In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis continue the season 5 series on the Mathematics Teaching Practices from NCTM’s Principles to Actions, celebrating its 10th anniversary. This month’s practice is “Establish Mathematics Goals to Focus Learning.” This is defined as follows:
Effective teaching of mathematics establishes clear goals for the mathematics that students are learning, situates goals within learning progressions, and uses the goals to guide instructional decisions.
In today’s conversation, our hosts unpack the key components of this principle. First, they discuss how learning goals, focused on important mathematical understandings, differ from procedural, process goals, which may include skills and procedures that are not directly connected to the underlying mathematical concepts. Next, the discussion turns to situating goals within a learning progression, which helps teachers stay focused on what is relevant to their grade level or course, and provides a venue for students to be active in their progress toward learning. Finally, effective mathematics goals guide instructional decisions, helping educators know which tangents to explore and which are distractions from the intended learning. We hope you enjoy the conversation, and that it extends your thinking on mathematics goals for learning.
Additional referenced content includes:
· NCTM’s Principles to Actions
· NCTM’s Taking Action series for grades K-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12
· NCTM’s myNCTM forums (membership required).
· How learning goals serve as a guide – NCTM Teaching Children Mathematics blog post
· Rachel Harrington’s appearance on the Math Learning Center podcast/blog discussing mathematical goals
Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomtogrowmath@gmail.com . Be sure to connect with your hosts on X and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Medal of Honor: Stories of Courage
Rewarded for bravery that goes above and beyond the call of duty, the Medal of Honor is the United States’ top military decoration. The stories we tell are about the heroes who have distinguished themselves by acts of heroism and courage that have saved lives. From Judith Resnik, the second woman in space, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice, these are stories about those who have done the improbable and unexpected, who have sacrificed something in the name of something much bigger than themselves. Every Wednesday on Medal of Honor, uncover what their experiences tell us about the nature of sacrifice, why people put their lives in danger for others, and what happens after you’ve become a hero. Special thanks to series creator Dan McGinn, to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Adam Plumpton. Medal of Honor begins on May 28. Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear ad-free episodes one week early. Find Pushkin+ on the Medal of Honor show page in Apple or at Pushkin.fm. Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com