Many America comments under this video are crass and idiotic. However, this is an awesome strategy that would help students who have a more difficult time multiplying with other multiplication strategies. One can have their own opinions about this, but the facts remain, China topped the PISA list in overall scoring in mathematics, science, and reading in 2009 and 2013...the U.S. fell to 17th place in 2009 and our overall score slid all the way down to 36th place in 2013. While our pious attitude continues to score number one, the evidence shows that U.S. students continue to slide downward in their scholastic abilities in these areas while they are passed over by 64 other countries. (Countries scoring above us: Shanghai-China, Singapore, Hong Kong-China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Macao-China, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Canada, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Viet Nam, Austria, Australia, Ireland, Slovenia, Denmark, New Zealand, Czech Republic, France, United Kingdom, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic.) We do not need nationally standardized curriculum, politicians or the federal government interfering with education...it is up to good parents, the states and the educators nation-wide to make a positive change so that our students shift their focus and mentalities upward rather than settling for complacency. Perhaps it is time to shift some of that serious attitude toward academics and less from what the centralized social media and entertainment sector are pushing and take back power that bossy and crass parents have stolen from education as well as self-empowerment that strong-willed parents randomly use to threaten and sue teachers with. Our students need and deserve serious solutions. Right now we have good students who are lost in the middle of classrooms who cannot hear instruction over the talking and disrespect going on unchecked in the back of the room but they cannot sit in the first few rows because they are all reserved for students with special needs and learning styles. As usual we want to stick our heads in the sand instead of seriously addressing the decay within the public school system. We have huge problems that need serious solutions and ignoring them or stating that its just the way it is will solve nothing. (While some may argue that the PISA calculations were fundamentally flawed due to the way poverty-level student scores were addressed, the 2013 PISA addressed the issue and it still did nothing to improve the standing of U.S. students.)
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 21:13:31 +0000