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MEMBER BENEFITS Common Core State Standards Tips & Topics Series December 2013 Issue Common Core Math: Modeling Real-life Variables To Multiply Learning In Your Classroom! When students make overarching statements like, "Math is too hard," it often means, "I just don't get it," or, "I'm not smart enough for this." Guiding students to the right answer isn't always easy and usually requires several different approaches to break through the barriers of frustration, selfdoubt, or plain wide-eyed bewilderment. Educators can use modeling techniques to make quick connections to the math operating behind the reality students regularly experience during the school day or at home. While the Standards for Mathematical Practice remain the same as students move from grade level to grade level, differences occur as the standards are applied through new and more challenging concepts. Lesson plans using modeling to exemplify real-life situations are effective throughout the education cycle. For example, in early grades, modeling might be as simple as writing an addition equation to describe a situation. In middle grades, a student might apply proportional reasoning to plan a school event or analyze a problem in the community. By high school, a student might use geometry to solve a design problem or use a function to describe how different variables interact with one another. As educators continue to demonstrate that math is everywhere around us, students become more mathematically proficient and can readily solve tangible problems, organize data, and make reasoned connections. Eighth grade mathematics teacher, Cyndi Petty, has observed this approach in action and shares, "My students enjoy seeing the practical use of a math skill prior to being taught how to execute it. I find that they have more success and buy-in when they see a real-world example first." The challenge is generating engaging material, especially a collection depicting a variety of perspectives. To solve this problem, the I CAN Learn® Education System presents interactive video lessons from the viewpoint of carpenters, engineers, homemakers, and scientists to show students how their classwork is actually used by numerous people every day. Word or story problems are also assigned throughout the practice and assessment sections of the software to improve reasoning skills as students apply their knowledge to an actual life situation. "I rely on the pre-algebra lessons in the I CAN Learn® Program to introduce mathematical concepts by demonstrating real world applications. This is an easy way for my students to realize the correlation between math concepts and problem-solving, and to use analytical reasoning to simplify a complicated situation. This teaches the students to identify and analyze quantitative information to draw conclusions." — NEA member, Cyndi Petty, 8th grade math teacher, Sgt. Smith Middle School, Hillsborough Co., FL The I CAN Learn Program's online graduate credit courses offered through the NEA Academy have proven to be effective tools in helping members prepare to teach to the Common Core requirements for real-world application learning and get every child thinking like a mathematician. For more information about how to model lessons in your Common Core Math classroom, please visit the NEA Academy to review the I CAN Learn Program: neaacademy.org/icanlearn 22 WINTER 2013 | WEAnews ICI_ 6 Winter 2013 Final.indd 22 12/12/13 3:41 PM