Common Core is beautiful

COMMON CORE IS A WONDERFUL THING

For people complaining about Common Core - Take the time to READ this!!

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/

These are the ACTUAL STANDARDS. There is NOTHING WRONG with them.  The real issue is that certain instructors do NOT KNOW how to teach, and certain people are too lazy to do research before jumping on a bandwagon and complaining. So, if you are going to complain about presenting math concepts differently, at least do the research!! Oh, and be sure to recommend an alternate method THAT WORKS.

All students need to understand how to REASON. I work every day with people who can do "rote math" but CANNOT THINK reasonably. They can't look at a spreadsheet and see obvious errors. They can't figure out basic logic questions. They don't know how to do simple research. 

I've taken the time to do two things:  

First, because I passionately feel people should research what they opine on, I actually READ THE STANDARDS. Guess what, they make a lot of sense. 

Second, I've discussed common core with ACTUAL teachers, all of whom I'VE spoken to support it. The consistent comment that I hear is "I think Common Core is fine, but I go to school with (or work with) teaching students who don't understand it."  We should realize that lack of comprehension does NOT invalidate a concept!!  The second comment I hear is "it's fine, but developing curriculum to teach it is HARD." Well, I have to be honest and say, I don't understand why all teachers are having to reinvent the wheel. There should be shared curriculum that is available to teachers to be modified for their circumstances.  Difficulty does not invalidate a concept.

Math problems that ask for estimates ask for rounded numbers. That's because it is an estimate NOT the precise answer. The skill being developed is to know that your answer is REASONABLE. So, parents should NOT get hung up that their child is being asked to give a NON-PRECISE number. And, that their child is TOLD it's wrong if they didn't follow the instructions.  Following instructions is a critical part of being successful in life.

Math problems that ask students to use GROUPING are to ensure that they understand what they are doing when they are performing rote functions. Teachers have used objects to convey this principle FOREVER. It's not wrong.

Homework that requires a student to use a SPECIFIC METHOD is being done for a purpose. If you don't understand that purpose, check with the teacher - they should be able to explain this to you, but inform yourself BEFORE you waste your child's teacher's valuable and limited time. They work very hard.

Here is an example. The problem on the bottom left gives you a number. But, do you actually understand what that represents? The other pictures give you the same information, but actually show, in a graphical method, what the answer means.  It's fine to use the numerical method once you understand what it represents.

The reason I'm so passionate about this is that we deprive ourselves of new, novel, creative and valuable resources when we unthinkingly resist CHANGE. I'm not always in favor of change for change's sake. But, change can be amazingly helpful and beautiful. Take the time to experience it and value it.

Postscript

*(My soon to be daughter-in-law has shared these images of material that's supplied to help teachers instruct students. I think this is awesome!)