When I was required to use the Everyday Math Instruction Guide, I was told that I had to make a wall post. I was directed to title the post Magic Math Words. Under the title, I was to list the magic words. I may have chosen the wrong battle, but I intentionally refused to do it. The reason? The brain based research to support calling the word sum a magic word as being top priority over referring to the word properly just wasnt there. Everyday Math, at the time I was directed to use the program, has attained mediocre results among the top math curriculum programs. As if that was not reason enough to consider why a magic word is not a part of speech required to form a sentence. The real problem is not so much forcing common standards down our throats as it is overlooking the fact that it is a serious waste of time and energy to teach children creative and fun ways to think about the concepts they are required to learn. The Everyday Math Program incorporates gimmicky concepts just like most of the newer programs. Programs for Literacy, Science, etc... cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and much of that cost is marketing and advertising (a spoon full of sugar) to help make the medicine go down. Magic Math Words are an example of the sugar are children are fed as a good tool to help them learn about vocabulary. To be fair, again, every major Teaching Program sprinkles its own brand of sugar over a concept here and there. Its a branding strategy to the publisher more than it is a clear statement about whats most important about how to learn a concept. I engaged my children a couple times to think about what to write as we composed a letter to publishers. Essentially, in second grade, the letter is only a couple of questions. For example, why are all the letters of the books title lower case? Or, why are all the letters of the books title upper case? Countless books published for primary level readers fail to indent a new paragraph making it more difficult for a young reader to understand the definition and purpose of a paragraph, for example. The devil is in the details, if you will. Weve been busy racing to the top (yet another marketing strategy to brand the next gimmick) after legislating that no child be left behind. We should all be completely out of breath after all the racing we have achieved. Or, we could just have a laugh and retitle all the fun, Dreidels for Dummies. If my tone seems sarcastic, then consider playing another game that doesnt require spinning. politico//story/2013/09/education-common-core-standards-schools-96964.html
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 04:55:34 +0000
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