The concept of Constructivism states that we learn best by being actively engaged in hands-on activities and experiences. These experiences shape learning in a memorable way and allow students to apply their knowledge to new and diverse situations. I have to believe that Constructivism had a huge influence on the development of Common Core Math, and for the most part, I am in favor of it! Let me explain.

I am an 8th grade math teacher. I have been teaching for 15 years. My first year teaching in El Paso, Il., I taught the "traditional" way, just like the retiring teacher I was replacing. Students were presented with a daily topic, given examples, and then asked to repeat the process multiple times before we moved on to the next topic. Half-way through the year, I realized that most of my 8th grade students were acting like the topics I was covering were something new that they had never seen before, when in fact I knew for a fact they had covered the same material the year before. I had a calendar from the previous teacher in which he wrote down what he taught every day. I could see that in 7th grade they had covered the same material I was being asked to teach in 8th grade, but they acted like they had never learned it. Why? Well, because the brain is an amazing tool that can determine what information needs to be in short-term memory vs. long-term memory. The "traditional" teaching method encourages kids to learn something by "spoon-feeding" the material to them several times throughout the early years in hopes that they will eventually catch on. Kids are not required to problems solve--just repeat what they are presented with. Therefore, there is often very little ownership of the material and less value is placed on it. The brain places this information in short-term memory and then, at the end of the chapter, discards the data in order to make room for new information.

Common Core Math, if taught properly, is very different. The underlying goal is to present the students with a word problem or situation that they must solve in order to gain the knowledge for the lesson--constructivism. Through this experience, they take ownership of the problem and are able to develop an understaning of the underlying concepts and skills necessary to solve the problem. They are able to think back and recall the problem, giving them a contextual setting for their learning and making skills and learning more long-term. I have witnessed, first hand, how students can recall information more readily when they can associate it with a specific problem. If I ask my students, "What does an exponential growth graph look like?," many of my students might not remember. However, if I follow it up saying "Do you remember the bunnies?," students immediatly are able to picture the exponential growth problem we did in class and then recall how exponential growth can be seen in a graph or table because it was connected to an experience. 

Now, this does not mean that my role is a teacher is to present the kids with a problem and then sit back and let them struggle and come up with their own learning. My role as a teacher is critical. I must be actively engaged in observing what my groups of students are doing and make sure that they are on the right path. I must ask questions that can guide them when they are stuck or challenge them to prove their statements when they think they have made a conclusion. In addition, it is my role to correct students who may have gotten an incorrect conclusion and make sure they leave class with the proper information--or at least challenge them to fix their thinking and come back and discuss it the next day. I must know what my kids are learning and make sure it is correct--challenging incorrect conclusions and asking for proof for correct conclusions. The more students are involved in their learning and in forming their own conclusions, the better their recall and their ability to modify this information to tackle tougher problems.

I know this only scratches the surface of Common Core math and the vast complaints that parents and some teachers have towards the methodology, but hopefully it starts a conversation about the foundations of Common Core math and what some of the reasoning is behind it.