COMMON CORE

[BigBallinStalin]

Ok again you are picking apart the syllabus not standardisation, but thats ok (i.e. I give up).

To play the devils advocate (and I only read her speech, didnt listen to it as I dont have sound at work), this seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill, or a persepctive thing.

As far as I can remember the single MOST IMPORTANT thing about maths, and subsequently getting good marks, was showing how you got to your answer. This isnt something new, this is just a slightly different interpretation of the content of math tests and exams since the dawn of time: "What is ..... ..... .....? (please show your working)".

I just helped my son with his math homework.

They no longer teach this style:

567
x 4
-----
2268

Now it looks like this:

567
x 4
------
2000
240
+ 28
---------
2268

How did you calculate the bolded? Becuase the only real option of than partial products is by rote/memory. Which is actually not ideal when learning math, you want the students to understand the logic/process involved, not just recalling from memory that 6 time 7 is 42 (which is undoubtedly useful, but will only get you so far). Rote learning math is like using equations to model Shakespear. Square peg circle hole.

Write down 8, carry over the 2, (4x6=24 PLUS 2), etc.

BAM. I'm a Genuis!!!

[Lootifer]

Hrmm, you mean line up four lots of 567 and add them together right?

What about 24 x 63? You gonna do this...

63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63

....?

[BigBallinStalin]

Hrmm, you mean line up four lots of 567 and add them together right?

What about 24 x 63? You gonna do this...

63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63
63

....?

lolwut

63
24
___

1. 4x3 = 12, thus:

(1 goes to the top-left of the 6)
63
24
___
. . 2


2. then 4x6 = 24 + 1 =25, thus:

63
24
___
252


3. then 2x3, and shift over to the left since you're working in the 10-digit sector:



63
24
___
252
_6


4. 2x6 = 12, thus


63
24
___
_252
126
_______

So, from right to left, 2 + [blank] = 2, 5+6 = 11 (bump up the 1 into the next greater sector), 2+2=4 +1 (cuz it got pushed into the 100s sector), then [blank] + 1.

___63
__x24
__252
+126
1512



This is why America is superior to all other nations in the galaxy.

[PLAYER57832]

How can someone assault a police officer when that person is not a police officer? And more importantly, why is someone being punished so harshly for questioning what his children are being taught? What is the government refusing to tell us?

Is he REALLY being punished for questioning what his children are being taught or for HOW he questioned it?

and.. I did not see any "government" there, I saw a bunch of individuals putting forward plans and ideas.

[isaiah40]

How can someone assault a police officer when that person is not a police officer? And more importantly, why is someone being punished so harshly for questioning what his children are being taught? What is the government refusing to tell us?

Is he REALLY being punished for questioning what his children are being taught or for HOW he questioned it?

and.. I did not see any "government" there, I saw a bunch of individuals putting forward plans and ideas.

They were charging him, but then they decided to drop all charges. Player, the school council is "the government".

[tzor]

The best example of math was the subtraction used by my grandfather (from Scotland) as told to me by my father. (He died when I was very young so I learned this second hand.)

He basically used a 10's complement arithmetic ... Let's say we wanted to do 5 - 1 ... he would take the complement of 1 ... 9 add it to 5 and drop the overflow ... so 14 becomes 4.

Modern computers do this all the time using base 2, but this was in the early 1910's when he learned it.

[Nobunaga]

Ok again you are picking apart the syllabus not standardisation, but thats ok (i.e. I give up).

To play the devils advocate (and I only read her speech, didnt listen to it as I dont have sound at work), this seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill, or a persepctive thing.

As far as I can remember the single MOST IMPORTANT thing about maths, and subsequently getting good marks, was showing how you got to your answer. This isnt something new, this is just a slightly different interpretation of the content of math tests and exams since the dawn of time: "What is ..... ..... .....? (please show your working)".

I just helped my son with his math homework.

They no longer teach this style:

567
x 4
-----
2268

Now it looks like this:

567
x 4
------
2000
240
+ 28
---------
2268

How did you calculate the bolded? Becuase the only real option other than partial products is by rote/memory. Which is actually not ideal when learning math, you want the students to understand the logic/process involved, not just recalling from memory that 6 time 7 is 42 (which is undoubtedly useful, but will only get you so far). Rote learning math is like using equations to model Shakespear. Square peg circle hole.

In theory that sounds wonderful. 2 points if I may.

1. The best math students in the world (the Chinese) memorize the basics, then apply those memorized basics to larger equations. They are drilled on those problems incessantly. It works, and they are so far above us we can only watch and wonder.

2. Say your sitting at your desk at work and you need to do a quick multiplication (not necessarily you specifically) to see what a slight price increase in a sold daily process will earn you in a month. You're going to draw a lattice? Best not to know that 9 x 3 = 27 off the top of your head (having memorized it in grade school)? ...This is assuming you can't find your calculator.

[Lootifer]

@ BBS: Thats effectively partial products.

@ Nobunaga:

1) Correct, but its not limited to Chinese, thats just efficient methodology. You memorise the stuff you need to do quickly and/or often, and feed that information into a process for the more complex/less common stuff. Thats all fine if you want to DO math efficiently; however to LEARN math efficiently the whole point is understand the process right? with that comes point 2...

2) I agree that learning your multiplication tables by rote is useful. 9x3=27 should be imprinted into your brain if you want to excel at math. But its infeasible to also imprint $2.34/lb x 3657lbs into your memory; so to answer it without a calculator you need an approach that works; partial products is how I do it in my head (no pen and paper required), and I am reasonably good at math so I assume its a fairly useful technique?

[BigBallinStalin]

You're a partial product.

[isaiah40]

An article from a teacher about Common Core
http://mrsmomblog.com/2013/10/02/how-co ... -my-child/

[Nobunaga]

I saw this video and about shat in my pants.



My son has these same problem types in his book, and just like the cutie in this video, he's "not allowed to stack".

(TERC is one of the foundations of CC math)

[Lootifer]

Ouch, yeah that's not cool.

However I do actually like the conceptual method as it is really good at visually explaining the underlying reasoning/logic (something that stacking doesn't teach you - its simply a process); but to effectively teach you need to cover both aspects (i.e. the logic and the practical way to solve problems). Can you confirm that they don't teach stacking at all? You showed earlier that they teach partial products, which uses stacking addition (or can do).

[Nobunaga]

Ouch, yeah that's not cool.

However I do actually like the conceptual method as it is really good at visually explaining the underlying reasoning/logic (something that stacking doesn't teach you - its simply a process); but to effectively teach you need to cover both aspects (i.e. the logic and the practical way to solve problems). Can you confirm that they don't teach stacking at all? You showed earlier that they teach partial products, which uses stacking addition (or can do).

They do stack the partial products and add them, yes. But there is no direct - one number over the other addition in the entire book (I've checked, believe me). So the partial products must be the extent to which it's permitted.

The lattice method for multiplication begins next week. I already went through my kid's work book and did all his problems for him. I'm going to show him how I did it, so he might do well on the test, but I don't want him wasting time.

It's sad as hell - kids are getting terribly confused. I speak to other parents at every opportunity and they're all pissed off about this. My boy brought home his first B on a math paper last Monday (84%). My wife freaked (the boy has always been exceptional at mathematics - kinda' scary, really).

On the plus side, and this is a real plus, I'm spending more time with the boy now - helping with his "alien" math homework, and running drills with "real math". Also, we (the wife and I) are trying to be careful about this. If we bitch and moan about it in front of him... He may start to think he shouldn't even try.

Anyway, I haven't seen any politics in his reading, so there are happily no issues there.

[PLAYER57832]

How can someone assault a police officer when that person is not a police officer? And more importantly, why is someone being punished so harshly for questioning what his children are being taught? What is the government refusing to tell us?

Is he REALLY being punished for questioning what his children are being taught or for HOW he questioned it?

and.. I did not see any "government" there, I saw a bunch of individuals putting forward plans and ideas.

They were charging him, but then they decided to drop all charges. Player, the school council is "the government".

If they dropped the charges, then why is it not an indication of the system working? Sometimes you cannot tell, without fully reviewing the evidence, if someone is guilty or not. In the "real world", that is often a trial.

[Nobunaga]

How can someone assault a police officer when that person is not a police officer? And more importantly, why is someone being punished so harshly for questioning what his children are being taught? What is the government refusing to tell us?

Is he REALLY being punished for questioning what his children are being taught or for HOW he questioned it?

and.. I did not see any "government" there, I saw a bunch of individuals putting forward plans and ideas.

They were charging him, but then they decided to drop all charges. Player, the school council is "the government".

If they dropped the charges, then why is it not an indication of the system working? Sometimes you cannot tell, without fully reviewing the evidence, if someone is guilty or not. In the "real world", that is often a trial.

He might have decked that cop after the camera was off. Who knows?

[isaiah40]

One on Common Core and the second on CSCOPE - The prelude to Common Core in Texas
Common Core Assignment: Remove two Amendments in the Bil of Rights and replace them with two others.
Texas 6th graders assigned to design flag for new socialist nation

[Metsfanmax]

Texas 6th graders assigned to design flag for new socialist nation

Guys, we've gotta do something about this! We can't have sixth graders drawing socialist flags for nonexistent nations, or else they might become socialists. Just to be sure they grow up properly as Americans, we should never expose them to information about anything other than democracy!

[Nobunaga]

Texas 6th graders assigned to design flag for new socialist nation

Guys, we've gotta do something about this! We can't have sixth graders drawing socialist flags for nonexistent nations, or else they might become socialists. Just to be sure they grow up properly as Americans, we should never expose them to information about anything other than democracy!

Are they taught democracy, at least how it is supposed to work in the US?

[Phatscotty]

Texas 6th graders assigned to design flag for new socialist nation

Guys, we've gotta do something about this! We can't have sixth graders drawing socialist flags for nonexistent nations, or else they might become socialists. Just to be sure they grow up properly as Americans, we should never expose them to information about anything other than democracy!

Are they taught democracy, at least how it is supposed to work in the US?

Leave it to Mets to defend children creating socialist flags. I dub thee straight up Nazi

anyways, everything people needs to know about Common Core in 5 minutes


and victory in Colorado

Parents in a Colorado school district rejoiced last week when they learned that the pilot version of a controversial student data collection program would be stopped. Now, the state has taken it a step further by completely severing ties with the program known as inBloom.
students

“It has been very exciting,” Sunny Flynn, the mom of a kindergartner in the Jefferson County School District, told TheBlaze. “We thought we had a longer battle in front of us.”

Last month, TheBlaze first spoke with Flynn and another mom leading the charge with other parents against inBloom — a project that began with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York. At the time, Flynn expressed fears over potential privacy issues with the program, as well as what she considered “big business” making its way into the classroom.

“Now that the Colorado Board of Education has decided to terminate its relationship with inBloom … it shows that Commissioner (Robert) Hammond is listening to parents,” Flynn said.

Hammond, the state’s education commissioner, informed the state board of education Wednesday of the department’s decision.

“As a result of Jefferson County School district’s decision to withdraw from inBloom and recognizing the concerns being expressed, I have made the decision that in the best interests of the department we exercise our right to terminate the service agreement with inBloom,” Hammond said.

But Hammond was optimistic about how inBloom could have been used.

“Using these tools, teachers would have been able to more easily support their students’ needs by helping them learn at their own pace and truly master a concept before moving forward. In my opinion, this continues to be an important goal in educating our students for the 21st century,” he said. “Unfortunately, concerns and questions persisted in Jefferson County that led to their decision to withdraw from inBloom.”

In addition to including standardized test scores and enrollment information, parents were concerned about the hundred of data points that could be collected and stored on inBloom. They included everything from disciplinary actions, which the school district later said it would not collect, to family status to food assistance programs and disabilities.

Hammond said the state can take away valuable lessons from the now-terminated pilot program, including the need to improve privacy policies — working with privacy advocacy groups to identify problems beforehand — and the need to create a statewide policy to model how school districts can enter into agreements with third parties.

But Flynn thinks the lessons learned from the state’s relationship with inBloom could have more of a reach.

At the moment, “we have to make sure New York hears this news,” Flynn said.

“We hope that (New York’s Board of Regents and Education Commissioner John King) takes this as a really important message,” the Littleton, Colo., mother continued. “This is not about security, this is about privacy. The technology has simply gotten ahead of leadership and policies.”

This week, parents in New York City filed a lawsuit with the New York state Supreme Court, hoping to prevent student data from being shared with inBloom.

“Commissioner King has ignored the protests of thousands of parents who have urged him to drop this plan and asked him to protect their children’s highly sensitive information,” Leonie Haimson, executive director of the advocacy group Class Size Matters who is involved with the lawsuit, told The Poughkeepsie Journal. “They have been joined by a growing chorus of school board members and superintendents throughout the state who say that his data-sharing plan is not only unnecessary, it poses huge and unprecedented risks.”

[Phatscotty]

"push our agenda on them while they're young!" is a mainstream view by teachers in America,. You want answers to why education gets worse every year despite spending more money every year? It's because they aren't focusing on teaching students how to think, they are focusing on teaching students what to think and who to hate.

Colorado 7th Graders, Parents, Required To Take “Righty/Lefty” Survey








Here is the transcript of the letter to the school:

I am appalled by the “Righty or Lefty” poll. First of all it is nobody’s business what mine or my 12-year-old son’s political views are. Secondly, my own son does not even know what half of these issues mean until after discussing them with him. His answers vary greatly during discussion. His views will always change as he grows and as new issues arise and he learns that these things have an effect on his life.

As I am reading these topics, I have noticed the entire thing is pro-Liberal and con-Conservative, being completely skewed towards “Lefty-nicey/meany conservatives” ideology, which I do not approve of. The entire thing is unbalanced and an unfair and inaccurate representation. My family is NEITHER and I do not appreciate you or the school trying to pawn this assignment off on students who are too young to have valuable opinions on these subjects!

I do not know what importance this has as being an assigned worksheet for a “major grade” (as he has informed me). I do not want to hear about it being for a government assignment! Learning about government is one thing – but it is none of your business to try and pry personal information out of a child on extremely private information. I am excusing my son from this assignment and expect this NOT to be counted against his grade. Sincerely, _____.

The great-aunt of the student concludes,

If this assignment doesn’t necessarily fit the Common Core agenda, it certainly fits the agenda of those collecting private information on students and parents for the Jeffco School District nearby here in CO by a grant from the Gates Foundation. This assignment is clearly an attempt to collect private data from my niece and her family through her 12 year old son.

We are attempting to contact the district for further comment as to whether this is part of the Common Core curriculum, or simply a teacher who thought this survey might be a good idea.

[isaiah40]

Common Core approved child pornography

[BigBallinStalin]

Sigh... The Bluest Eyes isn't child pornography, and it's being recommended to 16-17 year olds, who are old enough to deal with the content. If I was running a school, I'd pick other works of fiction though.

[warmonger1981]

So you are saying it was a good investment of tax payer dollars?

[BigBallinStalin]

So you are saying it was a good investment of tax payer dollars?

No, I'm not saying that.