By Megan Hancock
Imagine a freshly baked chocolate cake. Now imagine the
individual ingredients before they were mixed together and baked. Would you rather eat a freshly baked cake or
the individual ingredients? Most people would prefer to eat the freshly baked
cake! Without the TEKS Mathematical
Process Standards, mathematics instruction is just like the individual
ingredients for the cake. The individual
activities can stand alone, but when the activities are integrated with the
process standards, mathematics becomes much more rich and enjoyable. The TEKS mathematical process standards can
be difficult to implement, but the presenters at the fourth annual Research-to-Practice
Conference hosted by
the Research in Mathematics Education (RME) Department at Southern Methodist
University (SMU) provided attendees with examples and resources to facilitate
their implementation.

Teachers often struggle with ways to create authentic
mathematics tasks that integrate the process standards, but there are many
resources available to teachers to help incorporate the standards. NextLesson provides
teachers with real-world problem solving activities that are personalized to
students’ interests. Each activity has
multiple different versions so students are able to learn the same concepts
while working on a problem that interests them.
Spark 101 Mathematics provides
10-minute video case studies related to science, technology, engineering, or
mathematics. These videos provide
teachers with the beginning to a lesson that incorporates real world
mathematical topics.

The TEKS Mathematical Process Standards turn mathematics
instruction from independent activities to rich, real world activities. Attending mathematical conferences allows
teachers to learn about current research, best practices, and helpful
resources. Teachers are also able to converse
with other teachers from different schools and districts to learn what works
best in their classes. The RME 2015
Research-to-Practice Conference did just that.
When standards change, teachers often struggle with adopting new
practices to best implement the new standards.
The discussions at the RME Conference provided teachers with ideas for
implementation of the TEKS Mathematical Process Standards.
According to Cherrstrom (2012), “graduate students and
professionals who attend conferences have the potential to enjoy and benefit
from making a variety of connections” (p. 148).
Attending mathematical conferences allows teachers to learn about
current research, best practices, and helpful resources. Teachers are also able to converse with other
teachers from different schools and districts to learn what works best in their
classes. The RME 2015
Research-to-Practice Conference did just that.
When standards change, teachers often struggle with adopting new
practices to best implement the new standards.
The discussions at the RME Conference provided teachers with ideas for
implementation of the TEKS Mathematical Process Standards.
Walkington, C., Sherman, M., & Howell, E. (2014). Personalized learning in algebra. The Mathematics Teacher, 108(4), p.
272-279.
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