Grammar and Usage
- Thread starter genius
- Start date
I would argue technology has been part of the problem with education.
Understanding how to do long division, in my opinion, is crucial to understanding how the result came about. Understanding how to use a calculator is important on complex math for accuracy and efficiency but the fundamental principles are more important.
In Catholic school, we learned how to break a sentence down with diagramming. This was important to understand how an English sentence is formally created.
The fundamentals are important in learning technology as well. Binary math could not be understood properly without understanding the decimal system and then applying that knowledge to binary, octal and hexidecimal math.
Understanding how to do long division, in my opinion, is crucial to understanding how the result came about. Understanding how to use a calculator is important on complex math for accuracy and efficiency but the fundamental principles are more important.
In Catholic school, we learned how to break a sentence down with diagramming. This was important to understand how an English sentence is formally created.
The fundamentals are important in learning technology as well. Binary math could not be understood properly without understanding the decimal system and then applying that knowledge to binary, octal and hexidecimal math.
"self professed" Ha!. For your information I am constantly referred to as a genius.
Happens all the time.
For example, just the other day, when the cashier I complained about to her boss about incorrect change saw me coming to her lane, she leaned over to the bagger and said "Oh god — here comes that f**king genius again".
So there!
Even a mere minimum wage cashier at a supermarket recognizes genius when she sees it.
Happens all the time.
For example, just the other day, when the cashier I complained about to her boss about incorrect change saw me coming to her lane, she leaned over to the bagger and said "Oh god — here comes that f**king genius again".
So there!
Even a mere minimum wage cashier at a supermarket recognizes genius when she sees it.
Anyone ever try to understand "common core" math? Now that's some scary shit. Some students are too dumb to understand simple math so we'll break it down to a "common core", so all students have to do it the dumb people way. No student left behind anymore! Even if that means sending them to the next grade with zero understanding of basic math.
I luv the USA, but we may be getting ourselves into a bit of trouble here...
I luv the USA, but we may be getting ourselves into a bit of trouble here...
Without taking a position for or against, just to explain....that's not what common core is. It isn't the "core" of a subject, i.e. devoid of all the extras. It was meant to overcome the fact that curriculum was/is set at the local level, and in some schools and states, that curriculum was lacking in rigor, so a student graduating public HS in CT had a far different skill set than a student graduating public HS in AL. The "common core" was meant to be a nationwide curriculum, so that no matter where a student went to school, all HS grads in the US had at least met a minimum set of requirements that were common to all states.
And remember that it is a minimum set of standards that schools can add to. For those who denigrate Common Core as reducing educational levels to a lowest common denominator, if they took the time to actually look at the common core curricula for math, they would probably be surprised how rigorous the standards are. It's not all-encompassing (for instance, there may not be a calculus component to it) but most schools offer advanced courses to those students who are aiming at STEM careers.
Actually common core math is quite reasonable, the scary part that gets all the press is not really part of the specification. The so-called dumbing down stuff is not literally (to go back into this thread 
part of CC, but an interpretation of an implementation of it. Same thing could have been done with non-CC and was in some cases, just not commonly.
part of CC, but an interpretation of an implementation of it. Same thing could have been done with non-CC and was in some cases, just not commonly.CC is not a curriculum, never even meant to be one.
CC math is indeed rigorous and advanced, even more than previous assorted standard etc as future grade material is moved into lower grades. In anything, that is one of it's main problems educationally speaking.
Yes and no. Yes in that the SAT is a target to eventually be met, no in that CC is one way to get you to that target among other things.
CC math is indeed rigorous and advanced, even more than previous assorted standard etc as future grade material is moved into lower grades. In anything, that is one of it's main problems educationally speaking.
Yes and no. Yes in that the SAT is a target to eventually be met, no in that CC is one way to get you to that target among other things.
True. CC is the broad set of skills they're expected to master, curriculum is the day to day tasks that get them there.
A few years ago I had the occasion to take the 3rd grade NY state math test (just for fun, right?). Now, I may not label myself a genius, but I do have three college degrees, and third grade math isn't usually a problem. I got all the questions right except one. And on the one I got wrong, even once I was given the correct answer, the question was written in such a way that it took me 10 minutes to find out where I went wrong. The wording of the question was that bad. I later found out that in the class of 30 kids that took it, not one kid got that question right. That isn't rigor. That's bullshit.
A few years ago I had the occasion to take the 3rd grade NY state math test (just for fun, right?). Now, I may not label myself a genius, but I do have three college degrees, and third grade math isn't usually a problem. I got all the questions right except one. And on the one I got wrong, even once I was given the correct answer, the question was written in such a way that it took me 10 minutes to find out where I went wrong. The wording of the question was that bad. I later found out that in the class of 30 kids that took it, not one kid got that question right. That isn't rigor. That's bullshit.
I was asked to watch a neighbor's kid for an hour a while back, some sort of emergency, and while there the kid was doing his math homework. I'm no genius either but math has never been a problem for me. In grade school the multiplication tables were so drilled into us that by 5th grade I knew up to the 15 times table by heart. This kid was doing multiplication and was in the 4th grade at the time. When I saw what the break down was to do 10x11 I was shocked. I asked, what is that exactly? He answered, that's how to figure out the problem. I just sat back and watched in stunned silence. I wanted to correct the procedure so badly but didn't want to mess up how this kid had learned to figure out the problem.
When the parent got home I inquired what the heck was going on with the math nowadays. She replied, oh god, it's that idiotic common core math. Parents can no longer do math with their kids b/c anyone who was taught to do math traditionally can't figure out what the heck is going on.
I never looked into it b/c it doesn't effect me in the slightest, but they said, it's like they dumb it down so the even the slowest kids in the class can keep up. Remember, no child left behind anymore. But there are no times tables anymore, no flash cards, no memorization. It's terrible what they've done to math.
So. I may have spoken out of turn knowing nothing about it, but seeing it first hand for an hour, something that in my education would have taken 10 minutes took this kid over an hour, he wasn't done when I left, and hearing the parents complaint, seems like this might be part of the problem and not part of the solution...
That's all.
When the parent got home I inquired what the heck was going on with the math nowadays. She replied, oh god, it's that idiotic common core math. Parents can no longer do math with their kids b/c anyone who was taught to do math traditionally can't figure out what the heck is going on.
I never looked into it b/c it doesn't effect me in the slightest, but they said, it's like they dumb it down so the even the slowest kids in the class can keep up. Remember, no child left behind anymore. But there are no times tables anymore, no flash cards, no memorization. It's terrible what they've done to math.
So. I may have spoken out of turn knowing nothing about it, but seeing it first hand for an hour, something that in my education would have taken 10 minutes took this kid over an hour, he wasn't done when I left, and hearing the parents complaint, seems like this might be part of the problem and not part of the solution...
That's all.
While CC was created by committees with less than 5% with any practical experience, or mathematics and education expertise; so it might have been pushed in public as a unified education (much like NY States Regents classes are used to set the standard statewide, but teachers are free to teach to their methods) so in theory it wasn't curriculum but in practice and I am of the opinion that it was designed purposefully that way. The Progressives (aka communist, socialist, marxist advocates - John Dewey, Friedrich Fröbel) have been redesigning American Public Education with the goal of lowering educational/critical thinking performance its been a long slow con, but as with anything once their changes are started the "next step" comes sooner and more aggressive.
For create resource of how/what CC is and why..... follow Bruce Deitrick
http://www.americanthinker.com/author/bruce_deitrick_price/
for those that had CC English education here it is in video format: https://www.youtube.com/user/BruceDeitrickPrice
I'm not defending it as this is an ongoing problem with standards, state tests, etc. Unfortunately NYS Dept of Ed makes errors. As well, they also put in distractors. I think the distractors should be illegal or some such prohibition but they aren't. Also the kids are taught certain things in certain ways and are expected to know them as such, oddities or not. Lastly I haven't see a standard test yet including SAT, etc that doesn't have artifacts of the problem you mention. The level of ambiguousness is ridiculous. Yep, it sucks. Often many questions are removed (don't count afterwards). You would have though they caught more beforehand, speaking of rigor. Sigh