Posted on 07/13/2014 11:46:51 AM PDT by AuditTheFed
by Gina Cassini | Top Right News
One student got tired of being dumbed-down by Common Core's convoluted "standards" to do basic arithmetic.
"Standards" like how to add two numbers, which the student was told to do like THIS:
WHAT? It's enough to make you pull your hair out.
So when he was given his next basic arithmetic assignment, to find the difference between 180 and 158 (180-158), this 5th grade student just did it his own way -- the right way -- and dissed Common Core with single, awesome word:
(Excerpt) Read more at toprightnews.com ...
Lol! I understand...but there are SOME very good public school teachers. Unfortunately, there are many inept or outright horrible teachers these days.
Anyone remember New Math from the sixties? I got A’s in math without knowing a single thing about what I was doing. A wrong answer didn’t matter...you just had to understand the process.
looks like we don’t have a common core : )
Wisconsin 5th grader fires back at Common Core.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest jping list.
26+17=43
6+7= 13
Put the 3 in the ones column carry the 1.
2+1 = 3+1= 4 which ges in the 10’s column.
If that word was important, it would have been included in the post.
As it is, I think you’re just a troll looking for clicks to your blog.
Yes, that also works. It does not matter much how you break it down, as long as you understand the fundamental process.
Same here. If I'm doing it on paper, I'll use the carrying method, but if I'm doing it in my head, this is exactly the method I use. I didn't learn it in school, though. I do it instinctively.
I find people develop their own systems. I used to sit in meetings and add columns of numbers in my head as fast as someone wrote them down.
When asked how I did it I merely said, catholic school.
The common core example is too convoluted. It seems to turn simple addition into algebra.
And I did it differently.
I recognized that 17 is nearly 20.
I added 10 to 26 to get 36.
Then I added 10 again to get 46.
Then I subtracted 3 because 17 is not quite 20.
Sometimes I will just mimic the way done on paper. I glance at the units column and see that there is a carry.
Then I add 2 plus 1 plus the carry to get 4.
Finally, ignoring the carry I add 6 + 7 to get the 3, for an answer of 43.
The point being, I don't do it the same way all the time.
I recall an anecdote from a book by Richard Feynman, the Nobel prize winning physicist. He is with several other people who propose a math problem to him. As a result of some coincidental relationships in the numbers, he is able to do the mental calculation to generate an answer to several decimal places, impressing the people around him.
His was another example of the fact that a skilled person wouldn't necessarily use just one approach to making such a calculation.
Those of us who use such shortcuts to making calculations do so in order to save the trouble of doing the calculation on paper. If a person doesn't have the skills to do the paper calculation, then there will be little incentive to understand and retain shortcuts.
Educators have been struggling for generations to find some way to teach arithmetic and higher math to the masses. They have failed to improve on the necessity of having everybody learn the basics. Calculators allow people to be ignorant, they are not a replacement for knowledge.
Perhaps those who support this convoluted idiocy would like their SALARIES added up that way? What`s a few number less when it comes to real money?
I guess that the Amish are the superstars of your world...
26+17=(20+10)+(6+7)=30+13=43.
That is the way my mind sees it.
Push 2
Push 6
Push Enter
Push 1
Push 7
Push +
Re the quality of teachers, it was Thomas Sowell who confirmed that today’s public school teacher comes from the bottom 25% of the average college graduating class. If it doesn’t already, that statistic ought to alarm you.
Meaning, in the average American classroom, the innate intelligence of 3/4 of the kids is higher than the innate intelligence of the teacher. Another scary thought.
Now imagine that same teacher of below average intellect trying to teach Junior a complicated concept like the alternate way to add two figures.
Makes me shudder.
Trust me...I was alarmed a loooong time ago.
;-o
They have failed to improve on the necessity of having everybody learn the basics.
__________________________
Bingo!
LOL! Good for him. MATH!
I love it.
I am a product of what was called “New Math”in the sixties. I never was taught to memorize basic multuplication tables. I was taught some cockeyed way to analyze it beginning with the number times 100 and go back....oh I still don’t understand it. I became a calculator baby from that point and still use my fingers at times. My kids MEMORIZED their times tables and can calculate in their heads.
You’re right ... I use a similar system when grocery shopping. Great for adding lots of numbers in your head quickly. For anything else it’s a total waste of time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.