Current Events > Why do people hate common core? It works

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Hinakuluiau posted...

CommonJoe posted...

Its good to utilize if a kid is not getting said basic math at all, but the original way of teaching math forces you to eventually figure this out on your own anyway. If they are still struggling with basic math by the time theyre starting to approach basic algebra then something has gone fundamentally wrong with their education.

That's literally the issue though. The average adult struggles with math concepts above a middle school level.
Listen to this recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MShv_74FNWU" data-time="

Three grown adults did not see the issue with confusing 0.02 dollars with 0.02 cents and could not grasp the concept.

I think CE being the way we are, it's easy to forget just because we're all STEM geeks and surround ourselves with like-minded individuals, we miss the fact that a lot of people need help that we didn't get.
To turn around and say "well figure it out by yourself like I did" is missing the point that we're the ones good at math and we shouldn't just abandon people who shut down once you start to bring in more complex principles.

Holy shit, that was painful.....

He literally spent ten minutes explaining basic metric conversion to a grown woman who either still didnt get it or refused to own that they made a mistake.

I'm pretty patient but I would have been boardering on full meltdown mode
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Think of the guy who got mad about Pluto as not a planet.
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Machete posted...

Why can't they just teach math normally and have that be a standard everywhere so that they achieve the goal of the system without doing a bunch of weird s*** that doesn't make sense?

Because the normal way of teaching math is complete and utter S***. It teaches you to follow rote algorithms without understanding the relationship between numbers. The stuff OP is teaching is a thought process that I used daily when I was studying for my bachelors in Physics.
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CasualGuy posted...

The amount of kids in my classes these days that say math is their favorite subject is like 50-60%. It used to be everyone's least favorite.

It's teaching kids how to understand numbers better so they learn to enjoy math.

I feel like 90% of the hate comes from those pictures on facebook from teachers that make poorly written questions and the fact that parents don't understand anything outside the standard method of multiplication/division so they just say it's awful.

Maybe you're just a good teacher with a passion and positivity for math? And the students attitude and performance are about you personally rather than the validity of the method.

The problem, from most parents perspective, is that its 50/50 at best whether the teacher is good or is complete shit. And when the teacher is complete shit AND the technique is unfamiliar, it makes it very difficult for the parent to help their child at home.

Parents, many of whom have very limited time each night, are having to basically teach their children (and themselves) what the kids should have learned in school. When the "show the work" BS for very simple problems takes several minutes sometimes vs the "old way" which takes seconds....I mean, can you see why parents could be pissed off? Its often a valuable waste of time.

Honestly, I said 50/50 earlier, but I have little confidence in it being that high. Between teachers who are just complete shit, and teachers who were good and have stopped caring, I'm gonna say that number is much lower.

It seems fine as one part of the lesson plan to initially help young kids better understand the numbers, but it doesn't really make sense as a constant method of teaching. Starting very simple and then working their way into a quicker method so they understand both seems like a fine idea. Do they eventually work their way out of it, or does it remain like that throughout the whole school system?

I have a child that just got out of 2nd grade. I am in my late 30s. This was my first experience with common core. I hated when she brought home some stuff that she didnt understand and i had to look at the problem multiple times before I could get it down. After she explained how they did it the problems were easier to help with the new way. I still don't understand why they changed it, it seems like they are adding in extra steps for something that should be simple. So they make things more confusing by dumbing it down... I am interested to see how her next level of math will be this coming school year.

Math was a very strong subject for me, changing it just seemed unnecessary. That's why i don't like it.

I don't like where a lot of teaching has gone. I don't like how some testing has become some evil thing because they don't want to stress kids out. It just seems we are catering to the bottom of the barrel instead of genuinely challenging kids now.
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Tupacrulez posted...

It seems like this stuff is teaching to kids with issues in math to try and get them along.

It's not aimed at kids with a good understanding, who don't need to "make 10s", or whatever BS it is, to understand that 35x12 is 420.

Just like "show your work" kicks some kids in the ass. I had no trouble in HS math keeping quadratic equations and factoring problems straight in my head, skipping 3/4 of the steps, and getting it right. Many a time I had issues with teachers cause "the right answer is only worth half the mark".

No. Piss on ya. Right is right.

Couldn't do it now though.

I had that problem in school as well. I'd always lose a ton of points in math cause I didnt want to waste half of a piece of paper showing how I got to a solution rather than use a single line to show that I got it.

My HS principal had my back though and chewed out the teacher for docking me so many points, since my answers were (nearly) always right I obviously understood how it works.
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