kitchen table math, the sequel: Fisking Fennell

Friday, October 12, 2007

Posted today at VME. Of course I favorably mention Barry's recent remarks here at KTM.

Anonymous said...: This appears on the page of Frank Allen's article on NCTM at MC:

Indictment of the Theoreticians

"If the past has nothing to say to the present then the present has nothing to say to the future."
Frank B. Allen 1909-200? AD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pity the NCTM today
A worthy group that's gone astray
A group completely under the sway
Of theoreticians, far away
From schoolroom events of everyday
Who conduct research in a curious way
It matters little what they say
This is the message their deeds convey:

"Standardized tests are an awful bane,
They reveal little or negative gain,
And we regard them with disdain.
A little logic might cause some pain,
From proof that's tough we will abstain.
We'll appeal to the hand instead of the brain.
Subject teacher time to a terrible drain,
With an assessment system that's hard to explain.
We'll repeat sixth grade, like an old refrain,
Recycling the facts all over again."

"If you disagree with us at all
You are a Neanderthal."; October 12, 2007 at 12:19 PM

kitchen table math, the sequel