tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post5754087486786690907..comments2024-03-26T04:19:38.862-07:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: interview with my cousin - July 2005Catherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-833026903244620922009-03-17T12:22:00.000-07:002009-03-17T12:22:00.000-07:00Delayed gratification - lack of closure - superfic...Delayed gratification - lack of closure - superficial treatment.<BR/><BR/><I>Maybe its a boy thing -- they have a tough time waiting for understanding while sitting through the repeated exposures. He found it very frustrating that an advanced problem would be thrown at the class with no resolution to it. He wanted to know what the answer was.</I><BR/><BR/>Not just a boy thing. My daughter hated this. It reduced her to tears because she said they never finished the ideas. She was always left hungry and starving for more. <BR/><BR/>The only thing EM did for my daughter was to turn a child who openly professed her love for math and had previously exhibited facility with the subject, into a child who was beginning to hate it in no uncertain terms. Thankfully, going on two years sans EM, she's loving math and working on Algebra I as a sixth grader. She was saved thanks to Singapore Math and Saxon!<BR/><BR/>Even if a teacher wants to spend more time on a particular topic, enrich it, or expand it, they never do. They have a schedule to keep and they'd never get through the multitude of topics (even though coverage is extremely superficial). <BR/><BR/>Everyday Math is a mad race to nowhere.concernedCTparenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755180042426047454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-87095022496054441732009-03-17T11:25:00.000-07:002009-03-17T11:25:00.000-07:00Even when EM does things right (in particular, the...Even when EM does things right (in particular, their approach to fraction multiplication and related topics in 5th grade workbook, which is a sizeable section of fairly continuous topic, with few jumps into stray territories), students are at a disadvantage. There is no textbook to refer to, so once they are home, working on the worksheet, if they didn't fully understand the lesson, there's no textbook to refer to. The Student Reference Manual is not a textbook. Plus there's some degree of "discovery" expected of the students in this unit, as evidenced by the Teacher's Reference Manual. After doing paper folding exercises to see how the area model links to fraction multiplication, students answer questions on a worksheet. One of the questions asks them to state a rule for multiplying fractions. If the student says "multiply the numerators and denominators of the two fractions" the teacher views such answer as having passed the mini-assessment. If the student is having a problem answering that question, the teacher pulls such student aside for differentiated instruction which amounts to sitting the student down in front of the Student's Reference Manual and reading the section on multiplying fractions. Why not do that in the first place instead of playing "read my mind"?Barry Garelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01281266848110087415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-16745252925448559372009-03-17T10:30:00.000-07:002009-03-17T10:30:00.000-07:00I'd forgotten about the delayed gratification prob...I'd forgotten about the delayed gratification problem of EM. My son was horribly affected by it. My daughters are much more tolerant. Maybe its a boy thing -- they have a tough time waiting for understanding while sitting through the repeated exposures. He found it very frustrating that an advanced problem would be thrown at the class with no resolution to it. He wanted to know what the answer was.<BR/>My daughters are much more willing to move on without mastering material. Of course, that's not actually a good thing. But it helps them survive EM.LynnGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467061079495021347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-206218266539648672009-03-17T08:32:00.000-07:002009-03-17T08:32:00.000-07:00Her comments about spiraling remind me of what a s...Her comments about spiraling remind me of what a special ed teacher I once interviewed calls Everyday Math: "Drive-by math."Katharine Bealshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02838879769628392605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-70759098526835363092009-03-16T14:12:00.000-07:002009-03-16T14:12:00.000-07:00It's an oldie but goodie.I put it up because I wan...It's an oldie but goodie.<BR/><BR/>I put it up because I wanted to link to it at <A HREF="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2009/03/a_skirmish_in_the_math_wars_de.html" REL="nofollow">Ed Week</A>, but my comment didn't go through.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-9985590055242639602009-03-16T13:19:00.000-07:002009-03-16T13:19:00.000-07:00I remember this interview. It's just as relevant ...I remember this interview. It's just as relevant today as it was then.Barry Garelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01281266848110087415noreply@blogger.com