Meet the New Common Core

juillet
Fri, 19 Jun 2015 19:00:24 +0000

You used math for all those problems because you already mastered it. You wouldn’t be able to analyze all those social problems if you were trying to learn all that math at the same time

Actually, for two of the problems I cited above, I taught myself the math as I was doing the analyses. You do have to know the basics, but one of the best ways to learn high-level math is to do something that requires it.

But @sylvan8798 captures the essence of what I was trying to say - I’m talking about the way that we conceptualize of math and how teaching it can change that conception. You do have to learn the basics, but using word problems in middle school in addition to regular worksheets gets students used to the idea that math is used to solve actual, real-world problems. I don’t think there’s a need to separate out “actually doing” the problems and contextualizing the problems - it’s the same math, just pitched in a different way. Note that I did say that there are certain things that need to be learned in certain ways - like multiplication tables quickly.

The problem is that sometimes (and more often than not) no one can tell them “when they will ever factor a polynomial”. The answer could be “never”.

But the answer to that question is never “never.” All of the math you learn through high school has practical, real-world applications, and good math teachers should be able to answer that question. And that’s exactly what I’m arguing - that deeper meaning and the bigger picture should be baked into the math curriculum (and the rest of the curriculum).

I get the theory behind what they’re trying to do (although my dyscalculic DD wouldn’t have had a clue) but how does that work out when you have a column of numbers? What’s wrong with carrying and borrowing?

Carrying and borrowing is difficult to do mentally. It’s easier for me to mentally say “26 plus 4 is 30, then add 13 more and thats 43.”

Now if I’m adding numbers on paper I’m going to use the carrying and borrowing methods, but again, this is preparation for the higher level. When you’re doing calculus a lot of times you need to add and multiply in your head. (Also, I don’t see any indication that teachers are teaching his instead of carrying, just in addition to it.