Maybe you are a great math teacher, maybe you have great math skills, or maybe you just were lucky, but you have been hired to work as the elementary math specialist at your school! You are excited about the job, but a little unsure about what you will be doing. Don’t worry!

This is pretty common, especially if the position is new to your school. Here are some basics that you should focus on in your new position.

By and large, elementary school teachers are generalists—and even though they are great teachers, math might not be their strongest subject.

That’s why you’ve been hired as a math specialist, and you might be helping teachers in a couple of ways depending, on what your principal wants. You could be primarily working with teachers to assist them and to help them improve their teaching, you could be working primarily with students who need help in some way, or you could be doing some of both.

The needs and directions of each school will be different, but here is one underlying concept you can focus on: understanding the trajectory of your math curriculum.

If you are using the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS), then your learning trajectory is highly-defined for each grade level. However, even if your school or state has not adopted these standards, you are now the resident expert in math curriculum for your school.

One of the things I like most about the CCSS is that what is taught at each grade level is clear. You can really help your teachers maximize their impact by focusing on exactly what needs to be taught.

An example of this is the trajectory for learning whole number multi-digit multiplication.

TRAJECTORY FOR LEARNING WHOLE NUMBER MULTI-DIGIT MULTIPLICATION

Below I've outlined the trajectory of whole number multi-digit multiplication at each grade level:

GRADE 2

• Start the foundation for multiplication

• Express even numbers up to twenty as the sum of two addends

• Express up to a 5 x 5 rectangular array as the sum of equal addends

GRADE 3

• Multiply one-digit numbers by ten

• Use multiplication within 100 to solve problems

• Multiply two one-digit numbers by the end of Grade 3

• Develop an understanding of relationship between multiplication and division

• Connect area to multiplication

GRADE 4

• Multiply up to one-digit by four-digit numbers using models

• Multiply up to two-digit by two-digit numbers using models

• Find all factor pairs for numbers less than 100

GRADE 5

• Fluently multiply multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm

By knowing this trajectory, you can help teachers within each grade level and across grade levels to focus on exactly what to teach.

For example, Grade 2 teachers will know to teach the sums of equal addends. Grade 3 teachers can take over and move students toward the memorization of multiplication facts by the end of the year. You can help teachers at each grade level understand what their responsibilities are—and what they are not.

In addition, by knowing the trajectory of your curriculum, you can help identify students who are falling behind and design interventions to help them. Thus, second grade students who do not understand the idea of equal addends of rectangular arrays will need help in third grade. Students who do not understand their basic facts by the end of third grade will need help in fourth grade. Early identification and intervention with these students will help everyone, and that’s sure to be part of your job!

IN CONCLUSION

If you're a elementary math specialist, I would love to hear how knowing the trajectory of your curriculum has helped you support math teachers. Leave a comment!

photo © iStockphoto