UbD and Teaching Math

I love teaching math... but I don't love the struggle of first helping students understand the concept of the problem in general (exactly how to carry over the numbers when regrouping, etc.) to calculate the correct answer and then helping them see when it will "transfer" over to real life. Some real life examples are easy to understand (I am careful to use this word interchangeably given the UbD design... but whether students see for themselves these examples on their own when presented with a problem in the real world could prove this method wrong.

UbD illustrates on pages 42-43 that although mant students can perform the tasks and have the knowledge to answer questions on the Pythagorean theorem, they are unable to carry over this knowledge when the question isn't formally asking to use the method to solve the problem. As a matter of fact, they said only about 33% of students knew to do so when given a problem to solve relating to the concept!

As I am baffled (sort of), I am scared to go back and teach math tomorrow... or any other subject... given this known deficit of concern. As I teach weight, capacity, and measurement and soon, fractions, I want my students to clearly see and understand why and when they would use these, outside of just answering problems 1-30 in their books. I give as many examples as I can, but I often fear their "carry over" is sub par.

Enjoying the book as it challenging the very basis of my teaching credential and training.