Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/315828
Learning White's specialized training culminated last year, and she is now piloting the curriculum in her fifth-grade class. She recently field- tested her students in the Smarter Balanced assessments, although she already had a pretty good idea of how they are doing. "I'm sure everyone's scores will go down. I think that's expected," she says. "I think the greatest challenge in the curriculum is that every- thing is a word problem. For kids who aren't readers, this is going to be an issue." Nevertheless, White is hopeful that the students will benefit from the new approach. For one thing, she thinks the math concepts are more practical under Common Core. "These are real-world applications, and this is material they will use in real life," she says. Math lessons were much more prescriptive in the years prior to Common Core. For example, White says, she might formerly only teach conversion and expect students to answer with specific responses. Under the Common Core State Standards, she might ask her students to write comparisons of the metric and customary systems of mea- surement or look for repeated patterns in each system. She creates the lesson with an end goal, and works backward from there. Many of her students are rising to the challenge of a new curriculum. " We d o a l o t m o r e e x p l a i n i n g w h y w e go t o u r a n s we r s a n d h o w we go t o u r a n s we r s i n t h e n e w math," says one student. So far, White says, the students seem to be enjoying the discussion that ensues in class around problem s o lv i n g . W h i l e t h a t ' s b e e n p o s i t ive , W h i te i s co n - cerned about the students' ability to stay with it. "It takes endurance. Some students are not used to having a sustained interest in something, so we must constantly remind them not to give up." Still, the new curriculum is a welcome change from some of the "drill-and-kill worksheets" of a few years ago. White says this a major shift in the way educators are teaching and assessing mathematical knowledge a n d a p p l i c a t i o n . D u r i n g t h e t h r e e - y e a r t r a i n i n g period, White and her colleagues were themselves given "horrific problems" to work out as an exercise. She says the teachers were urged to keep trying, to try something else, and were then asked, "What helped you get through this?" In the end, she says, it helped the participating teachers understand what their students might go through. The new approach might be considered philosophical as well as mathematical. White believes there may be less material for teachers to get through during the year. The overarching goal is that students discover math for themselves. t h e r e a d i n g i s a b o u t , d e s c r i b e w h a t t h e a u t h o r i s d o i n g , a n d a c c o u n t f o r ke y t e r m s a n d i d e a s . S t u - d e n t s c i te t h e tex t by i n c l u d i n g t h e p a ra g ra p h a n d page numbers to support their responses. When analyzing primary sources like the Decla- ration of Independence, Lincoln's first and second inaugural addresses, and the Gettysburg Address, stu- dents critically read as a class first, then with a partner, and finally independently. Next, students interact with the text by answering a series of questions: For what purpose was the source created? What question is left unanswered by the primary source? Type of source? What can be learned from this source? For what audi- ence is it intended? When analyzing visual information such as pictures, photos, charts, graphs and videos (with other informa- tion in print), students are asked to distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment. For example, w h e n a n a lyz i n g p h o t o g r a p h s re l a t e d t o t h e B i l l o f Rights, students must identify which amendment and w h a t r i g h t i s b e i n g r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e p h o t o , a n d j u s t i f y t h e i r response with an explanation that uses textual evidence. " O v e r a l l , m y s t u d e n t s h a v e a d a p t e d r a t h e r we l l t o t h e C o m- m o n C o r e s h i f t , a s w e m o v e toward the ultimate goal: college and career readiness for all," Pan- toja says. Math in Roseville By Dina Martin The new Common Core curricu- lum is a challenge, to be sure, but a s a v e t e r a n 1 4 - y e a r t e a c h e r i n Roseville, Rhonda White is always up for new challenges. Not only did she participate in a three-year Common Core math training program offered through the Placer County Office of Educa- tion, she is involved in CTA's Teacher Leadership Cohort. Funded through a $40,000 NEA grant and f a c i l i t a t e d by CTA' s I n s t r u c t i o n a n d P r o f e s s i o n a l Development Department, the program helps mem- bers become advocates in improving instruction and professional practices. And if that isn't enough, she is president of the Dry Creek Teachers Association. "These are real-world applications, and this is material they will use in real life," says Rhonda White. 47 www.cta.org M AY 2 0 1 4 Educator 05 May 2014 v1.6 int.indd 47 5/16/14 3:21 PM