Who really knows and everything but it’s possible that this is a building block towards something else more complicated where it will benefit her from using that common language. I certainly hated all this sort of stuff while I was in school, but now that I work with people that would struggle with comparing fractions I kinda understand.
If this theory that it’s a building block or whatever is true (which honestly I doubt in the first place), then just a simple “you need to use the language from class” is totally insufficient.
Otherwise it’s “do what I say because reasons”. Screw that.
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I suspect the teacher wants the students to “use the language from class” mostly because it makes it easier and faster to grade.
Do you know what a full credit answer looks like?
Mrs. Tilteds thoughts on this (she’s a first grade teacher)
“It could be a verbal direction. I wouldn’t take the points off because my opinion is that we want students to be able to 1 answer the question correctly and then explain their thought process. Not every strategy works for every kid. But if it is right then ok. Just a power hungry teacher. But if you want specific words then add in written directions to defend why you take points off.”
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Thanks. Makes me feel less crazy.
So, this was my wife’s exact question. Got an email back saying that daughter is free to come talk to her anytime and she is happy to explain the form the answer should be in. She also mentioned that she has shown many examples in class. However, there was no mention of what the answer should have been. Responded with more or less, “That’s great and we’ll have her do that, but we would still like for you to tell us what it should have been so that we can help her at home”.
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I’m not sure if this is Common Core or not, but pretty much all the complaints I’ve seen from parents about math instruction is that it’s common today to teach kids 3-4 different ways to think about a problem, and parents get frustrated that the one way they and/or their kids want to do it isn’t what’s being taught right now, so therefore it’s stupid. I’m generally sympathetic to the idea of teaching it a few different ways, because some ways will resonate better with different kids. We had a mental math hijack here that showed how each of us could quickly and easily solve multiplication in different ways. That all said, if the point of the exercise is to use a particular new technique and not just to get at the answer by any reasonable means, then the teacher should phrase the questions as “Using ______________, Explain why 7/12 is more than 1/2,” and expecting an explicit example of what full credit would look like is totally reasonable.
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Agree with all of that. I don’t think this is common core. We’re actually big fans of teaching multiple ways to approach math problems.
Based on the response we got, it doesn’t sound like there was an explicit direction to do it a certain way, which would have been fine. It seems like teacher thought it was implied based on the fact that she had been showing them a certain method to do it. It is also possible that she did give verbal instructions and daughter just wasn’t paying attention. It’s totally within her range to zone out when she thinks she knows something already. That is the case with most of the math, which is probably not as hard as what she got at her private school the year before.
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This is all right on. It does seem fair to me to mark the second answer down because it doesn’t actually explain why 3 * 4 = 12 implies 3 / 12 = 1 / 4. A better answer would mention cross-multiplication or whatever other technique, then apply it. But even there, it’s not great that the teacher is complaining about not using the right magic words rather than explaining that the substance of the explanation is deficient.
Yeah, Melk’s follow up makes it sound like this teacher may just be teaching one way to do things and expecting all students to do it that one way without saying so, which would have me rustled.
There’s a teachable moment here that it’s not that big a deal and teachers are often going to be wrong or want something done some stupid way just because that’s the way it’s done and that’s also the way it’s going to be for a lot of things outside of school.
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I once was grading this pchem exam where the solution to a problem required 1/2 a page of math but this one dude got the answer in three steps using some advanced diff eq technique. I had to look up what he was doing but one I was up to speed I was like “yeah, this guy nailed it.”
Yeah, the second one didn’t rustle me as much. The first one already had my lawnmower in orbit, though, so it didn’t help. If it was just the second, I wouldn’t have given it much thought.
I had the opposite problem in college once where I had to write some code for something that had a simple recursive solution, but I came up something much longer and non-recursive that worked. The TA glanced at it for probably 1 sec and decided “Nope, that’s wrong”. He pretty clearly didn’t even run it.
I did go back and argue it and I got the points plus a “You know, that’s a really dumb way to do it” (he wasn’t wrong).
That is exactly what I told my daughter. That made her cry. She cries way too easily though (which we need to work on), but I definitely understood that feeling.
:( oops.
I don’t feel that bad about it. That lesson is pretty important too.
Is the teacher white? Maybe she is teaching that there’s a white way to do things, even in math.
Our problem is there’s not enough CRT in schools.
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Two Guy Fawkes Day informationettes I just learned:
Fawkes was born to Protestant parents. His father died when he was eight, and his mother remarried a Catholic.
To this day, before the annual opening of the parliamentary session, the Yeomen of the Guard inspect the cellar of the House of Lords.
Am almost done with the Invisalign process and agree with this. I feel like I got bait and switched on the time required. Moving would have been a pain anyway but this was an added reason to stay put. Was told you can continue the process with a new person but it might end up costing more. If I had it to do over, I’d consider one of the cheaper options like one smile.
I really did not like having my hands in my mouth all the time. You have to get used to the aligners and dealing with cleaning them and limits on what you can eat and drink and when. Like you’re not supposed to drink hot liquids with them in and they stain really easily. Also have to be diligent about brushing and flossing after eating or drinking. I don’t know for sure but suspect the aligners can promote cavity formation. (I got one I noticed after a visit and was pissed the orthodontist didn’t bother to point it out when he’d just spent half an hour looking at my teeth. Wtf, dude.)
I got a permanent wire retainer on the lower teeth and am having a hard time getting used to it. I wish I’d done the plastic/wire overnight one instead (which is what I have for uppers).
If you have specific questions, I’m happy to try to answer.