What's the right equation?

Post-Dispatch (aka Post-Disgrace) ^ | 2/18/04 | By Carolyn Bower

[StarCMC]

Groups of four or five fourth-graders edged toward consensus about how to design graphs as part of a recent math lesson at Hanna Woods Elementary School in west St. Louis County.

Some groups sketched bar charts. One group drew symbols - circles, triangles, squares and hearts. One opted for traditional lines.

[StarCMC]

A friend has a daughter in Parkway and has been fighting this battle for over 3 years. When she complained about her daughter not being taught how to multiply, the teacher response was "calculators are available." When she mentioned that she thought the teaching in spelling was lacking, guess what they said??? "Oh, well, there's spellchecker." I know there are some good teachers out there, but there are also some who need to lose their jobs!! Thank God I KNOW my kids teacher really well and Iknow she has her student's best interests at heart...she's ME!!

[StarCMC]

St. Louis area ping

[P.O.E.]

Teacher ping.

I've never done a ping list before - just starting this one. Please let me know if you'd like to be on (or off) the list.

[expatpat]

It's nice to able to mess around with math concepts, just as it's nice to hit fastballs over the fence. However, you have to get a good grounding in the basics before you can do the difficult things.

[LibWhacker]

The important thing, she said, is that the students learn the algebraic concept of collecting information, plotting the data and presenting the results.

Most inane thing I've heard all year. There is no such "algebraic concept." The charlatan should be fired.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Once again, critics said, correct answers were secondary to the concepts."

Ah, the "new-new math"---just as incompetent as the "old-new math". One must master BOTH the concept, and "getting the correct answer".

Just imagine the safety of tomorrow's infrastructure, designed by engineers who "got the concept right", but didn't bother the check to be sure they got the correct computational answer.

[maro]

Isn't that what happened when the Mars probe crashed a few years ago? Someone confused feet with meters and hundred of millions of dollars crashed into the Martian desert.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Isn't that what happened when the Mars probe crashed a few years ago? Someone confused feet with meters and hundred of millions of dollars crashed into the Martian desert."

Yup! The students would be far better served if the local boards of education would FIRE all the "math education majors", and hire retired engineers and scientists to teach the subject. There is no substitute for "real-world" experience to know what is important and what isn't.

[ClearCase_guy]

In summation:

Our teachers don't understand math.
Our teachers don't know how to teach math.
Our teachers hope that the ten-year-olds will figure out this math stuff and then explain it to the teachers.

[Made In The USA]

This is probably lame, but wanted to mention how I was taught multiplication given how technology was recommended as a 'solution'.

In the way under-budgeted Catholic grade school I attended we were taught multiplication two ways: 1) Conceptualy by example - macaroni and dixie cups (seriously). We were told to put X number of macaroni into Y cups and see the result. This was followed with practical examples. 2) We were given a multiplication table, and required to learn it. Period.

It didn't require a huge investment. Didn't require that all students have a laptop. Didn't require anything but a little teaching and testing to make sure everyone got it.

I'm in my late 30's and still remember the lesson like it was yesterday. Of course, we were driving the Nuns crazy by eating the macaroni...

[ladylib]

My brother said his daughter was learning all these high-faluting concepts in her 6th grade class. It's all so much more advanced than what he had in the 6th grade -- so impressive!

Guess what? He said she doesn't remember half of it. I have a feeling that most of them don't remember half of it. She's a fairly bright girl too.

Oh, well, time will tell when they have to take their "high-stakes" tests.

[RightWhale]

mathematics should not be reduced to memorization

What is the sine of pi over 4?

[Amelia]

When she complained about her daughter not being taught how to multiply, the teacher response was "calculators are available."

One problem is that many elementary education majors don't like and/or weren't very good in math, so they aren't very good at teaching it.

The calculator issue is why I had a student just today divide a number in the thousands by a number in the hundreds, and wonder if her answer (in the millions) was correct. I also once had a 9th grader who needed a calculator to compute 100 minus 0. Most pitiful case I've ever seen.

[StarCMC]

I have told my friend that if the school isn't going to do it, she either needs to pull her daughter out or teach her math at home. Unfortunately, everyone wants to rely on the government to educate the kids. They have proven time and again that they should NOT be trusted!!

[calljack]

.013707
approximatly.
I rounded pi.
sorry

[Amelia]

Unfortunately, everyone wants to rely on the government to educate the kids. They have proven time and again that they should NOT be trusted!!

Well, as a "gubmint skool teacher" I suppose I'm a bit biased, but I've found that to an extent, it depends. It seems to me that in general those students who have concerned and involved parents do much better - and those parents usually find and remediate problems.

For many of my problem students, it's also near impossible to get a parent in for a conference.

It also seems that the public schools are better in some areas than others, and they are more conservative in some areas than others.

I also found as a parent I had to stay on top of things. My children weren't drilled on things such as the times tables, so we did that at home. The school might not have felt it was important, but we did.

[StarCMC]

I am so glad for the children's sake that there are good teachers like you out there! Sadly, Parkway is considered to be one of the best districts in MO. Lots of kids going down the tubes on this one.

[RightWhale]

My math prof's point: the value should be instantly and exactly available from memory and in a form that makes complex integrals quick and easy to solve.

[Amelia]

Thanks!

I think the key is always going to be parental involvement.

[Missouri]

Ping.