Elementary Math Grows Exponentially Tougher

Washington Post ^ | December 26, 2007 | Maria Glod

[Amelia]

...Tegethoff used to teach what she called "very boring math," using worksheets of addition and subtraction problems. Now her lessons delve into algebraic thinking. By the third grade, Viers Mill Elementary students are solving equations with letter variables.

Long considered a high school staple, introductory algebra is fast becoming a standard course in middle school for college-bound students. That trend is putting new pressure on such schools as Viers Mill to insert the building blocks of algebra into math lessons in the earliest grades. Disappointing U.S. scores on international math tests have added to the urgency of a movement that is rippling into kindergarten. At stake, some politicians say, is the country's ability to produce enough scientists and engineers to compete in the global economy.

But education experts say students aren't the only ones who need more rigorous instruction. Too many elementary school teachers, they say, lack the know-how to teach math effectively.

"You can't teach what you don't know, and your students won't love the subject unless you love the subject," Kenneth I. Gross, a University of Vermont mathematics and education professor, recently told a group of college mathematicians at a conference hosted by the U.S. Education Department and the National Science Foundation. "All of mathematics depends on what kids do in the elementary grades. If you don't do it right, you're doing remedial work all the way up to college. Arithmetic, algebra and geometry are intertwined."

[leda]

i ended up finishing up my masters at home, but not by choice.
i was on long term bed rest and was not allowed by my dr to
drive halfway across the state of michigan to class 2-3 times
a week. i guess i pioneered my own online degree.

[modican]

Math Grows Exponentially Tougher

It seems to be a good thing. But than again, it might lead to falling behind of more students and a few crystallize as passing.
And there will be fewer and fewer good jobs around, the elimination of the unqualified is beginning early.

[Amelia]

We were taught some of the “alternative algorithms” after we’d already memorized the basic multiplication tables and the standard method of solving problems, as ways of estimating the answer quickly in our heads, but I can’t see that they’d be very effective as primary methods of teaching, particularly for students who haven’t learned their math facts and/or when taught by people who don’t understand math very well to begin with.

[achilles2000]

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.

[cinives]

or queue theory ...

[Amelia]

But than again, it might lead to falling behind of more students and a few crystallize as passing. And there will be fewer and fewer good jobs around, the elimination of the unqualified is beginning early.

Some of them might learn to do some of those "jobs Americans won't do"...

[KC_for_Freedom]

You may be interested to know that many schools have open internet courses that can be downloaded and taken for free.

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm

Chemistry as well as many mathematics courses are on the list.

[brytlea]

Why thank you! I had no idea!
susie

[arthurus]

It is “crazy hard” because it is deliberately mystified. The textbooks only give part of the information so that the teacher is required to provide the rest. Many teachers do not understand it, themselves, having been “educated” with the same sort of texts, and so their own teaching is botched and math is reserved to the brighter self-motivated kids who can piece it together from the hints in the books.

[arthurus]

unfortunately, it requires addition and subtraction

No addition beyond simple counting. I used to go to the parish hall after mass every Sunday for coffee and doughnuts and saw the kids selling the doughnuts having trouble making change because there was no machine. One by one I taught 50 or more kids how to make change. For many it was a revelation that math was just regular mechanical computation and counting rather than some social study that had something to do with self esteem. Some asked why they were never taught change-making in elementary school. It never took more than a few minutes to teach it to even a not-too-bright kid and gave the slow ones a big dose of self-confidence, especially knowing they could do something that their brighter classmates couldn't do.

[KC_for_Freedom]

You are welcome, BTW, I loved teaching chemistry, Kids love to do things with their hands besides take lecture notes and do worksheets. Chem, (and the other sciences and even math to some extent) should be livened up with lab exercises. I tried to do at least one a week.

[brytlea]

I always envisioned doing a lab once per week, (when I taught biology) but it was difficult to work them in that often. The kids we had couldn’t cover the material very fast and we had to get from A to Z before the end of the semester. We did DO labs, but I agree, much more time should be spent on labs and other hands on activities.
susie