This article begins by describing a class scenario in which a teacher gives her students the L problem (Watanabe 2008), which involves finding the area of a composite figure. Her students inappropriately extend the area formula for rectangles (A = L x W) to composite figures by multiplying all given dimensions. After class, the teacher concluded…

This article describes a process called "Backing Up" which is a way to preassess student understanding of a topic and gauge student readiness to move forward in the learning process. This process of backing up begins with using responses to a word problem to identify categories of students' understandings in relation to the expectations…

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) is different from the objectives that many teachers have previously experienced in their state frameworks. Although the mathematical topics of the two may be the same, the mathematical expectations within the Standards require a deeper understanding by teachers and students. In this article, the…