I'm going to 'fess up to not liking this video. It looks like propaganda and we do not need to play that game. The curriculum should (and can) speak for itself. How come we don't see more of the lessons, and less of the cheerleaders? And the kids look scripted.
I think there's a federal law that says you can't market a math program without featuring some cute kid claiming how much she loves math and understands math now.
What's the deal with the teachers on the video saying that Saxon is spiral when Saxon doesn't make that claim (they call it incremental)? Or maybe they do make that claim now?
Off topic: This post is killing the display of the blog on Firefox. The second post on the front page doesn't show up until after the last of the stuff in the left column (below the section labeled Blog Archive.)
Vicky and Myrtle, Agreed. They fell into the fight fire with fire trap with this one and ended up employing many of the same irritating arguments of programs such as Everyday Math.
I also zeroed in on the reference to "spiraling". Saxon's method of is more aptly referred to spaced repetition, which is cognitively superior to "spiraling" as professed in Every Math, for example. Singapore Math has a completely different interpretation of "spiraling" as well. This is a misused term that should have been avoided at all costs.
They missed an opportunity to promote something of value and that's a shame. Hopefully they don't make the same mistakes on a video of Singapore Math should that be next on the to-do list.
*I checked the posting on blogger. Hopefully the display situation is corrected. Sorry about that.
The display is still broken in Firefox. In addition to the code noted by zac, I see nine consecutive /div tags at the end of the post body that also might cause a problem.
My kids are going through Tolland, Ct with Everyday Math and I do not get it!! Saxon seems to make more sense
ReplyDeletestat,
ReplyDeleteWe're all trying to make sense of it. We can't.
By the way, I grew up next door in Rockville, CT.
I'm going to 'fess up to not liking this video. It looks like propaganda and we do not need to play that game. The curriculum should (and can) speak for itself. How come we don't see more of the lessons, and less of the cheerleaders? And the kids look scripted.
ReplyDeleteVicki,
ReplyDeleteYou said it first, I thought it.
I think there's a federal law that says you can't market a math program without featuring some cute kid claiming how much she loves math and understands math now.
What's the deal with the teachers on the video saying that Saxon is spiral when Saxon doesn't make that claim (they call it incremental)? Or maybe they do make that claim now?
Off topic: This post is killing the display of the blog on Firefox. The second post on the front page doesn't show up until after the last of the stuff in the left column (below the section labeled Blog Archive.)
ReplyDeleteOn Internet Explorer, things look normal.
Doug (and concernedCTparent)
ReplyDeleteYes, this post is broken because in the code, after the YouTube video, there is a
<div style='clear: both;'></div>
This messes up the float of the main content so that main content is shoved way down the bottom.
Vicky and Myrtle, Agreed. They fell into the fight fire with fire trap with this one and ended up employing many of the same irritating arguments of programs such as Everyday Math.
ReplyDeleteI also zeroed in on the reference to "spiraling". Saxon's method of is more aptly referred to spaced repetition, which is cognitively superior to "spiraling" as professed in Every Math, for example. Singapore Math has a completely different interpretation of "spiraling" as well. This is a misused term that should have been avoided at all costs.
They missed an opportunity to promote something of value and that's a shame. Hopefully they don't make the same mistakes on a video of Singapore Math should that be next on the to-do list.
*I checked the posting on blogger. Hopefully the display situation is corrected. Sorry about that.
Everyday Math uses spiraling for mastery rather than content. It's not mastery and then review. It's repeated partial learning. It's low expectations.
ReplyDeleteThe display is still broken in Firefox. In addition to the code noted by zac, I see nine consecutive /div tags at the end of the post body that also might cause a problem.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I have no idea what I'm doing. The link directly to youtube is underneath the video.
ReplyDeleteThanks Catherine!
ReplyDelete