Glencliff students showed Board of Education members what they have been learning in math this year at the Oct. 9 Board of Education meeting.

The math demonstrations were part of the "Students First" series, gives Board members an opportunity to see examples of student learning from all of the district's schools at the start of its meetings over the course of a year.

On Oct. 9, Glencliff students in grades one through three showed off elements of the new Math in Focus program, which uses a concrete–pictorial–abstract approach to help students visualize the concepts of math. The goal is to enable students to gain a deeper understanding of math concepts so that they can ultimately use them to solve real-world problems. Math in Focus is in use in all of the district's elementary schools; it is based upon the internationally-recognized Singapore Math model.

Math in Focus is aligned with the Common Core Standards in Math. These new standards emphasize the ability to reason abstractly and quantitatively; the application of math to solve real-world problems; and enabling students to develop their own arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

Twelve Glencliff students from the classes of Mrs. Romano (first grade), Mrs. Connally (second grade), and Mrs. McMahon (third grade) demonstrated different hands-on aspects of the Math in Focus program that they have worked on this year at the meeting.