Mathematical Practices
The Common Core State Standards specify eight mathematical practices to cultivate in students of all ages, all math abilities, and at every grade level. These practices are crucial to keep in the front of our minds as educators because they address the attitudes and beliefs of being a mathematician.
These mathematical practices are about perseverance, strategy, conceptual understanding, and “productive disposition.”
“[A productive disposition is the] habitual inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in diligence and one’s own efficacy.””
So paste these in your lesson plans, write them on a sticky note next to your whiteboard, just put them anywhere they will serve as a visible reminder.
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Model with mathematics.
Use appropriate tools strategically.
Attend to precision.
Look for and make use of structure.
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.