NCTM Principles and Standards
Educators from across the nation have a great resource for professional learning and research--the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. It is important for you to become familiar with or to reacquaint yourself with this organization to keep current on issues in mathematics education. You can view the NCTM Web site and its resources here: http://www.nctm.org/
According to the NCTM, there are five basic strands (content areas) for mathematics:
- Number and Operations
- Algebra
- Geometry
- Measurement
- Data Analysis
The NCTM Principles and Standards as well as the Curriculum Focal Points attempt to address each of the strands throughout the grade levels. The NCTM Standards are divided into two categories: content standards and process standards. The Process Standards can apply or relate to many of the Content Standards. For example, you can apply Communication, making Connections, Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof and making Representations to the understanding of the Geometry Standard of "apply transformations and use symmetry to analyze mathematical situations."
According the the NCTM Content Standards for Geometry, students at all levels should be able to do the following:
- analyze characteristics and properties of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships;
- specify locations and describe spatial relationships using coordinate geometry and other representational systems;
- apply transformations and use symmetry to analyze mathematical situations;
- use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve problems. (NCTM, 2000)
Click this link for more information on Geometry Standard.