Math? There’s math on this test?
They didn’t tell me there would be math. Ha. This from this morning’s Boston Globe ….
Nearly three-quarters of the aspiring elementary school teachers who took the state’s licensing exam this year failed the new math section, according to results being released today that focus on the subject for the first time.
Education leaders said the high failure rate reflects what they feared, that too many elementary classroom and special education teachers do not have a strong background in math and are in many ways responsible for poor student achievement in the subject, even in middle and high schools.
Elementary school teachers, including those in charge of first-grade classrooms, are considered the front line of math instruction, providing the building blocks of computation and mathematical reasoning that students must master before tackling algebra, trigonometry, and calculus later in their academic lives.
Some callers suggested it’s the result of poor math teaching for the teachers. Others suggest it’s the crazy way they teach math today. Either way its not good.
We were able however to smuggle out video from one of the teacher’s math prep classes. Enjoy.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfq5kju627c
4 Comments
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This is also played out in an old Abbott & Costello routine of 7×13=28!
Abbott & Costello
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLprXHbn19I
Both skits – priceless….
Aw, come on Jim, you don't have the Geithner Method on video????? I'm so disappointed.
And people seriously lament the failure of the American student to compete with students from other countries, particularly in math and science?
I entertained the idea of teaching in CT high schools, figuring a Ph.D. in biological science might be useful in filling the science gap, and looked up the Alternative Route to Certification program that allows career changing professionals to transition into the education field. Sadly, between the time investment and money required, you would already have to be a teacher to afford the time to take the course!
Massachusetts is even worse, and only have programs in the worst cities in the eastern parts of the state.
Nevermind.