tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post5359130620583559071..comments2023-12-15T07:51:27.673-08:00Comments on Betrayed - Why Public Education Is Failing: In defense of proper process: Reform methods lead to lost information and incorrect answersLaurie H. Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18367210923946752695noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-51526455013305756622012-11-07T23:19:13.869-08:002012-11-07T23:19:13.869-08:00Bruce, here's an article I wrote in 2009 about...Bruce, here's an article I wrote in 2009 about why administrators don't listen. It contains a sense of humor in it (the aliens), but also some serious contemplation of why so many administrators obstinately refuse to budge. I do believe that for some, there is money involved:<br /><br />http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-administrators-dont-listen.htmlLaurie H. Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367210923946752695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-64533208808403150852012-11-07T22:52:20.059-08:002012-11-07T22:52:20.059-08:00Hi, Bruce. I've never understood this stubborn...Hi, Bruce. I've never understood this stubborn adherence to things that a) don't work academically and b) harm the children. Adults are not supposed to turn away from suffering children. They aren't supposed to blame the children for suffering. <br /><br />In my article on constructivism (Nov. 5), I note that some people say that children who don't want to work in groups are "bad apples," "jerks," "slackers" or "depressives." How anyone could condone such a mentality or give it any credence is beyond me. As a parent, if I heard this directed at my child, I would intervene immediately, to the point of pulling my child out of the class.<br /><br />We must not stand by and allow anyone to harm our children.<br /><br />But explain this? I can't. All I can do is try to inform parents so that they have the knowledge to intervene on behalf of their children -- hopefully before their children's self-esteem is forever damaged.Laurie H. Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367210923946752695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-91765848810202321602012-11-07T19:37:11.182-08:002012-11-07T19:37:11.182-08:00So where does this go, I would like to know. As yo...So where does this go, I would like to know. As you see it, are these professors best called quacks, lunatics, subversives, sadists, what?<br /><br />We might more easily formulate a plan of attack if we know what we're dealing with.Bruce Deitrick Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02881671487606709421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-11328939087940662832012-11-05T13:01:51.793-08:002012-11-05T13:01:51.793-08:00I thought I was nuts!!
We had many of these issues...I thought I was nuts!!<br />We had many of these issues when our son was in school....I would try to show him the traditional way and he said not to because it wasn't how the teacher wanted it done and it then confused him.<br />We watched later as he got completely frustrated at...how slow the other classes, each year, were moving. <br />This is not only a math issue but can even be seen in elementary band classes. Don't teach fundimentals, move slowly and never expect much.<br />Thank you for putting the rubber to the road and telling the truth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-32192596501199733442012-11-01T14:33:46.576-07:002012-11-01T14:33:46.576-07:00Laurie,
I once read that at the Morningside Acade...Laurie,<br /><br />I once read that at the Morningside Academy in Seattle (an private school specializing in remediating failing kids), they say that if a second-grader can deliver more that 40 correct answers per minute to simple addition questions (like 6 + 8 = ?), then such kids rarely have problems with science or math thereafter.<br /><br />Simple addition is critical; subtraction and long division and multiplication depend on it, and once kids understand "fluency", they don't lag on their times tables.<br /><br />Let's make this a goal!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-33942127498571258662012-11-01T07:00:30.385-07:002012-11-01T07:00:30.385-07:00Well written Laurie. To be fair one has to say th...Well written Laurie. To be fair one has to say that many of these problems have been displayed by students all along -- I'm a university math professor; I know.<br /><br />However, the teaching of fuzzy (= reform) math clearly exacerbates these things and reinforces them. In fact, some of them are regarded as a virtue in this wrongheaded system. I see many "reform" teacher manuals that explicitly say that such things are to be encouraged: less use of pencil-and-paper calculations; "strategies" (meaning no particular method in mind); exploration (of problems for which a straightforward and clear method is known); multiple solutions of the same problem; no set format for writing things down, etc, etc. While the terms they use sound wonderful, creative and "organic" to an uncritical ear, anyone who thinks twice about them understands that they lead directly to what you are describing so effectively here.R. Craigennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-18132622775574665822012-11-01T06:23:31.748-07:002012-11-01T06:23:31.748-07:00Great piece, a very concise explanation of what...Great piece, a very concise explanation of what's going on with the fuzzy math. We had to do some un-learning of bad reading habits in our daughter to teach her read Russian; she is way ahead of the curve with her math, but we are still worried that they are being taught to "count groups of" instead of multiply. How will they count "a groups of b" in algebra???skolenikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415695360916402505noreply@blogger.com