Statement of Understanding

Anne Schuerger

University of Alaska Southeast

ED 616 Spring 2021

Introduction

My philosophy of education is centered around the concept of intentionality and teaching

with a clear purpose behind my methods. An intentional teacher knows what goals they expect to

see their students meet and is able to engage and motivate students to meet to them. It is a sense

of purpose that is also important for students to be aware of, especially when teaching

mathematics. This course has taught me how if students are unable to see why mathematics is

applicable to them many will not have the intrinsic motivation to learn. This is why my

philosophy of teaching mathematics is not only to be intentional with my methods but to create a

classroom environment where students do not have to ask “Why do we have to learn this?” This

course has taught me that this is accomplished by promoting inquiry and exploration as well as

connecting mathematics to other subject areas that help students see the daily integration of

mathematics in the world outside of the classroom. The other key component of my philosophy

of education is that all students do well if they can. If a student is unable to do well it is because

there is a barrier that is in their way. This course has taught me the importance of holding high

expectations for all students in mathematics and I think that this is necessary across all subject

areas. If a student is unable to be successful in mathematics it is the teacher’s responsibility to

work with the student and find what barrier is preventing them from doing well. To do this, a

teacher must have a knowledge and appreciation of teaching mathematics. This is my statement

of understanding in the hopes of being a successful teacher of mathematics in the K-8 classroom.

Common Core, State, and Cultural Standards

The first step in being an intentional teacher with clear goals in mind for your students is

being familiar with and knowledgable of the Common Core, State, and Cultural Standards that

your students are expected to meet. In Alaska, we have not adopted the Common Core standards
but our Alaska state standards are very similar as they are based off of the Common Core

standards. These are the goals and objectives for students to meet at each grade level. In

mathematics the standards are broken up into various sections depending on the grade level such

as operations and algebraic thinking, numbers and operations, measurement and data, and

geometry. In addition to content standards there are also Process standards and Practice standards

that teachers must help their students develop. The Process standards include methods and

strategies that students need to acquire to be successful in understanding mathematical content.

These include skills such problem solving, reasoning, communication, making connections, and

representations. The Practice standards are additional processes and general skills that

compliment the content students. The Practice standards are ways of doing math that also help all

students reach deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.

One of the great things about the Alaska State standards is that they include a collection

of Cultural Standards as well as content standards. The Alaska State Cultural standards are

broken into five sets of standards: standards for students, educators, curriculums, schools, and

communities. These standards serve as guidelines and resources for educators to ensure that they

are providing a culturally responsive environment for their students that takes into account a

student’s cultural background and local knowledge. As educators our knowledge of the Cultural

Standards for educators is extremely important as it helps us connect the content to our student’s

world. I mentioned that helping students see the importance of being proficient in math is an

important component of my philosophy of teaching mathematics. Including the Cultural

Standards in the classroom is a way for students to see this connection and not just teach them

new applicable content but to build on the knowledge and skills that each student already brings

to the classroom. Culturally responsive teaching in mathematics might look like using place
based problems, objects, and situations that relate to Alaska or our specific community. Students

in Alaska have little understanding about the need to build a skyscraper with a certain amount of

windows or to plant a field of corn but they do see the importance in building a state ferry that

holds a certain amount of cars or to harvest an amount of salmon. Small changes in language can

make mathematical situations more accessible and more applicable to students. The Cultural

standards hold educators accountable for this and make our classrooms a more welcoming place

for students, giving every student a better chance for success.

Curriculum, Content and Pedagogy

Many teachers today have little control over their curriculum and content but they do

have control over how the content is delivered in their classroom. Compared to the past our

understanding of teaching math is now less centered around memorization and algorithms and

more centered around inquiry and exploration. This shift is based on the constructivist theory of

learning, the idea that students achieve deeper levels of understanding when they are the ones

doing the work. The constructivist approach allows students the opportunity to build their own

understandings using their own ideas that they already bring to the classroom. This is something

that is especially important in mathematics.

Problem Solving, Reasoning, Communication, and Connections

Problem solving and reasoning is a key part of the constructivist approach. When

students are challenged to solve a problem instead of being taught how to solve it they gain

content skills, process skills, and practice skills. They also develop inventive strategies that make

the most sense to them and lead them towards higher level thinking. To make problem solving

even more effective teachers can provide students with an environment that is collaborative and

promotes communication between students. Having students work together to reason opens their
minds to different perspectives and there are more connections that can be made during the

learning process both mathematical and interpersonal. The use of estimation, models, and tools

such as manipulatives in math is also an important part of helping students reach understanding

in mathematics and make connections. It is crucial though that the use of models and tools for

learning in the classroom should be available for free use and should make sense to the student.

Diverse Learners

Another important component to the teaching of mathematics is being able to

accommodate the wide variety of learning styles and abilities in the classroom. Diverse learners

require diverse teaching strategies and teachers must have the knowledge to recognize and

provide accommodations and modifications when needed. Teachers can make adjustments in the

learning environment and provide additional instruction to assist students who are not meeting

expectations. Many schools use the Multitiered System of Support, which identifies and provides

instructional support to struggling students. A K-8 teacher must be able to attend to explicit

strategy intervention for students in the first two tiers and monitor student progress. Each subject

has its own academic vocabulary that, for ELL students especially, can create a barrier for

students’ mathematical learning. Building background knowledge, promoting the use of first

languages, and teaching math specific terminology and symbols are necessary parts of closing

opportunity gaps for students. Providing opportunities for group work and peer scaffolding is

also necessary for inclusion and can benefit all students in mathematics. Those that are

mathematically gifted need specific instruction and accommodations as well such as enrichment

actives and more opportunities for higher level thinking. Just because a student is meeting

expectations doesn’t mean that they are receiving enough support. Challenging students is

imperative to growth.
Number, Operations, and Algebra

For students to understand numbers and operations they must understand what the

numbers represent and where the numbers come from. In kindergarten, mathematics begins with

counting and cardinality. Students start to recognize the numbers and what they represent. Once

this understanding is reached students can begin the comparison of numbers including spacial

relationships and a number sense. After students achieve number sense they can start to develop

operation skills. Starting with simpler language is key to introducing these topics. Students can

make connections to more or less before they can comprehend the mathematical terminology of

addition and subtraction. The same is for multiplication and division. Giving students

opportunities to experiment with operations without the symbols builds a more solid

foundational understanding. In addition to operations students also need instruction to develop

place-value concepts. Once all these foundational components of mathematical understanding

are introduced students can begin to experiment with and develop more advanced computational

strategies. Algebra helps students connect the operations. Students can be introduced to algebraic

concepts early because they help them understand the relationship between numbers. Teaching

students to make connections between the operations and strategies increases their awareness of

how mathematical concepts are related, reducing a student’s need for memorization. Being able

to recognize the relationships between addition and subtraction and multiplication and division

increases a students understanding and encourages higher level thinking.

Geometry and Measurement

Spatial relationships are the focus when teaching geometry and measurement. Teaching

geometry involves both promoting a student’s growth in geometric thought and their

understanding of geometric content. Geometry helps students develop a spatial sense. The van
Hiele levels of geometric thought are important for teachers to know so that they can recognize

what level each of their students is at and adjust instruction accordingly as geometry instruction

must match the student’s level of thought. In the K-8 classroom students will most likely only

achieve the first three van Hiele levels: visualization, analysis, and informal deduction. The

biggest factor in students moving to a higher level of thought is their time and experience with

geometric activities. To account for student diversity and students being in different van Hiele

levels of thought teachers can provide a variety of geometric activities that give all students the

opportunity for higher order thinking. Measurement also builds students’ spacial thinking skills.

When teaching measurement students first need the basic understanding of what it means to

measure and why we need to measure. To help students come to this understanding students

should be encouraged to compare nonstandard units before being asked to compare standard

units. This will help students come to a deeper understanding about measurement and why there

is a need for standard units. Geometry and measurement both have endless applications in our

world, making them easy to connect to students’ lives. Comparison activities, modeling and

hands on activities provide experiences that increase spacial skills. They can be integrated with

other mathematical concepts and other subject areas such as science to promote engaging and

practical applications for students.

Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability

Mathematics and statistics are related but doing statistics is not doing mathematics.

Statistics is the analysis of data, much of which is obtained through mathematics. Data analysis,

statistics, and probability are all crucial for students to be able to understand and interpret the

world. Students need knowledge and skills in statistics so they can look at data and recognize

similarities and differences, find patterns and make predictions. Understanding that things can
change is an important part of this as well as recognizing the importance of context. A key

component of teaching data analysis is helping students see the shape of data, or the distribution

of data. This can be done with students of all ages, as long as the form of data representation is

developmentally appropriate. Visual representations of data such as line plots, bar graphs, and

histograms help students recognize and interpret the shape of data which also helps students

develop concepts relating to variability and probability. Because statistics is used frequently in

everyday life it also is easy to relate to students’ lives. Teachers can guide students to ask

statistics based questions that are personal to them, motivating them to research and interpret the

data.

Assessment of Student Mathematical Understanding

In addition to being intentional, knowledgeable, and inclusive, a teacher of mathematics

in the K-8 classroom should also be reflective. Reflection is one of the best ways to learn and

improve. A reflective teacher is one that is constantly striving to make math more accessible to

students. To do so a teacher must know their students well, they must know what their students

know and what they need additional instruction and support on. Assessment helps teacher

achieve this by providing information on student strengths and weaknesses. To be effective

assessment should be a part of the learning process and demonstrate evidence of understanding.

Assessment can be formative, done during learning, or summative, done after learning. Types of

assessment include observations, oral responses, tasks, and tests. There are also many different

purposes for assessment: to promote growth, to improve instruction, to modify the program or to

recognize accomplishment. For the assessment to be successful its purpose must be clear to both

the student and the teacher. In mathematics it is not just content that should be assessed but also

students’ practice and process strategies and skills. To keep track of student progress, taking
notes, using checklists, and talking to students are great ways to assess knowledge and skills in

mathematics. Having students assess themselves is also a way to promote reflection and higher

level thinking. Mathematics is a subject that brings up many anxieties for students, especially

when tests are used, testing is important but can be enhanced for better experiences. Providing

more opportunity for students to explain their thinking, and draw or label their work can increase

metacognition in students and give you more information about their strengths and weaknesses

while decreasing anxieties. In order to know our students we must be constantly assessing their

understanding, integrating informal assessment into our daily routine.

Conclusion

When teaching mathematics in the K-8 classroom you must know your students and you

must know your expectations for your students. One of the most important messages I received

from this course occurred on our first meeting, that all students are good at math. While each

student will have a different limit to their mathematical understanding and different needs for

instruction it is the teacher’s responsibility to hold high expectations for all students so that they

also see themselves as being good at math. That is why I hope to provide an inclusive, culturally-

responsive classroom that values math as a crucial part of our world. This, in addition to the

knowledge and appreciation of standards, curriculum, content and pedagogy, are all necessary

parts to being a successful teacher of mathematics.

Sources

Robertson, K., (2020, February 18). Math Instruction for English Language Learners. Retrieved

from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/math-instruction-english-language-learner

Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2019). Elementary and Middle School

Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.