Common Core?

[mtangelsfan]

These same experts have our kids toward the bottom of the pack in education for developed countries.  Sorry if I'm a little wary of their expertise. 

[mtangelsfan]

Efficiency. If my 200 friends have $5 how much money do they have? Sure you can add up $5 200 times or they can be taught that it is proper to multiply in that situation and save themselves a bunch of time. 

 

Not to say a student should be marked down on a test for this, but it's good to teach kids the best way to do things.

 

I think kids should be given challenges and asked to solve them.  Once they have tried, they can be shown the different ways to solve the problem and which ways may be fastest.  But who's to say one kid's brain computes something the same way another's does?

[nate]

Honestly everything I read against it just sounds like bad teachers to me.

 

Biggest reason I pick the city I live in based on the school district rankings.

[nate]

I think kids should be given challenges and asked to solve them.  Once they have tried, they can be shown the different ways to solve the problem and which ways may be fastest.  But who's to say one kid's brain computes something the same way another's does?

 

This is exactly what common core does.  It allows them to do it the way that is easier for them as long as they come up with the right answer... for example using addition instead of subtraction.

[mtangelsfan]

This is exactly the opposite of what I have heard.  What I have heard is they are still dictating how it is done, it is just done differently.

[nate]

This is exactly the opposite of what I have heard.  What I have heard is they are still dictating how it is done, it is just done differently.

 

Well if that is the case then my daughter's school is doing it all wrong.  Also the teacher is.  They allow the kid to do it however they want as long as they get it right and show their work.  That is the whole point, for them to do it the way that makes the most sense for them.

[mtangelsfan]

Thanks for the information.

[mtangelsfan]

I'm aware of other factors.  I'm aware of the tests.  I'm not blaming the teachers.  In most cases they are fettered.  But the tests are part of the system developed by these experts. 

 

The U.S. also has strengths that some other countries on the list don't have as well.  Crap, Thailand scores higher. 

[maximus p]

I think kids should be given challenges and asked to solve them.  Once they have tried, they can be shown the different ways to solve the problem and which ways may be fastest.  But who's to say one kid's brain computes something the same way another's does?

This is the way it should be done.

[maximus p]

From what I understand about the development of the CCSS, is that they decided what someone should know to enter college and started writing the standards from 12th grade down to K, the opposite of how it had been done.

[epicbeergirl]

As a veteran teacher, I am not a fan of CCSS. I could go on about it, but instead of doing so, would highly recommend anyone who has children to contact their own school district, school, and teacher to obtain information about it.

If anyone is curious about the new assessments, I would suggest you check out www.smarterbalanced.org.

[BaseballMom]

I have to help train the school site assessment coordinators in Smarter Balanced testing. It effing changes every day!  Sigh

[mtangelsfan]

What are your thoughts on the common core Jody?

[BaseballMom]

Since I am not a teacher, I don't have hands on experience with Common Core.  I know that our Instructional Support teachers are working hard to guide the curriculum and benchmarks to the Common Core standards.  In theory, It sounds great.  I am sure that people thought No Child Left Behind sounded great too though.  My son said one of the most important things he learned in school was how to bubble a scantron. He was being sarcastic, but yeah.

 

We are field testing the computer based test this year, so we will see how that goes.  

[Blarg]

The state wide computer testing is going to be successful as the ACA roll-out. Expect it to be disastrous.

[mp170.6]

Efficiency. If my 200 friends have $5 how much money do they have? Sure you can add up $5 200 times or they can be taught that it is proper to multiply in that situation and save themselves a bunch of time. 

 

Not to say a student should be marked down on a test for this, but it's good to teach kids the best way to do things.

 

The only reason I remember this story is because my father blew a gasket after it happened. 

 

I was in junior high and a word problem required us to calculate a total purchase price including sales tax.  I multiplied the subtotal by 1.0625 because the sales tax rate was 6.25% (not sure the actual rate back then, just using this as an example)

 

My correct answer was marked wrong because I didn't follow the method she taught to calculate sales tax.  Her way was to multiply the subtotal by .0625, then add that amount to the subtotal.  That's completely asinine and this kind of crap is commonplace among K-12 math teachers.  They get their rocks off nitpicking things that don't matter!  Nobody in the real world would ever object to the easier and simpler method that I used.  And we wonder why kids despise math and science. 

 

The ironic part is this math teacher is the mother of a former Angels player.  No joke. 

Edited March 18, 2014 by mp170.6

[epicbeergirl]

Since I am not a teacher, I don't have hands on experience with Common Core.  I know that our Instructional Support teachers are working hard to guide the curriculum and benchmarks to the Common Core standards.  In theory, It sounds great.  I am sure that people thought No Child Left Behind sounded great too though.  My son said one of the most important things he learned in school was how to bubble a scantron. He was being sarcastic, but yeah.

 

We are field testing the computer based test this year, so we will see how that goes.  

 

My school field tested the assessment last year in sixth grade.  We all were able to go in and observe how the kids did, it was awful.  Our technology is inadequate as it is, so having the extra strain from the SBAC is going to be fun.

: )

[epicbeergirl]

The only reason I remember this story is because my father blew a gasket after it happened. 

 

I was in junior high and a word problem required us to calculate a total purchase price including sales tax.  I multiplied the subtotal by 1.0625 because the sales tax rate was 6.25% (not sure the actual rate back then, just using this as an example)

 

My correct answer was marked wrong because I didn't follow the method she taught to calculate sales tax.  Her way was to multiply the subtotal by .0625, then add that amount to the subtotal.  That's completely asinine and this kind of crap is commonplace among K-12 math teachers.  They get their rocks off nitpicking things that don't matter!  Nobody in the real world would ever object to the easier and simpler method that I used.  And we wonder why kids despise math and science. 

 

The ironic part is this math teacher is the mother of a former Angels player.  No joke. 

 

Not all teachers nitpick : )  I don't care how my students arrive at an answer, as long as they are able to explain to me how they got it.

[red321]

 

 

The ironic part is this math teacher is the mother of a former Angels player.  No joke. 

 

 

I'm guessing your language arts teacher wasn't as nitpicky

Edited March 18, 2014 by red321

[Tank]

Should we really be teaching kids that there is only one way of doing things when there is clearly more than that?  Should we be limiting options for them?

This is one of my big problems with how school is done here.  If the answer is correct and they didn't cheat or copy someone else's answer, why does it matter?

 

when i was a kid, i used to pour through the sports page, reading as much as i could but spending even more time on box scores and standings. on my own, i figured out how to calculate how many games back a team was in the standings. in fact, i calculated two different ways to figure it out, all without any help from anyone or from a book or a baseball broadcast.

[Tank]

being in a private school and private school system, we are not required (yet) to teach CCSS. we count that as a good thing because we've heard almost nothing but complaints from other teachers about them.

 

our big emphasis has been on Differentiated Instruction, with our system paying for x number of teachers to attend the big convention in las vegas every summer. i went a couple of years ago and enjoyed it, but it can be overwhelming. the amount of time required to invest in grading and reporting (we saw an example of a report card that was insane, to say the least) was prohibitive. there are several good things about DI, most involving more than one way to skin a cat, and it sparked several ideas to try and a desire to be more adventurous in what we do in the classroom.

 

as for CCSS, it seems that the loudest complaint from educators is that it's only to teach to the state test, and that it doesn't seem to encourage much creativity. i don't have any experience with it, but this seems to be at the crux of what i keep hearing.

[Jay]

The only reason I remember this story is because my father blew a gasket after it happened. 

 

I was in junior high and a word problem required us to calculate a total purchase price including sales tax.  I multiplied the subtotal by 1.0625 because the sales tax rate was 6.25% (not sure the actual rate back then, just using this as an example)

 

My correct answer was marked wrong because I didn't follow the method she taught to calculate sales tax.  Her way was to multiply the subtotal by .0625, then add that amount to the subtotal.  That's completely asinine and this kind of crap is commonplace among K-12 math teachers.  They get their rocks off nitpicking things that don't matter!  Nobody in the real world would ever object to the easier and simpler method that I used.  And we wonder why kids despise math and science. 

 

The ironic part is this math teacher is the mother of a former Angels player.  No joke. 

 

 

Do they still call it Distributive property or is there a new name, like "therblig"

[epicbeergirl]

Do they still call it Distributive property or is there a new name, like "therblig"

 

The Distributive Property still has the same name.  : )

[maximus p]

 

The ironic part is this math teacher is the mother of a former Angels player.  No joke. 

And did he play for SD also?  If so, I once worked at the same Fullerton school as her.

[mp170.6]

And did he play for SD also?  If so, I once worked at the same Fullerton school as her.

 

hahaha, oh wow.