I know it must be really hard for people who prefer to memorize. I for one, did not have my math facts memorized until college, and had to take high school math over again, in college. I was always trying to break problems down, like in Common Core. My teachers all said I was very creative, but there was no need to do that... I was making math too hard. OK, so I had straight As, except for math, mostly Cs???

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.

I have no idea if this is due to the Common Core... Or if he is just really good at math! I just know he doesn't have any problems with it. My daughter struggles a little more, but still gets As.

I don't know... I think math is a language that not all people learn the same way. So Common Core is going to be hard for the majority, because apparantly it is a way of thinking that is not cut and dry... There was nowhere near enough emphasis on word problems when I was a kid. It was all memorization, and I hated it. I could never remember it. I still can't remember my husband's work phone number! Word problems were always Extra Credit. I skipped them. I didn't understand the concepts of math very well until college, with the help of a tutor.

Somewhere there's a perfect way to teach math. Or maybe parents can have an option of which style they want... In a perfect world. They could homeschool math, maybe? My son did virtual school math over the summer... Hard as heck!!! So I bow down to those that teach their kids!

Aaaahhh!!! I have to correct myself!!!

put more than three sentences in a row and it was hopeless. 

I meant 'put more than three WORDS in a row and it was hopeless'.

That may have been mamma's typo.

Its great it's worked for you! :)
But it's making my 8 year old an anxious wreck. :(
I say let it be there for the kids who need extra help or aren't getting it the traditional way. It is almost confusing because they are teaching so many tactics to get the same answer. It is overwhelming trying to keep all the properties and formulas straight and remembering what they are asking this time. Dd got one wrong on her test because she answered the problem instead answering it for the property. So it was (3x8)+(3x8)= ? She answered the equation correctly, but they wanted (6x8) instead. Yesh. Let's just make math harder.

Ok, thinking more about it.... I think it took him 5- 10 seconds. Seriously! LOL! It was so fast, I thought he snuck a calculator out.

I say let it be there for the kids who need extra help or aren't getting it the traditional way.

This could go both ways. Just say'n :)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Hi everyone. I would love your thoughts on letterboxing as a class activity. I teach college freshman biology. We usually have one lab activity which is really just a walk on the trails that no one knows are on campus.

I wanted to do more than just take them for a walk. I thought it would be fun to do a very simple series for them. But I'm trying to figure out how large. The lab period is 2.5 hours, but I'd be evil to expect that much hiking from them. For some, this hike is the first hike they've ever taken. That kinda bums me out.

I was thinking 4 boxes over about 1.5 miles. Is that too much? I want it to be a packet. It would include information about the campus and local flora and fauna. The clues would obviously be simple.

Any thoughts?

I think it sounds like fun.

I actually planned a letterboxing hike as one of 4 options 5th grade students could do at the end of a week learning at our local zoo. There is a wonderful nature area there and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I had 6 students and that was plenty. The biggest difference between our teaching groups would be the age. My students were so excited and enamored by it that they all wanted to "be the first" to do everything. So I would definitely limit the size of the group if I did this again.

How do you have it organized for them? Small groups? One large group? I would definitely think that part of it through.

It made the nature walk so much more fun for my students. I love the idea and the fact that it might actually make a few "grab hold" to the hobby.

Sounds fun.
The clue could be a description of the plant that they might have learned, and then they have to find one in a certain area on the trail to find the box that holds a stamp of the same plant.

Instead of stamping, the box could have a ltc style card with the plant stamped on front, or a picture of it, with the details on the back that they would have to know for a test, one for each student. You could place more boxes that way and there wouldn't be time wasted for everyone to stamp in.

Maybe have a discussion about the plants they are looking at and have them make observations as well. Participation will keep them from getting bored (speaking from experience) and hopefully enjoy the walk more and most importantly, remember what they have learned.

Although, if doing ltc style; I'd have them sign into the box, too for credit.

Maybe offer a bonus for extra credit? :-)
I wouldn't necessarily incorporate the fact that this is called letterboxing; I feel that to properly protect others boxes there needs to be more conversation on stealth and respect than might make sense in a biology classroom. But those who enjoy the hunt might look more into it and learn a new hobby. Those who wouldn't respect the hobby would just have fun on the hunt (or not, depending) and move on. :-)

I was planning small groups of 2-4 depending on the class size. I emailed our course coordinator to see if he'd prefer that I keep them in a large group, or let me break them up. If he prefers a larger group, I planned to put each group in charge of finding one box. Group 1 gets us to box 1. Group 2 would then get us to box 2.

Personally, I'd love to let them be small independent groups.

I was a bit worried about actually talking about letterboxing. I may refer to it as a campus scavenger hunt using stamps to confirm they found it.

If any students seem to really enjoy the activity, I'll tell them individually about letterboxing.

Hi teacher friends,

My school is in a very hot competition with a much larger school for a $40,000 playground giveaway by Colgate/Meijer/Terracycle which ends next Saturday, June 18. One part of the competition is voting every day. I am looking for emails to vote with. No junk mail/spam/lists to worry about. If you are willing to help me, please send me your email. It would be more appreciated than you ever know. Thanks so much for considering and taking the time to respond.

Angel Winks/Louanne

Could you post the link where the voting is being done? We could circulate the link for you and get more mileage that way.
Peace
CTEE

Please vote for Legacy Christian School at this website. Many, many community children will greatly benefit from your vote. Once you vote, you will need to verify your vote by going to your email and clicking the link sent to you. And please vote everyday through Saturday, June 18. My greatest appreciation.

http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/2016meijercolgateplayground

Count my vote. I used the link and voted for your school. Good luck!

http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/2016meijercolgateplayground

Voted again today. Reminder to keep voting everyday until the end.

We're struggling, but definitely not giving up. 1800 votes behind, but we have 21 shipments of recycled stuff we sent that need to be processed. We're hoping those show up soon and our numbers make great leaps! Thanks for voting, all of you.

Legacy Christian School
http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/2016meijercolgateplayground

Voted!

Legacy Christian School
http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/2016meijercolgateplayground

Less than 1700 votes behind now! Good luck!

Legacy Christian School
http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/2016meijercolgateplayground

Wow!! Only 220 votes behind!! Good luck. I've cast my last vote. Fingers crossed.

Peace
CTEE

WOW! I just looked it up and Legacy Christian won the contest by almost 3,000 points!! Congratulations!

Thanks for reaching out to let us help you out.
Peace
CTEE

Yes! We just found out today! Thanks to all of you who helped. It was great teamwork from many sources, and my letterboxing community was certainly one of them.

Here is the post I put on the YAKKING IT UP board:

For all of you who helped my school by voting or giving me your email address to vote with in the Terracycle playground contest, many thanks. We just found out today that our school WON the playground! We ended up with over 101,000 votes, about 3000 more than our competitor. Thanks to all!

Glad to help!!