Any question that has a confined set of answers and qualifiers...
Wait, that's not math, that's those stupid polls that want people to respond to a corralled set of circumstances instead of being able to respond with their own reasoning as to why x, y, or z situations exist...
People are afraid of failure, but the only way to know is to TRY. Those who try and fail deserve forgiveness. We're a civilized, pro-life society. Or so we're told.
I never worry about Math tests. The Social Science ones with muddy flip-flop answers are the ones I detest the most. They're worse than a crooked slot machine.
Now define "crooked", since it's synonymous to the antithesis of "ethical", which means "ethical" needs to be defined as well... :)
Math is great for ensuring surface area can be accurately calculated, but that depends on the structure being built within the confines of said surface area... ulterior motives are cool, given their malleable status...
There needs to be a wholesale makeover of how math is taught in this country. I taught both college and high school mathematics, and found that by the time students get to middle school it's no wonder they feel palpable pain of anticipation. Many have already had their paths blocked by the multiple falsehoods of "math is SOOOOO hard", "nice girls don't do math", "you don't need math in today's world", and on and on.
Replace the word 'math' in the last sentence with 'reading' or 'baseball' and hear just how ridiculous those claims sound.
When my kids were in grade school (late 70's) they came to me with some things they couldn't understand (I was an engineer). I saw that the teacher, trying to teach the kids collection of terms in fractions, had taught the students a method in which the = sign was improperly used - each side was not equal at all. I went to the principle, but he stood behind the teacher and nothing was done to correct the problem.
I was told about how ipads are going into school districts, where correct answers are instantly told. Kids can see immediately what the correct answer is. (Gee, how about HOW the kid got the problem wrong? Pointing out the answer helps only so much; one has to understand the logic behind the situation or else there can be no improvement.)
Are teachers running the show, or bean counters who blindly believe insta-results are going to be more effective, since that means less teachers (whose $40k salaries are ruuuuuining the country, but by nixing teachers, the principal can get a nice big bonus on top of his already inflated salary in return for all the "work" he did... meanwhile, kids learn nothing, but say "that was fun!!" Um, studying isn't fun and it has to be done. )
Meanwhile, kids in other countries don't learn on these gadgets, whose simple purposes are to: (a) market to make you think the new paradigm is better, by massaging your emotions while getting those who think analytically put to the side (b) make the company richer (c) whose 30% off-the-top and overpriced developer subscription fees only make those who do the real work to create the apps that make the parent company richer not get the amount of profit they deserve for their hard work
And a teacher trying to tell their bosses that the new system prevents x or y situations from happening would be slapped with "insubordination".
We may never live in an ideal world, but the world seems to want to make it as un-ideal as possible for the bulk of its citizens...
One of the main difficulties facing math teachers is asinine parents saying "I hate math." or "I always hated math too." right in from of their children.
Also, math teachers face the "changing of the fad" every few years. As soon as one "new and amazing fad" way of teaching math is adopted, it's being replaced by another "new and amazing" way of teaching math. The semi-amusing part is that the "new" methods are almost always a repackaging of the same old methods that were "new" 5 years ago or more.
The new "Common core standards", for example, that are being adopted nation wide are in fact IMP math repacked so that it has a different label on it.
The happy part, in this case, is that IMP math is by far the best method of teaching math in a deep and conceptual way that our country has ever seen. The sad part is that teachers will be asked to teacher using this method given little or no training even given that fact that there is already a very well organized program in place to teach IMP. IMP math is wonderful but it's FAR more challenging to teacher than the classic stand and deliver method. It requires extensive specialized training.
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Wait, that's not math, that's those stupid polls that want people to respond to a corralled set of circumstances instead of being able to respond with their own reasoning as to why x, y, or z situations exist...
People are afraid of failure, but the only way to know is to TRY. Those who try and fail deserve forgiveness. We're a civilized, pro-life society. Or so we're told.
Now define "crooked", since it's synonymous to the antithesis of "ethical", which means "ethical" needs to be defined as well... :)
Math is great for ensuring surface area can be accurately calculated, but that depends on the structure being built within the confines of said surface area... ulterior motives are cool, given their malleable status...
Replace the word 'math' in the last sentence with 'reading' or 'baseball' and hear just how ridiculous those claims sound.
Are teachers running the show, or bean counters who blindly believe insta-results are going to be more effective, since that means less teachers (whose $40k salaries are ruuuuuining the country, but by nixing teachers, the principal can get a nice big bonus on top of his already inflated salary in return for all the "work" he did... meanwhile, kids learn nothing, but say "that was fun!!" Um, studying isn't fun and it has to be done. )
Meanwhile, kids in other countries don't learn on these gadgets, whose simple purposes are to:
(a) market to make you think the new paradigm is better, by massaging your emotions while getting those who think analytically put to the side
(b) make the company richer
(c) whose 30% off-the-top and overpriced developer subscription fees only make those who do the real work to create the apps that make the parent company richer not get the amount of profit they deserve for their hard work
And a teacher trying to tell their bosses that the new system prevents x or y situations from happening would be slapped with "insubordination".
We may never live in an ideal world, but the world seems to want to make it as un-ideal as possible for the bulk of its citizens...
Also, math teachers face the "changing of the fad" every few years. As soon as one "new and amazing fad" way of teaching math is adopted, it's being replaced by another "new and amazing" way of teaching math. The semi-amusing part is that the "new" methods are almost always a repackaging of the same old methods that were "new" 5 years ago or more.
The new "Common core standards", for example, that are being adopted nation wide are in fact IMP math repacked so that it has a different label on it.
The happy part, in this case, is that IMP math is by far the best method of teaching math in a deep and conceptual way that our country has ever seen. The sad part is that teachers will be asked to teacher using this method given little or no training even given that fact that there is already a very well organized program in place to teach IMP. IMP math is wonderful but it's FAR more challenging to teacher than the classic stand and deliver method. It requires extensive specialized training.