Mathematical Practices

So I'm now officially more than half-way through getting my second master's degree.  My first degree is from the University of Oklahoma, officially titled "Master of Education in Educational Instructional Psychology and Technology" - a long title for teaching with technology with some extra thought about the human mind and how we think.  Although I was glad to get the degree at the time, I've found that much of the technology is now outdated.  Since I took 12 years off from teaching to have my kiddos, I thought that it was time to learn about current educational theory.

Shameless plug…
I researched for quite a long time because I wasn't interested in going back to school for a master's of pure math.  Basically (being totally honest here) because I've been teaching just algebra for so long, I was afraid I wouldn't remember anything at a higher level.  On a complete fluke, I came across mention (In a discussion thread, buried way down somewhere) about a program at Montana State University.  I did some research and calling around and found that this program offers a Master's of Science in Mathematics for Math Educators!  I've been in now for a year and a half and I think it is fantastic.  It is mostly online with a small requirement for three weeks during one or two summers at the campus (which is in a beautiful location in Bozeman, MT, not too far from Yellowstone NP).  If you're looking to further your education, this is a GREAT program!

Ok… back to Mathematcial Practices.  This class I took this summer was all about teaching around the new Common Core standards and the Mathematical Practices.  I'll tell you what, I understand them so much more and will definitely have to look at my units and see if I'm covering everything.  I was back in my classroom a little this week and was thinking that I wanted to post something about the practices so my students are familiar with them.  As I was browsing online I came across these:

Oh my…. they are AWESOME!  The practices are listed and broken down easily for the students to understand.  Now I take absolutely no credit for these, but they were easily available by just doing a search for "math practices" and then clicking on images.  Search around and you'll be able to find several PDFs already created for you.  I can't wait to post them on my bulletin board!