Many
critics of the common math standards have used this "it takes too
long" argument, saying the standards overcomplicate what should be simple
math.
When I read this sentence from "Making Ten - It's Not New Math" I was disappointed of the opinion of some, including Texas Governor Greg Abbot. I'm not sure when speed became more important than a deeper understanding. Sure, math takes time but as the article points out, "teaching the strategies requires slowing down in order to speed up" which is part of the standards that Governor Abbot dismissed. Unless you are competing in a math competition or racing the clock in a timed math test, speed should not be a factor. Understanding math and eventual mastery is what we aim for as teachers. Math is a set of building blocks and there must always be a solid foundation before anything else. When I read things like this article pointed out, about the opinions of non-educators who take such drastic steps against the common core, it's disheartening.
I agree with you, Devi.
ReplyDeletePeople who are not educators forget that to become automatic in some task requires a lot of practice, in fact, almost 12 years of education. People forget how hard kindergarten was. People forget that at some point in our lives, we learned "Making Ten." What has changed is that we as teachers now take time to explicitly teach students the idea of 'making ten' when before it was used only with struggling students.
I believe in teaching in the way that a person is going to understand and get to automaticity. Automaticity requires both rote memorization and understanding explicitly how to get there. Eventually the concept comes together, and the student "Gets it." Teaching and learning is hard work.