Posted on 08/19/2013 4:45:47 AM PDT by Kaslin
Apparently, under the new Common-Core standards, correct answers don’t really matter. At least that’s according to a “curriculum coordinator” in Chicago named Amanda August. “Even if [a student] said, ’3 x 4 was 11,’ if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focused on the how,” said the common core supporter and typical liberal, Amanda. Off course this reasoning explains quite a bit regarding our nation’s 16 trillion dollar debt, and Nancy Pelosi’s assertion that Obamacare was a “deficit reducer.” When you consider that our finest economic leaders in the Federal Reserve, and the White House, think spending more money will result in fewer deficits, teaching that 3 x 4 = 11 (if you explain it well) isn’t really much of a stretch.
Common Core: Wrong Answer Are fine - Longer
The left has long sought to bolster self-esteem by downplaying wrong answers in education. Everyone gets a ribbon; a truly disastrous lesson to teach when not everyone is capable of getting a job. And while the how is important in any lesson plan, in the end, the answer should still be correct. Amanda’s students are going to be in for a world of surprise when their first employer decides that doing the job correctly is more important than demonstrating “with words” an employee’s fundamental failure to grasp the concept of their task.
To the credit of the presumably leftists audience, someone asked if teachers will still be correcting students on math tests. The simple fact that someone had to ask the question should demonstrate the atrocious nature of American education reform. The question “are we still going to correct wrong answers” would seem incomprehensible in a system of honest instruction. Amanda, however, stumbles through a very entertaining non-answer:
“We want our students to compute correctly but the emphasis is really moving more towards the explanation, and the how, and the why, and ‘can I really talk through the procedures that I went through to get this answer; and not just knowing that it’s 12, but why is it 12? How do I know that?”
Well. . . Amanda, if they answered “11”, my guess is they won’t be able to answer “how do I know that” to a satisfactory degree. Well, 3 + 4 = 7, and both 3 and 7 are prime numbers. This leaves only 4 left, so we add it to our answer of 7 which is, of course, 11. Another prime number. . . How’d I do? Do I pass? What kind of world do we live in when math becomes a philosophical essay, and not a system of numbers, arithmetic, and simple truths? Well, it’s the same type of world that gives ribbons out to “honorary mentions” and lets every child star in the Christmas “winter” musical.
And this is at the center of Common-Core. At its heart is not an intent to better our failing school system (after all, you don’t do that by praising kids who get basic multiplication wrong) but to instil an altruistic sense of self-worth and liberal flexibility. To the American left, school should be an instrument to instruct children that they can be anything they want, and that the most important thing is life is that you get an “A” for effort.
Of course, I wanted to be an astronaut. . . And it doesn’t matter how hard you try, if you can’t answer the multiplication problem “3 x 4”, you’re not very likely to move into the highly competitive world of extraterrestrial exploration (although you could run for congress as a Democrat).
Amanda’s purported concentration on making sure children understand what they are taught certainly has its place in the classroom. . . Right behind getting the right answer. But don’t worry: People like Amanda will soon be writing up your child’s lesson plans.
Lest we forget also: Remember in the Novel “1984 “ By Orwell that the “party” brainwashed the main character that
“2 X 2 = 5”?
Idiots make better slaves.... Let me rephrase that, idiots and drug addicts make the best slaves.
this is simply an effort to create more liberal brains
The means justify the ends.
My guess this is to keep the teachers from having to know the correct answers. What a screwed up world...everything is correct even when it is not. Liberalism is so logical.
Makes sense if you look at how the government fudges numbers all the time.
First of all, why does this approach to teaching arithmetic and mathematics make sense to any experienced educator? Secondly, what have they got against arithmetic and mathematics?
So now we know how Geithner & Bernanke were educated...
Can’t stop building false self esteem just because the little rascals haven’t really learned anything.
To liberals feelings and wishes trump fact, accomplishment and results.
That’s how we end up with an idiot in the White House and mumblng moochers as civil rights “leaders”.
What kind of world do we live in when math becomes a philosophical essay, and not a system of numbers, arithmetic, and simple truths?"Truth" is an artificial construct of the patriarchy, invented as a tool of oppression.
“How can I help it?”, he blubbered. “How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.”
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”
By extension, does this mean that “IF” a surgeon amputates the WRONG leg, he gets credit because he did not, by mistake, amputate an ARM? After all, the patient survived the operation.
If “method” is more important than “accuracy”, tax evaders could proclaim innocence due to accurately putting the numbers in the right box, just using incorrect figures.
What a world.
“Even if [a student] said, ’3 x 4 was 11,’ if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focused on the how,”
I have seen math tests (and took a few, back in the day) where a student could get *partial* credit for an incorrect answer if they showed their work and understood the process correctly.
That’s not quite the same thing as what this teacher is proposing, however. At the end of the day, a wrong answer is a wrong answer, and giving it full credit because a kid can make a case that he basically meant well.
I’d also point out that the scenario I encountered was reserved for more complicated/challenging problems, not for something as simple as basic multiplication.
In fairness, most employers no longer care about this, either.
They’re gonna find that the world hasn’t changed that much...or at least they should.
“First of all, why does this approach to teaching arithmetic and mathematics make sense to any experienced educator? Secondly, what have they got against arithmetic and mathematics?”...
And third, who does it really benefit?
Great point. As conservatives, we have a well defined view of right and wrong, and recognize absolute truth. Liberals gauge right and wrong according to feelings, not truth.
What gets me about this is that someone thought long and hard about this and then presented the idea to someone in a position to implement the policy who probably also thought long and hard over it and decided it was a good idea. Either that or said policy maker is evil and complicit with the plan to destroy our children’s future. Who are these people and how did they get this power?
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