tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post8681672964658738705..comments2024-03-13T21:26:03.011-07:00Comments on Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: This Is *Not* The Best Way To Learn MathDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-46321619603419040862014-09-15T05:58:02.984-07:002014-09-15T05:58:02.984-07:00I think it's simple: things that require memo...I think it's simple: things that require memorization, you require memorization ... but that doesn't mean you can't ALSO explain why it works ...except for long division. That's a very clever algorithm that no one really needs to understand. I never really understood why it worked, until I started teaching synthetic division ... and then, it just sort of clicked.<br />maxutilshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11294262473781967372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1288072744757024802014-09-10T21:26:20.049-07:002014-09-10T21:26:20.049-07:00Since Lehrer was making fun of something that look...Since Lehrer was making fun of something that looks an awful lot like the way I was taught (except for the base-8 stuff, though I did have to do some of that too,) and laughing at what I consider a fairly standard algorithm...I always wonder what way he thinks is better? Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-59810420556579510842014-09-10T17:13:25.828-07:002014-09-10T17:13:25.828-07:00Tom Lehrer, it should be noted ... math professor....Tom Lehrer, it should be noted ... math professor. But yes, the first thing I thought of when I saw this video was of that song ... "Okay ...now let's do it in base 8..."<br />maxutilshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11294262473781967372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-52512761653545799872014-09-09T23:07:01.923-07:002014-09-09T23:07:01.923-07:00Amazing how FIFTY years ago Tom Lehrer could write...Amazing how FIFTY years ago Tom Lehrer could write a song "New Math" that is just as relevant today as it was then.<br /><br />In case you aren't familiar with the song:<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKGV2cTgqA<br />Jerry Doctornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-65551535452702667072014-09-09T17:22:01.409-07:002014-09-09T17:22:01.409-07:00Yeah, what Auntie Ann and PeggyU said.Yeah, what Auntie Ann and PeggyU said.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-38250341747130812762014-09-09T10:58:48.500-07:002014-09-09T10:58:48.500-07:00What Auntie Ann said.
I really hate edubabble. &q...What Auntie Ann said.<br /><br />I really hate edubabble. "Partnering"? How about 6 = 1 + 5, therefore by <i>substitution</i>, 9 + 6 = 9 + (1 + 5)<br /><br />9 + (1 + 5) = (9 + 1) + 5 associative property of addition<br /><br />then (9 + 1) + 5 = 10 + 5 and 10 + 5 = 15<br /><br />I mean, if a lengthy explanation is desired, why not use the correct math terms while you are showing the child how to rearrange the objects?PeggyUnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-28623206368360295762014-09-08T22:07:47.906-07:002014-09-08T22:07:47.906-07:00Well put, Auntie Ann.Well put, Auntie Ann.maxutilshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11294262473781967372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-50684840289544050972014-09-08T12:08:20.581-07:002014-09-08T12:08:20.581-07:00The idiotic straw man argument that in the past we...The idiotic straw man argument that <i>in the past we were only taught to memorize the abstract symbols of 9 + 6 = 15, without understanding that it meant anything more than scribbles on a page</i> needs to stop!<br /><br />There has never been a curriculum that didn't start with representing the abstract numbers with either real-world physical counters or with diagrams on a page. Then moving towards understanding how you can add two piles together to get another number, as well as how you can group the objects together to make use of place value. Word problems which count students in a classroom or fruit in a bowl do the same thing. <br /><br />Much of K, 1st, 2nd, and (when it comes to extending place value out into the quadrillions) even 3rd is taken up--and has always been taken up--by the tying of the real world to the abstract world of numbers on a page. Every curriculum and every standard I have ever seen for the early grades focuses on place value and understanding of arithmetic, not the memorization of abstract and meaningless symbols. <br /><br />These twits that keep saying: in the past teachers and text book writers were unenlightened Gradgrinds needlessly torturing our children with meaningless memorization, but now we are blessed with the enlightened attitude that students actually need to understand what they are doing! need to get a clue.Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-61309362684881173312014-09-08T10:36:42.919-07:002014-09-08T10:36:42.919-07:00This is the biggest crock I have seen since Whole ...This is the biggest crock I have seen since Whole Language. After the instructor got everyone "comfortable" and "deconstructed"<br />part of the problem, she still had to rely on knowledge of addition combinations to arrive at the correct answer.EdDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-4566010830406876982014-09-08T10:35:31.422-07:002014-09-08T10:35:31.422-07:00Of course there's something wrong here. I'...Of course there's something wrong here. I'm all in favor of someone knowing why 9+6= 15, but the teacher just used the words 'partnering, ' and 'decomposing,' for use with a student who is barely learning to add... and, in the process, made what should be a problem that one can do in one's head into a lengthy, tiresome process ... you could achieve the same result with a few questions: "You've got 9, and we're adding 6 ... we want the total. How many would it take the 9 to get to ten? If we took them from the 6, how many would be left? " Done. Writing this out makes math become tedious and hated ...maxutilshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11294262473781967372noreply@blogger.com