Your Math Students: Engaging and Understanding Every Day

September 01, 2014

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As you and your grade level or school-based learning team plan for a successful school year, consider focusing on the following critical elements of mathematics teaching and learning that impact classroom instruction every day. This paper will present and discuss the importance of several of the Mathematics Teaching Practices presented in Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All (NCTM, 2014). The Mathematics Teaching Practices provide a framework for the teaching and learning of mathematics. As you begin planning, teaching, and assessing instruction every day, the singular focus of your planning efforts is to consider how you will engage students in learning mathematics. Let’s get started.

In this white paper, you will learn about how to

Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving
Use and connect mathematical representations
Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding
Elicit and use evidence of student thinking

About the Author: Dr. Francis "Skip" Fennell

Professor of Education, McDaniel College

Professor of Education, McDaniel College

Dr. Francis "Skip" Fennell

Dr. Francis (Skip) Fennell is widely published with research, articles, and textbooks related to elementary and middle-grade mathematics education. He is one of the writers of the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) and of the Curriculum Focal Points for PreK-8 (NCTM, 2006). Dr. Fennell was also a member of the National Math Advisory Panel appointed by President Bush. He currently directs the Elementary Mathematics Specialists and Teacher Leaders Project supported by the Brookhill Foundation and the Cisco Learning Institute.