tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post2652949900676599911..comments2024-03-13T21:26:03.011-07:00Comments on Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: Teaching MathDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-47742735653935806332017-01-23T17:24:48.419-08:002017-01-23T17:24:48.419-08:00From what I have read, Shanghai is not typical of ...From what I have read, Shanghai is not typical of China. I understand that it is the financial heart and home to many high-performing families, but I have read that people who have come from elsewhere/rural areas, to work in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities are not allowed to live in those cities (special compounds outside, perhaps with walls/gates) and their kids are not allowed to attend the city schools. The Shanghai schools may be more like schools in Silicon Valley, Scarsdale NY, Winnetka ILor Potomac MD than any of our average schools. Not just exactly representative.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-46833458606749444002017-01-22T18:09:53.955-08:002017-01-22T18:09:53.955-08:00I've been reading studies on how people who me...I've been reading studies on how people who memorized multiplication (and other) facts, actually use a different part of our brain to calculate which is sometimes more efficient. When I was in school, memorization of poetry every year was a staple. Now teachers are told rote learning is bad. But how much easier would it be to move to higher math (or other) skills if you already knew the basic level of information? I doubt that the Indians, Russian, Koreans or Chinese are handing out calculators to elementary school students telling them to just punch numbers and not talking about internalizing some of those facts. This may be why their students, even when they arrive here with little English language acquistion, often surpass our own in pure math and science calculations.Ellen Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02845981491726296767noreply@blogger.com