Let me take a moment to address something I see a LOT since its adoption: Common Core complaints. First, let me say that I dont think the implementation has been correct. Common Core is built on learning techniques early on that are used at higher levels in the program, but so is the old curriculum. The issue is putting children whove been taught the old methods into a program that makes them have to re-learn how to do things theyve already learned to do, a different way. So thats said. Common Core Mathematics, specifically, is being taught in a way that removes the necessity of calculators and/or pen/paper to complete complex equations. I am a little biased on this, because I taught myself mathematics. I do math in my head JUST like Common Core. Take everything to base-10 and estimation, division, even algebra and calculus becomes several seconds of calculation in your head. This is why I didnt do well in High School Mathematics, I have no work to show in the way the old standard expected. I was accused of cheating by several teachers because I could ace a test as long as you didnt require me to show my work, but since homework was 100% show your work, I got Fs on it. It was unfathomable that a student who couldnt work it out could come up with the right answer, even though I could answer random problems he wrote on the board. In the attached article, Mr. Erickson states: The new method makes no freaking sense to either my third grader or my wife. It shouldnt. Thats why your third grader is learning it. The old method made no sense to you or your wife when you were third graders, thats why you were learning it. Mathematics isnt a singular road, there are multiple ways to arrive at the same answer. The issue is that this isnt the method you were taught. In the end, I learned to fake the old method. Much the way everyone is complaining about how many steps are required to complete Common Core problems ON PAPER, it infuriated me to take the extra steps to backtrack into the standardized solutions so I could get credit for my work in the old system.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 18:51:29 +0000
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