The hot topic at the second annual “Math in the Mountains” conference this year was the Common Core Standards.

More than 130 teachers from around the valley converged at Glacier High School recently to learn what the standards require and which teaching strategies to implement.

Montana was the 46th state to adopt the standards in November 2011. The new standards focus on college and career readiness specific to math and language arts while incorporating literacy requirements in multiple subjects such as science.

Teachers from all grade levels delved into a deeper understanding of learning — much as the Common Core Standards will require of their students.

Keynote speaker Dan Mulligan, an educational consultant, had teachers participate in activities they might use in the classroom — asking them questions and walking them through possible answers.

“I’m not here to lecture. I’m a tour guide. I’m a facilitator,” Mulligan said.

Being a guide rather than a lecturer was key to demonstrating how to engage students in deeper learning. Having students ask questions and reason why they are doing what they’re doing should drive learning, he said.

“It’s not math for math’s sake,” Mulligan said. The Common Core instead is about students establishing abstract and quantitative reasoning.

During the conference Aug. 16, teachers learned about the vocabulary of the Common Core — words such as “precision,” “perseverance” and “relevance” kept popping up in discussion.

Equipping students with an academic vocabulary is key to their perseverance through a problem, Mulligan said. The proper academic vocabulary provides a background, a reference point, as they learn new concepts. When students continue in their education, they build upon this background, he said.

“We don’t do enough with academic vocabulary,” Mulligan said. “Because of the Common Core, all kids will have this background.”  

The purpose of the standards is to create clarity and consistency no matter where a student lives. Teaching transfer students should be easier because of the uniformity, according to West Valley Elementary second-grade teacher Becky Davis.

“It won’t be like a foreign language when we’re talking about a certain subject,” Davis said.

To demonstrate the power of vocabulary, Mulligan asked teachers to talk to a partner and describe photosynthesis without using words that start with “p,” “l,” “t” or “s.”

“Did any of you feel slightly frustrated? That’s exactly how kids feel when they don’t have the vocabulary,” Mulligan said. “It affects your ability to ‘know.’”

Davis and Muldown Elementary second-grade teacher Kitty Dowaliby said the activity made an impact.

“It really sends home the fact that kids who don’t have the vocabulary, how frustrating that would be,” Davis said.

For all of the activities, teachers were encouraged to discuss and seek input from the people around them, referring to them as “shoulder buddies.”

“Twenty years ago you gave the child a certain amount of time to process a question. You waited two seconds before going to another child,” Davis said. “But now, you have to give them pre-information and allow time to talk with their ‘shoulder buddies’ before they give an answer.”

Davis elaborated that the “shoulder buddy” strategy not only promotes multiple approaches to a problem but also gives shy students a chance to participate in class.

“When you ask a question of the students, there are those who might think they have the answer but are so afraid of being wrong that they aren’t ever going to raise their hands,” Davis said.

Dowaliby said she was shy as a young student and that the “shoulder buddy” may provide positive reinforcement and confidence a hesitant student needs.

“It eliminating the intimidation factor. I’m talking to you instead of the whole class,” Dowaliby said.

While the focus of the day was math, Dowaliby and Davis said the strategies learned could be used to teach any subject.

“The Common Core is the latest buzzword and we’re all just learning what that really means. Part of it is allowing students to be the thinkers and the doers instead of the teacher just giving them the information and them regurgitating it back,” Davis said. “When I first started teaching it was all about everybody being on the same page, in the same textbook, and you just taught to the middle.”

This school year will be spent aligning current state standards to the Common Core. Eliza Sorte, director of Northwest Montana Educational Cooperative, said that should be no problem since most school districts in the valley already have been teaching many of the components.

Sorte said, however, the standards will be a game-changer when comparing test scores. A new Common Core assessment is expected to come out by the 2015 school year.

“This is the only time we can truly compare to other states when the assessments come out. It will be very interesting and very scary,” Sorte said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.