Current Events > Is math racist? As students of color struggle schools are altering instruction

(+) Yeah! (+)

Sad_Face posted...

Look at it this way, if you want to find the difference between 55 and 33, you can add +20 to 33 to hit 53 and then add 2 more to hit 55, meaning the difference, 55-33 = 22. What I assume the image is is a methodical way of the speedrun subtraction I did. I understand it comes off as convoluted and intimidating if you were to write things out in a slow and systematized manner.

Wut? That's so much more work than the old way

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ZMythos posted...

> Emergency funding for food and child care for families while virtual.
> 1-1 access to technology and subsidized high-speed internet for all public and private school students.
> Emergency licensing approval for teachers plus technology training with the goal of a 1:10 student-teacher ratio.
> Emergency licensing and hiring of counselors and other social workers to provide wellness checks and guidance for students.
> Prioritized healthcare access for teachers as essential workers.
> Plan for elementary students to safely continue to engage in vital social development and physical activities.

The hell you think this is, Norway?

The US budget is such a bloated spaghetti clusterfuck chasing whatever "crisis" we've created this week, that there's no funding cushion available when something actually bad happens. The last couple years or so proved that.

Sad_Face posted...

Look at it this way, if you want to find the difference between 55 and 33, you can add +20 to 33 to hit 53 and then add 2 more to hit 55, meaning the difference, 55-33 = 22. What I assume the image is is a methodical way of the speedrun subtraction I did. I understand it comes off as convoluted and intimidating if you were to write things out in a slow and systematized manner.

Strange way to do it, but thank you for the explanation.

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reactionary headlines like this only exist so that people read it and think "oh now they're saying math is racist? I told you social justice is going too far"

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Questionmarktarius posted...

The hell you think this is, Norway?

The US budget is such a bloated spaghetti clusterfuck chasing whatever "crisis" we've created this week, that there's no funding cushion available when something actually bad happens. The last couple years or so proved that.

To be fair I prefaced this with "If I had sole authority over education, I would have prioritized the following:"

So already I'm talking about a fantasy where someone with actual professional experience teaching was in charge of anything related to education

*cough*fuckDeVos*cough*

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Mistere Man posted...

Strange way to do it, but thank you for the explanation.

It's very likely how you'd do it in your head, just with all of the intermediate steps written out.

gmanthebest posted...

Wut? That's so much more work than the old way

It's faster when it clicks for you. For instance, I usually keep track of my orb counts, the currency in the mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes. Pulling my latest count,

115+114+112+128+127+142+130+122+139+140+169+120

(these are orb counts on different pages in a present list)

I usually add these up in my head mentally and check with a python interpreter. It's way slower to add them one by one (115+114 = 229, 229 +...), than to add up all the hundreds, then 10's then 1's. Another strategy I tried which is sort of in between in terms of speed is to group them up in terms of 300s or 250s (or whatever ends with a zero) and keep track of remainders so I can pay back or take from counts at the end (142+169 -> 300 + 11 excess, 128+122 -> 250 ). It's more mental work to keep track of the excess or debt.

Mind you, I tend to make mistakes each week when I check but it's still good fun and practice.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

It's very likely how you'd do it in your head, just with all of the intermediate steps written out.

No I do more the old fashioned way in my head 2-2=0 3-1=2 =20 or with that other example 55-33=22

how much do I add to 3 to get 5 (2 so 22 as I had to reach 5 twice). the less numbers to keep track of in my mind the better honestly.


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@Lebronwon
Math itself is not.
Context to the math however being manipulate most certainly can be.

Simply throwing out math and ignoring context to the math is most definitely a long used practice in history.

Makeveli_lives posted...

Thats evidence of the issue itself. How often are Afros and dreads and such banned at work for being unprofessional? Or Black/African styles of dress for the same reasons?

its the literal example of If it aint white it aint right

This is not me being ignorant but I've actually yet to encounter any job where black people were not allowed to wear black hairstyles. What job fields forbid it usually?

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Captain_Qwark posted...

Common core still teaches the "not convoluted" way

As long as your correct answer isn't docked points because you didn't show your common core work (and instead could do it in your head or showed your normal work), then I don't really have an objection.

I got the impression that common core was being taught to the exclusion of the traditional method. A "this is math now and normal math is wrong now" thing. Not fully, mind you, but to some extent. If that's not the case, then it's not a problem as a resource for kinds that it helps.

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joe40001 posted...

As long as your correct answer isn't docked points because you didn't show your common core work (and instead could do it in your head or showed your normal work), then I don't really have an objection.

I got the impression that common core was being taught to the exclusion of the traditional method. A "this is math now and normal math is wrong now" thing. Not fully, mind you, but to some extent. If that's not the case, then it's not a problem as a resource for kinds that it helps.

See my post which actually describes and links to what Common Core is.

Everything else is misinformation.

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Sad_Face posted...

That's the thing, these Common Curricula is attempting to systemize the techniques "mathematically gifted" peeps use. What makes it feel convoluted is part teachers having to learn this style as well which slows down in effective communication in teaching it.

As a "mathematically gifted" child, I never used anything like that, and I'd be concerned that I would have been scared away from math had that been taught to me as "the only way" to do math.

Like I said elsewhere though, if it's just an optional resource and not a requirement then I don't object to it.

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EndOfDiscOne posted...

I'm not in STEM, but we need them to save the planet and mitigate future climate catastrophes

Nm that science is part of the problem in pollution, warfare, and have had a long history of ethical disregard for both animals, the environment and people. Not all of them obviously, but damn. Human beings are the biggest disaster and disease in the history of the planet. All I'm saying is, let people choose what they wanna do in life.

And this is just a general observation on my part and not directed towards anyone in particular, but as for racism, I find that people who do nothing but bleat that everything is racist all day, are racist and mleager to start divisional issues themselves, rather then wanting equality and better understanding between people.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

The circles-in-a-box thing is only confusing and weird because we've forgotten how basic counting works. Long division pushed it out.

https://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/how-to-do-common-core-math-a-guide-for-parents/


You get stuff like this that seems "incomprehensible", exactly because you drilled top-down math for most of your life. Early on, you actually did that second one in your head, and likely got yelled at for not "showing your work" of borrowing and carrying and the other regimented sub-steps. You are freaking out because this is a different "regimen".

If anything, that second form eases someone into algebra by deconstructing numbers, rather than the "carry the one" assembly process. That's why we all hated math as kids, it was tedious and dumb, and we had to do like a hundred of those every day after school when cartoons were on.

It only eases it for math savvy people. It's ridiculous and frustrating otherwise. If something takes twice as long to teach/learn, and leads people in 5 directions just to say that the answer is 25, then it's NOT simple or a shortcut. It's unnecessarily convoluted.

It's like telling someone who is a new resident, to take a shortcut by driving all over town, cutting through a neighborhood, and heading down the freeway to get to your destination, when all you had to do was go two streets down and one over on the left.

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Lil_Bit83 posted...

It only eases it for math savvy people. It's ridiculous and frustrating otherwise. If something takes twice as long to teach/learn, and leads people in 5 directions just to say that the answer is 25, then it's NOT simple or a shortcut. It's unnecessarily convoluted.

It's like telling someone who is a new resident, to take a shortcut by driving all over town, cutting through a neighborhood, and heading down the freeway to get to your destination, when all you had to do was go two streets down and one over on the left.

You're wrong

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Lil_Bit83 posted...

If something takes twice as long to teach/learn, and leads people in 5 directions just to say that the answer is 25

Yes, it does, but then you get to pick one.