views are: Reflection on Student Learning, and Reflection on Teaching Practice.
Overall, this chapter has many important points that I feel are important to reflect on, but the points listed above strongly relate to my personal teaching philosophy. I feel strongly about teaching authentic topics instead of memorization or regurgitation of facts because I believe that school should be about learning important ideas that can be integrated with developing life skills. I think teachers should always reflect on their own teaching and reflect on how his or her students are learning so that fun and meaningful learning can take place in the classroom.
