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common core? craziness pad patter 8.22.18

cfile said:
oh goodness.. I always wanted to be a math teacher growing up and I have helped many with algebra (my fav) even college algebra but no way could I do this common core.. no wonder the kids have a hard time... this is crazy! Bless you all with children in school. I don't think I would be able to help with homework!
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OOOOH Algebra is my favorite too! I tutored many kids through high school math and still have one to tutor this year. One of my former tutoring students just graduated from college and is teaching middle school math! She said it was thanks to me that math became her favorite subject! My heart swelled!
 
I have to giggle because some of common core is actually the way I learned math in Canada. So, some of it seems weird to me, but some of it makes total sense. And I don't often use my phone calculator. I usually do it in my head....:backing
I think it was dumb the way they rolled it out. They should have let the higher grades finish out the "old way" and started the new way with the younger kids. But no one consulted me....:shrug:whistle:thumbsups
 
Here's my take on Common Core. I get that it's harder for some of us adults, parents and teachers, because it's a different way of thinking from how we learned to do things. For me, it's like the old dog, new tricks thing lol and I love math, it is one of my most favorite things ever! Being a special education teacher, one of the things we do is to get kids thinking about different ways of doing things and figuring out which way works best to help them learn. In that respect, Common Core is a good thing. My issue with it is when it comes to standardized testing and expecting students to only use that one method to find an answer, when there are multiple ways to solve the same problem. In my opinion, if they know how to get the right answer, it shouldn't matter what method they use get there, kwim? That being said, we don't do Common Core in the state of Virginia, we have our own standards. And I'll leave that right there or I could be on for days about standardized testing in general hahaha. But good luck to you and the kids as they navigate it all.
 
I really cannot stand Common Core math and my husband has a MATH MINOR from an Ivy League university but even he says he can't make sense of those crazy worksheets they send home for it. LOL
 
IntenseMagic said:
That being said, we don't do Common Core in the state of Virginia, we have our own standards.
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Oh that is good..I thought VA was on common core. Good to know! I don’t have any children but glad common core math is not taught here! :)
 
cfile said:
Oh that is good..I thought VA was on common core. Good to know! I don’t have any children but glad common core math is not taught here! :)
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It's kind of ironic...VA has the Standards of Learning, or SOL for short...which a lot of kids are when they attempt the standardized tests :giggle (funny, but not funny). I often wonder if anyone caught on to that when coming up with the name.
 
I homeschool & I teach it the old school way. I think for younger kids (elementary age) it's best for them to stick to basic rules, facts, terminology, and memorization. They may not always understand the whys and hows behind everything they are doing but as they get into middle and high school they can explore more as their brains are ready to handle more complex information...and if they are already fluent with addition, multiplication, and rules then everything else just comes to them a lot easier.
 
I loved math in school- and try really hard to understand the kids' homework but it is really different, that's for sure! My daughter is a rule-follower- so she doesn't always like the "outside the box" thinking- but does pick it up pretty fast. My son however- has no troubles & excels in this method. So for now- I'll just try to understand- even tho I think my way is easier! ;)
 
Ok, I'm biting my tongue a little because I am a teacher's wife and I have taken some time to listen to him and our friends discuss common core at length. It's not necessarily "common core" that you dislike because all that really gets talked about is "new" methods of solving math problems. Common Core is a set of standards that are believed to be achievable by a specific grade. It was planned to be incorporated into schools across the country so any student would be taught those same topics the same year and not be behind/ahead if they had to move for some reason.

The "new" math can be hard for us to understand because we're so used to the way we were taught- a bunch of algorithms that we memorized and so we just know that 1+1=2, 2x3=6, etc. We don't think about how the problem breaks down or how to explain why it works. It comes in handy to know these methods as they progress to harder math. That said, I do also think that the way some teachers teach math can be frustrating to kids that don't always get a chance to think outside of the box. Which is also what Common Core wants to achieve - students that can think for themselves and not necessarily always get the same exact answers.

IntenseMagic said:
Here's my take on Common Core. I get that it's harder for some of us adults, parents and teachers, because it's a different way of thinking from how we learned to do things. For me, it's like the old dog, new tricks thing lol and I love math, it is one of my most favorite things ever! Being a special education teacher, one of the things we do is to get kids thinking about different ways of doing things and figuring out which way works best to help them learn. In that respect, Common Core is a good thing. My issue with it is when it comes to standardized testing and expecting students to only use that one method to find an answer, when there are multiple ways to solve the same problem. In my opinion, if they know how to get the right answer, it shouldn't matter what method they use get there, kwim?
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Yes! IMO I think it's the kids that have different learning methods anyways that are really benefiting from the newer teaching methods. My son started off school with Common Core and these methods and just picked up math immediately. He was later identified as gifted. I also agree that testing is hard because they look for that one method which might not have been the best way the student remembers for solving the problems.
 
Sunberry2 said:
Common Core is a set of standards that are believed to be achievable by a specific grade. It was planned to be incorporated into schools across the country so any student would be taught those same topics the same year and not be behind/ahead if they had to move for some reason.
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This is a great point! As a child who moved a lot when younger, I was never sure if I'd be behind, ahead, or right in line. I do wish this part was discussed more.
 
I remember saying at the start of the presidential race - I would vote for anyone, truly anyone, if they got ride of it.

and...…..here we are!

My children have heard me yell many times "WHAT HAPPENED TO CARRY THE 1?!"
 
I was trying to teach that publisher the year before last. Ugh. Several years ago (pre-Common Core) I went to math teacher convention. I love a lot of the goals that common core math is trying to achieve. I think the publishers who have put together the curriculum haven't done a good enough job. On the teacher side, the lessons are complicated, slow and often require a ton of prep (this was in kinder). These kinds of homework sheets suck. They don't give parents the instructions to help their kids if the kids don't remember what they did in class. My view, especially for elementary school math, is that homework is practice. The teaching and learning happens in class where the teacher controls and monitors the lessons and level of understanding. If the kiddos need to be asking their parents for help, it's not the right homework.

I'm all for teaching the kids there are multiple ways of solving problems. The ways we learned math back in the day often skipped the why and how. Before teaching, my number sense was awful (well tbh, it's still not great.) I now have some great hands on lessons that help the kids understand and SEE why, when we divide fractions the "shortcut" is multiple the reciprocal. Honestly, I never knew why, I just memorized the how.

When we chunk the information this way and break it down to one lesson at a time, we end up requiring the kids to spend a lot of time practicing inefficient ways of doing the math. The journey is to go through and understand the language of numbers. Eventually we get to the traditional algorithms (and carry the one). But when the homework is worksheet 4.7 smack in the middle of the process and lacks any context or understanding we end up with weird and confusing homework questions that end up angering parents, frustrating kids, and give teachers more work because now they have to smooth things over with the parents. In case you can't tell, I hate those worksheets. The publishers need to do a better job with their materials.

As a teacher, I'd recommend a note on the homework or email along these lines: "xxx wasn't quite sure what the question was asking and neither was I. Can you check in with him/her to make sure he understands? Please let me know how I can support him/her. " Or ... "Xxx was getting really frustrated with this assignment and frankly so was I. I made him stop and instead we practice math facts/did flash cards/counted money/converted recipes/made a budget/played some math game" or whatever. That way, you protest the dumb homework, but still are doing something valuable and math based for 15 minutes. Your child will have a much better experience and not end up hating math.


I've taught most grades K-5 so I typically "get" what the work is trying to accomplish. I do have a couple FB friends who message me homework questions. LOL.
 
Well before Common Core, I recall looking at my daughter's work sheets - those wretched hand drawn mimeographed papers that were often blurry to start with - and my husband and I realizing that some of the problems were just plain wrong. Sigh...

But going back to the goals of CC. Sounds great - as an ideal - but in real life with the background disparities of our public school children? Seriously? and then to penalize the teacher when ALL the students do not meet the expected standards? No wonder why we've had so much 'teach to test' and damned if any child doesn't make it. How many schools figured out how to fudge the results so their school would not be taken over or lose funding etc. My heart goes out to teachers...I mean like "so well paid and having the summers off " <--- that is pure sarcasm lest anyone think it's not. I am always amazed the young people still go into teaching! Yay!
 
enjoyyourpix said:
The teaching and learning happens in class where the teacher controls and monitors the lessons and level of understanding. If the kiddos need to be asking their parents for help, it's not the right homework.
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There was a math teacher that had his moment of fame two years ago I believe? Because he videotaped his lesson, and that was the homework - the kids watched the 15 minute lesson, and wrote down questions. Then, in class they did the worksheets and he answered their questions. I thought that was a unique way to handle it.
 
bestcee said:
There was a math teacher that had his moment of fame two years ago I believe? Because he videotaped his lesson, and that was the homework - the kids watched the 15 minute lesson, and wrote down questions. Then, in class they did the worksheets and he answered their questions. I thought that was a unique way to handle it.
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There's a method that several schools/divisions have taken on in the last couple of years - "The flipped classroom". I did a workshop on it not too long ago and was really fascinated by it. In many ways it makes a lot of sense! The only roadblock we saw for our particular area is that it's pretty low income and there are many with no access to technology at home. But I really do think it has a lot of advantages over the traditional way of doing things.
 
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