Poll of the Day > It's been a while. How do you feel about common core math?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I understand that they have good intentions, and its true that every kid does learn differently but those good intentions seem kinda fucked in execution.

It's the equivalent of asking for directions and 10 over-eager locals all bombard you with completely different directions at the same time. This confuses you, takes you all over town and makes you an hour late to your very important appointment. Only to find out that it was 15 minutes away, 2 blocks down and the 3rd building on the left.

Lil_Bit83 posted...

I understand that they have good intentions, and its true that every kid does learn differently but those good intentions seem kinda fucked in execution.

It's the equivalent of asking for directions and 10 over-eager locals all bombard you with completely diffent directions at the same time. This confuses you, takes you all over town and makes you an hour late to your very important appointment. Only to find out that it was 15 minutes away, 2 blocks down and the 3rd building on the left.

I think they should teach the various methods but let the kid decide which works for him and then just grade them on if they got the right answer.

Hell I remember arguing with a teacher. They docked points cause my work was wrong despite my answer being right. I did the work right in my head I just wrote it down wrong by mistake.

Sufferedphoneix posted...

I think they should teach the various methods but let the kid decide which works for him and then just grade them on if they got the right answer.

Hell I remember arguing with a teacher. They docked points cause my work was wrong despite my answer being right. I did the work right in my head I just wrote it down wrong by mistake.

Agreed!

Some teachers can be absolute asshats. Math, P.E., and art teachers seem to be the meanest of the bunch and I can count on one hand how many patient math teachers I've ever had. 4, one of which was a substitute.

Lil_Bit83 posted...

Agreed!

Some teachers can be absolute asshats. Math, P.E., and art teachers seem to be the meanest of the bunch and I can count on one hand how many patient math teachers I've ever had. 4, one of which was a substitute.

Made one mad once. He was ridiculing me for insisting on using a calculator. Said you won't always have one. I responded if I got a job that requires math I'm pretty sure they'd want me to use a calculator.

Sufferedphoneix posted...

Made one mad once. He was ridiculing me for insisting on using a calculator. Said you won't always have one. I responded if I got a job that requires math I'm pretty sure they'd want me to use a calculator.

Lol. I bet the look on his face was priceless.

Lil_Bit83 posted...

Lol. I bet the look on his face was priceless.

Nah he was a asshole. He sighed, shook his head and told me to get the fuck out of his face. Those words exactly.

Sufferedphoneix posted...

Nah he was a asshole. He sighed, shook his head and told me to get the fuck out of his face. Those words exactly.

Yikes.

Lil_Bit83 posted...

Yikes.

He could be fun when he was in a good mood. He just had a short temper. No wonder he had a stroke

His wife who also taught there was just crazy. Like in the whimsical randomly dancing and singing sense. She'd level him out if she was around.

Sufferedphoenix posted...

Fortunately all we do is simple addition. We have to count 4 rooms of inmates and add it together. Max of 34 inmates to a room for a max total of 136 in the building. I don't trust doing it in my head though so I do it on paper.

For that sort of thing, I'd think a tally counter would be ideal. You just click the button for each person and it keeps track.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/78718df6.jpg

Sufferedphoenix posted...

I think they should teach the various methods but let the kid decide which works for him and then just grade them on if they got the right answer.

Hell I remember arguing with a teacher. They docked points cause my work was wrong despite my answer being right. I did the work right in my head I just wrote it down wrong by mistake.

Yeah I don't trust kids to fuck up and mix up different methods, causing more and more problems.

You're generally going to cause fewer problems by teaching multiple methods and letting students decide what works for them than teaching one method and leaving students for which that method doesn't work behind. Especially where, if they're showing their work, you can point out where they mixed up multiple methods to help them avoid making that mistake in the future.

Overwhelming students with too much information isn't good, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ever give them multiple tools.