Thursday, September 14, 2006

Educational insanity I didn't know about.

If it sounds good, multiply the divisor by the sum of the numerator times 2. And sing Melancholy Baby.

Fuzzy memory on fuzzy math

THE NATIONAL Council of Teachers of Mathematics released new guidelines that, for example, call on fourth-graders to know multiplication tables and division.

Uh, okay. I learned that by the second grade, is this a step backward?

Stanford University math professor James Milgram, who advised the NCTM on the new guidelines, told Education Week that the new guidelines represent "an end to the math wars." Milgram was referring to the ideological battle between educators, who believe that students should memorize multiplication tables and master long-division, and educrats, who believe teachers should encourage students to discover math for themselves and master estimating numbers.

In 1989, the NCTM was on the fuzzy side.

California educators argued that memorization of number facts was "a hindrance rather than a help in developing mathematical understanding. ... developers of a California assessment test told graders to give more credit to students who got the wrong answer to a math question (but wrote a better essay) than students who gave the right answer without the right prose. California elementary schools scarfed up MathLand, a trendy program that pooh-poohed exercises with "predetermined numerical results."

The unofficial slogan for new-new math: There is no right answer.

Rodger the Real King of France 9/14/2006 12:31:00 PM 12 Comments

"If the number of Islamic terror attacks continues at the current rate, candlelight vigils will soon be the number-one cause of global warming. "
Argus Hamilton

12 comments:

Just Another Old Geezer said...: No frickin' wonder there're pictures of hamburgers on the fast food registers. Those California educators more 'n probly had a hard time in math in grade school so they thought they'd fix it for following generations. Never mind the fact that some college programs as well as real life occupations require the real thing. Wonder how they would like a trans ocean flight where the pilot missed the fuel calcs but wrote a great essay ordering the wrong amount of fuel?; 9/14/06, 12:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Thats just the same as there is no right or wrong or nothing is moral or immoral to these very same bastards.Thats why you have killers like the one in Canada or Columbine. I am fed up with these people.; 9/14/06, 12:56 PM
Anonymous said...: I can always identify people from educational systems like that . . . the ones who have trouble counting to fifteen -- they're always in front of me in the Express line at the Commissary.; 9/14/06, 1:29 PM
Anonymous said...: MATH TEACHER ARRESTED
At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual, later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator. At a morning press conference, the attorney general said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-Gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. "al-Gebra is a fearsome cult," a Justice Department spokesman said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'there are 3 sides to every triangle'." When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes".; 9/14/06, 3:28 PM
Howard said...: For an absolute fact I can tell you that almost no teen age kid can make change. Without those calculating machine cash registers we'd have to hire college grads to work behind the counter.

Are private schools better? Hard to tell because they usually have filthy rich parents and don't work.; 9/14/06, 3:39 PM
Anonymous said...: IIRC, for me, from basic sums in arithmetic through partial differential equations in college, many was the time where I was fuzzy or outright stupified on the theory or methodology, but could always have the eureka moment of crystal clear understanding by doing the rote exercises presribed and studying my ass off. Always.

I think the Liberals and educrats want the kids to learn by osmosis without pain or hard work or heaven forbid, reaching the point where the subject matter is beyond the kids' ability and thereby causing loss of esteem......oh no.......anything but that.....wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Lt. Gen. Tailgunner dick; 9/14/06, 4:08 PM
Anonymous said...: true story. Hungry. Krystal in Gray Georgia. Line. Order taken from me. I pay. Girl - young, asks me: "How much change does it say?" ...her side of the register display was broken.; 9/14/06, 5:10 PM
Francis W. Porretto said...: Always remember that "educators" come from the bottom 20% of the intelligence distribution among college graduates.

These are not people with much regard for matters of the intellect. The smartest of them have trouble remembering how many cans there are in a six-pack.; 9/14/06, 5:18 PM
Rodger the Real King of France said...: Howard!

"Hard to tell because they usually have filthy rich parents and don't work."

I know several families who home school, and none are even sanitarily rich, some are downright poor who get cheese from the government. STG.; 9/14/06, 6:59 PM
Anonymous said...: MATH TEACHER ARRESTED

Maybe that's old hat, but I've never seen it. Literally LMAO.

Nice work.; 9/14/06, 11:15 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Francis,

My wife, second in her class in college, and I, BS Computer Science, MS Physics, are both high school educators. We'd appreciate you refraining from comments lie "The smartest of them have trouble remembering how many cans there are in a six pack". Don't make statements about things you know nothing about.

The vast majority of my collegues are intelligent and thoughful. Sure, there are the "I picked teaching cause it was easy" crowd, but they are not prevalent in the least.

Someone has to do this job. I used to be a researcher with a much, much larger salary. I wanted to give something back more directly. It is not an easy job in the lest.

Your pithy and insulting comments should be kept to yourself.; 9/15/06, 7:39 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow, when I'm angry (see last post) I type quite fast, and leave out lots of letters!; 9/15/06, 7:40 PM

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Thursday, September 14, 2006

Educational insanity I didn't know about.

Fuzzy memory on fuzzy math

12 comments:

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