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Read Thread: Looks like we've ALL had our Cores Commoned!

Re: Looks like we've ALL had our Cores Commoned!
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #876808 by FloridaFour
Nov 16, 2014 1:03pm
Thread (disabled) Board
So yesterday, my daughter asked me what 30x10 was and I said, 300. She was surprised I knew what it was. (She's 9). I said well that one is easy, but if you asked me what 27x14 was, I would have to grab a calculator, or work it out in paper. My son, while playing a video game, answered, "easy, 278". He did it in his head in like 2 seconds...

He's in sixth grade, taking 7th grade advanced math.

Not sure how he solved it but without paper and pencil I would have done:
27x10=270 plus 20 x 4 =80 (350 so far) plus 7x4=28 so 350+28 is 378.
Re: Looks like we've ALL had our Cores Commoned!
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #876963 by CTEagleEye
Nov 16, 2014 1:22pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I cannot do mental math, especially they way they teach it. Too many different numbers to remember. I get lost and forget what I've already done, what needs to be done etc. I like having it all nice a neat. My husband can do math mentally, but cannot help her with her homework because they have to write it down. I dunno what's best anymore. We just dredge through it and try to make the most of it.

Here's what my paper would look like:
2
27
x14
______
108

27

______
378
Re: Looks like we've ALL had our Cores Commoned!
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #876969 by photopam
Nov 16, 2014 1:27pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I think a good teacher would accept what you've done. I think the whole point with common core is getting them to understand concepts behind the algorithms we use, but in the process, it's lost it's way in that it's only allowing for one way of doing things that may or may not fit the schema of the student. That's the opposite of what is supposed to be happening, which is students understanding how numbers work, developing ways of using numbers using those concepts (in individual ways) and applying them to problem-solving. I think the torture comes in when we force schemas on students for whom another method would work better. If I had someone doing it in his/her head and they could explain it to me, I'd let 'em. No sense going back to the concrete version when they've mastered the abstract already. That's backward to my way of thinking.
Re: Looks like we've ALL had our Cores Commoned!
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #876972 by Wry Me
Nov 16, 2014 1:53pm
Thread (disabled) Board
it's lost it's way in that it's only allowing for one way of doing things that may or may not fit the schema of the student. That's the opposite of what is supposed to be happening, 

I keep hearing this!!! And it was explained to me one day in a way I cannot recount. But it makes me sad. The whole point is to get them ready for the world.
Re: Looks like we've ALL had our Cores Commoned!
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #876974 by crosscresent
Nov 16, 2014 10:54pm
Thread (disabled) Board
It should be emphasized that the curriculum isn't mandated by the Common Core. It's up to the districts to decide how to implement it. So the actual work and the way it's presented is often due to the all-too-human desire for the sure thing. Many vendors have popped up as being "core aligned." They just vendors. It's the districts that decide to buy a program and implement it. So there's nothing in the common core that dictates exactly how something should be taught, only the standards and objectives that are to be met.