Michael DesRochers

Mathematics Core Value Reflection

“The Connecticut Common Core of Teaching” (CCT) provides the State of

Connecticut’s view of an accomplished teacher. It is suppose to encompass the

knowledge and skills within a teacher’s repertoire under current research and thinking

regarding the mission of schooling and teaching. This last statement struck me as rather

ironic, considering the document is almost a decade old. One of the requirements in the

CCT is growth among teachers through three stages of development. These stages of

development start with the pre-service phase, followed by the induction phase, and end

with the continuous professional growth phase. Furthermore, the CCT provides certain

foundational skills and philosophies required for all K-12 teachers plus discipline based

professional standards for the various public school discipline areas.

The mathematics specific section of the CCT focuses on some interesting areas of

teaching. The CCT specifically mentions a Learning Environment (Section IV) in which

mathematical thinking is the norm. It is intended to create an environment that supports

and encourages mathematical reasoning in the classroom and instructs students in

alternative approaches to solving problems, constructing mathematical arguments and

responding to the mathematical arguments of others.

This section of the standards excited me as a potential teacher. I was expecting a

standardize test driven, results oriented set of guidelines, especially for a content area like

mathematics that is more analytical and less open to interpretation and critical discussion

among students. This standard of the CCT is incredibly wide open and supports a student

centered pedagogy. A good learning environment is contributed to by a variety of aspects.

First is student motivation. Students need to be engaged and interested in the subject

matter, and it is up to the teacher to ensure this. Second, students must both trust and

respect their instructors. I plan on letting my students in on some of the personal

information from my life to build that bridge of trust. If a teacher is unwilling to give

something of themselves to students how we expect a student to do the same? I also feel

it necessary to keep up to date on current popular trends, whether it is music, movies or

language being used. A teacher needs to connect to students to create a strong learning

environment, and I strongly feel an effective method is to show students awareness about

things they consider important.

This can be accomplished using a variety of techniques including but not limited

to the introduction of technology, a move away from traditional lecture centered lessons,

using a mixture of pop culture into the classroom, encouraging a large amount of group

work, promoting joint learning among the students, using differentiated instruction and

taking the time to learn about the students. This is a progressive model of education

which encourages student activities which grow out of student interests and experiences,

leading to new experiences and interests prompting a continuing cycle of learning (Tozer,

Senese & Violas, 2006).

I do not feel students are accustomed to exploring the mathematical world. One of

the core values is to promote mathematical thinking and reasoning. Typical education

consists of formula memorization and learning the specific steps of how to address a

problem. This becomes boring, tedious work, and misses the point of mathematics. I hope

to be able to focus my teaching on the critical thinking skills associated with

mathematics. I want to encourage students to look at a situation and not be afraid to

analyze it from a numerical perspective. Also, logic and rationality are not skills

developed enough in classrooms, and mathematics provides the perfect avenue to address

these skills in students. I want to relate as much of the subject matter as possible to

tangible, real life situations. Too often I hear students say, “Well, I’ll never actually use

this in any real world situation,” when in actuality mathematics determines much of the

world around us. The more mathematics I have studied, the more I see it at work in the

world around me. By making sure to link the lessons in school to tangible, real world

situations I hope to impart both the skills to understand the concepts and theories, but also

the ability to recognize it in the world around them.