Focuses on essential knowledge for teachers about proof and the process of proving. It is organised around five big ideas, supported by multiple smaller, interconnected ideas-essential understandings. Taking you beyond a simple introduction to proof and the activities involved in proving, the book will broaden and deepen your mathematical understanding of one of the most challenging topics for students...and teachers.

Why does it matter whether we state definitions carefully when we all know what particular geometric figures look like? What does it mean to say that a reflection is a transformation—a function? How does the study of transformations and matrices in high school connect with later work with vector spaces in linear algebra? How much do you know… and how much do you need to know? Helping your students develop a robust understanding of geometry requires that you understand this mathematics deeply. But what does that mean? This book focuses on essential knowledge for teachers about geometry. It is organised around four big ideas, supported by multiple smaller, interconnected ideas—essential understandings. Taking you beyond a simple introduction to geometry, the book will broaden and deepen your mathematical understanding of one of the most challenging topics for students—and teachers. It will help you engage your students, anticipate their perplexities, avoid pitfalls, and dispel misconceptions. You will also learn to develop appropriate tasks, techniques, and tools for assessing students’ understanding of the topic. Focus on the ideas that you need to understand thoroughly to teach confidently. Move beyond the mathematics you expect your students to learn. Students who fail to get a solid grounding in pivotal concepts struggle in subsequent work in mathematics and related disciplines. By bringing a deeper understanding to your teaching, you can help students who don’t get it the first time by presenting the mathematics in multiple ways. The Essential Understanding Series addresses topics in school mathematics that are critical to the mathematical development of students but are often difficult to teach. Each book in the series gives an overview of the topic, highlights the differences between what teachers and students need to know, examines the big ideas and related essential understandings, reconsiders the ideas presented in light of connections with other mathematical ideas, and includes questions for readers’ reflection.

How does a statistical model differ from a mathematical model? What are the differences among the sample distribution, the sampling distribution, and the population distribution? In an experiment, what effect does the sampling method have on the results? What are the implications of the use of processes of random selection and random assignment? Can a small sample yield accurate estimates of population parameters? This book examines five big ideas and twenty-four related essential understandings for teaching statistics in grades 9–12. The authors distinguish mathematical and statistical models, explore distributions as descriptions of variability in data, focus on the fundamentals of testing hypotheses to draw conclusions from data, highlight the importance of the data collection method, and recognise the need to examine bias, precision, and sampling method in evaluating statistical estimators. Recognising that analysing data is an important part of understanding the world, the authors discuss the growth of students’ ideas about statistics and examine challenges to teaching, learning, and assessment. They intersperse their discussion with questions for teachers’ reflection.

Teaching Mathematics in Grades 6 - 12 by Randall E. Groth explores how research in mathematics education can inform teaching practice in grades 6-12. The author shows preservice mathematics teachers the value of being a "researcher—constantly experimenting with methods for developing students' mathematical thinking—and connecting this research to practices that enhance students' understanding of the material. Ultimately, preservice teachers will gain a deeper understanding of the types of mathematical knowledge students bring to school, and how students' thinking may develop in response to different teaching strategies.

Let’s face it, teaching secondary math can be hard. So much about how we teach math today may look and feel different from how we learned it. Teaching math in a student-centered way changes the role of the teacher from one who traditionally "delivers knowledge" to one who fosters thinking. Most importantly, we must ensure our practice gives each and every student the opportunity to learn, grow, and achieve at high levels, while providing opportunities to develop their agency and authority in the classroom which results in a positive math identity. Whether you are a brand new teacher or a veteran, if you find teaching math to be quite the challenge, this is the guide you want by your side. Designed for just-in-time learning and support, this practical resource gives you brief, actionable answers to your most pressing questions about teaching secondary math. Written by four experienced math educators representing diverse experiences, these authors offer the practical advice they wish they received years ago, from lessons they′ve learned over decades of practice, research, coaching, and through collaborating with teams, teachers and colleagues—especially new teachers—every day. Questions and answers are organized into five areas of effort that will help you most thrive in your secondary math classroom: How do I build a positive math community? How do I structure, organize, and manage my math class? How do I engage my students in math? How do I help my students talk about math? How do I know what my students know and move them forward? Woven throughout, you′ll find helpful sidebar notes on fostering identity and agency; access and equity; teaching in different settings; and invaluable resources for deeper learning. The final question—Where do I go from here?— offers guidance for growing your practice over time. Strive to become the best math educator you can be; your students are counting on it! What will be your first step on the journey?

"A series for teaching mathematics."--P. [1] of cover.

This book presents innovative approaches and state-of-the-art empirical studies on mathematics teacher learning. It highlights the advantages and challenges of such tools as classroom videos, concept cartoons, simulations, and scenarios. The book details how representations of practice encourage and afford professional development, and describes how these tools help to investigate aspects of teacher expertise, beliefs, and conceptions. In addition, the book identifies the methodological challenges that can emerge and the obstacles educators might encounter when using representations of practice. The book examines the nature of these challenges and provides suggestions for solving them. It offers a variety of different approaches that can help educators to develop professional learning activities for prospective and in-service teachers.

Sharpen concrete teaching strategies that empower students to reason-and-prove How do teachers and students benefit from engaging in reasoning-and-proving? What strategies can teachers use to support students’ capacity to reason-and-prove? What does reasoning-and-proving instruction look like? We Reason & We Prove for ALL Mathematics helps mathematics teachers in grades 6-12 engage in the critical practice of reasoning-and-proving and support the development of reasoning-and-proving in their students. The phrase "reasoning-and-proving" describes the processes of identifying patterns, making conjectures, and providing arguments that may or may not qualify as proofs – processes that reflect the work of mathematicians. Going beyond the idea of "formal proof" traditionally relegated only to geometry, this book transcends all mathematical content areas with a variety of activities for teachers to learn more about reasoning-and-proving and about how to support students’ capacities to engage in this mathematical thinking through: Solving and discussing high-level mathematical tasks Analyzing narrative cases that make the relationship between teaching and learning salient Examining and interpreting student work that features a range of solution strategies, representations, and misconceptions Modifying tasks from curriculum materials so that they better support students to reason-and-prove Evaluating learning environments and making connections between key ideas about reasoning-and-proving and teaching strategies We Reason & We Prove for ALL Mathematics is designed as a learning tool for practicing and pre-service mathematics teachers and can be used individually or in a group. No other book tackles reasoning-and-proving with such breadth, depth, and practical applicability. Classroom examples, case studies, and sample problems help to sharpen concrete teaching strategies that empower students to reason-and-prove!

A clear need exists for substantial improvement in mathematics proficiency in U.S. schools. The RAND Mathematics Study Panel was convened to inform the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement on ways to improve the quality and usability of education research and development (R&D). The panel identified three areas for focused R&D: development of teachers' mathematical knowledge used in teaching; teaching and learning of skills needed for mathematical thinking and problem-solving; and teaching and learning of algebra from kindergarten through the 12th grade.