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Nearly thirty years ago, my husband was shut out of high school Calculus after moving between states, not because of poor grades or lack of room in the class, but because he had taken Geometry and Algebra II/Trig out of sequence. Yes, really. He's still angry about it, because he was completely unprepared for college Calculus, and he struggled much more than he would have had he first been exposed to Calc his senior year.
My kids have attended multiple schools in various parts of the country. I think a big part of the reason they did reasonably well in math is that all the schools they attended used the same curriculum, so the pain of transition was minimized. We can argue about the merits of Everyday Math until we're blue in the face -- for the record, not a fan -- but the consistency from one school to the next helped them stay on track.
Sounds like it was a poor decision made by that school/district to keep him out of calculus. Did his parents push the school to allow him in? Did his parents consider getting him a private tutor so that he could take calculus anyway?
I moved a lot as a child and there was a difference in the standards from school to school and from one state to the next. I adjusted well to the changes in curriculum and expectations.
"So 13,588 different curriculums in the US? How would you deal with student and teacher transfers?"
I transferred from school to school when I was half way through the fourth grade. I wondered if I would be behind. When I got to the new school I was delighted to find them doing short division because I already knew long division. I didn't let on that I knew long division. Contrast that with the new Common Core model where the mantra in the classroom is "three before me". A student is supposed to ask three fellow students how to do something before he "bothers" the teacher. I suppose some teachers would like that, but my teacher from 1950 would not have liked that.
I have been reelected to the school board here. Try asking a teacher today how they teach interpolation or how they teach the subjunctive case in English class. You'll get a blank look. I found out that they don't teach interpolation when I taught a novice GPS class for sportsmen. They were hunters, fishermen, snowmobilers and ATV riders. I had fun and they had fun. They knew the rudiments of map and compass, but none could plot a position from the GPS on a topo map. They can now.
I was taught geography in the eighth grade. We learned a great deal about map reading and the earth. Today our kids are taught social studies instead of geography. Most of those classes seem to be comparisons of various types of government systems which devolve into criticisms of our own political system. Those tactics do not create good citizens with confidence and pride in our country.
"So 13,588 different curriculums in the US? How would you deal with student and teacher transfers?"
I transferred from school to school when I was half way through the fourth grade. I wondered if I would be behind. When I got to the new school I was delighted to find them doing short division because I already knew long division. I didn't let on that I knew long division. Contrast that with the new Common Core model where the mantra in the classroom is "three before me". A student is supposed to ask three fellow students how to do something before he "bothers" the teacher. I suppose some teachers would like that, but my teacher from 1950 would not have liked that.
I have been reelected to the school board here. Try asking a teacher today how they teach interpolation or how they teach the subjunctive case in English class. You'll get a blank look. I found out that they don't teach interpolation when I taught a novice GPS class for sportsmen. They were hunters, fishermen, snowmobilers and ATV riders. I had fun and they had fun. They knew the rudiments of map and compass, but none could plot a position from the GPS on a topo map. They can now.
I was taught geography in the eighth grade. We learned a great deal about map reading and the earth. Today our kids are taught social studies instead of geography. Most of those classes seem to be comparisons of various types of government systems which devolve into criticisms of our own political system. Those tactics do not create good citizens with confidence and pride in our country.
Your comment about geography intrigues me. Our district teaches geography of the Western Hemisphere in sixth grade and of the Eastern Hemisphere in seventh grade. Eighth grade is American civics.
Your comment about geography intrigues me. Our district teaches geography of the Western Hemisphere in sixth grade and of the Eastern Hemisphere in seventh grade. Eighth grade is American civics.
Here in Texas 6th grade is social studies and both 7th and 8th are history.
The 6th grade social studies class does incorporate some mapping but I wouldn't consider it a geography class.
Here in Texas 6th grade is social studies and both 7th and 8th are history.
The 6th grade social studies class does incorporate some mapping but I wouldn't consider it a geography class.
I'm curious. What is the focus of middle school history?
What baffles me about education is why they don't take a cue from industry. In industry if you want to improve something you don't throw everything out and start from square one. You identify your issues and start improving them one by one. In time, you end up with a system that works. In education, every few years we just toss everything and start from the ground up. By the time we start to figure out how to work around what isn't working, we're on to the next savior of education.
Interesting that you mention this - it is the way education works in Japan.
The exercise is called "lesson study." It's a professional development strategy used extensively in Japan that essentially dissects a teacher's lesson and the way it's delivered.
Here's how it works: teachers come up with a detailed lesson plan and explain ahead of time to colleagues the goals of the lesson. Then, one teacher tries the lesson out on a group of students, while dozens of other teachers watch what happens.
"[We've been] doing lesson study more than 100 years in Japan," says Toshiakira Fujii, a premier professor of math education in Japan who was among those teachers observing at Prieto. "But lesson study in the United States is quite new."
Fujii says Japanese teachers see lesson study as a proving ground, a way to shine in front of their colleagues.
"You can see [it] everywhere in Japan," says Fujii. "In Tokyo in the case it's Wednesday. Wednesday [we] usually finish at lunch time. Then one class stays, and the other classes dismiss. And then every teacher comes to that one class and observes. Even the school nurse and school counselor also join to watch the lesson—that's our traditional way."
Nearly thirty years ago, my husband was shut out of high school Calculus after moving between states, not because of poor grades or lack of room in the class, but because he had taken Geometry and Algebra II/Trig out of sequence. Yes, really. He's still angry about it, because he was completely unprepared for college Calculus, and he struggled much more than he would have had he first been exposed to Calc his senior year.
My kids have attended multiple schools in various parts of the country. I think a big part of the reason they did reasonably well in math is that all the schools they attended used the same curriculum, so the pain of transition was minimized. We can argue about the merits of Everyday Math until we're blue in the face -- for the record, not a fan -- but the consistency from one school to the next helped them stay on track.
That math example would be an odd one. I went to four high schools in three districts, and all transfers had some out of sequence courses for me (even the one within district). It was no problem, and the counselor was able to make it work easily. The curricula were different for three of the schools, but it all worked out in the end.
Someone else brought up Geography, and I only had a Geography class one year in K-12. It was my senior year because only my last district required it. Common Core wouldn't change that, though. We had Social Studies in elementary school (no geography was really included), World History in 7th grade and U.S. History in 8th grade.
My response to the OP on what to do: VOTE THE BUMS OUT! Teach your children not to believe anything the schools tell them, unless the teacher tells them that what they are teaching is B.S. Then the kids can believe the teacher, not the curriculum.
The main value taught now seems to be called DIVERSITY. Not honesty, or morality, but diversity. Since when is diversity a value? It is another word for VARIETY. Is variety a value?? How about Polychromy? Is that a value?? By God son, you don't have to bother with ethics or morals as you go through life, but you better have a good dose of variety! That's what life is all about.
My daughter graduated from high school in 2012 and just caught the leading edge of this CC @&%!.
The teachers were upset by the jettisoning of the classics, the facts, and the hard sciences. There seems to be a big emphasis on working in groups ( you know, THE COLLECTIVE), in which one or two students did all the work and the others did/learned nothing but got full credit. I told my daughter to never let anyone do work that she was dependent on for her evaluation. This collective work is the same old system that has been failing people for hundreds of years ( see Jamestown, the Soviet Union, etc.).
Do you really think that the powers that be want to have well educated children? If so, why do they not follow the example of the successful schools and programs that have worked? The programs that have actually turned out well educated kids, no matter their home life, upbringing, or economic status.
I don't think that is quite what the Stasi have in mind.
"So 13,588 different curriculums in the US? How would you deal with student and teacher transfers?"
I transferred from school to school when I was half way through the fourth grade. I wondered if I would be behind. When I got to the new school I was delighted to find them doing short division because I already knew long division. I didn't let on that I knew long division. Contrast that with the new Common Core model where the mantra in the classroom is "three before me". A student is supposed to ask three fellow students how to do something before he "bothers" the teacher. I suppose some teachers would like that, but my teacher from 1950 would not have liked that.
I have been reelected to the school board here. Try asking a teacher today how they teach interpolation or how they teach the subjunctive case in English class. You'll get a blank look. I found out that they don't teach interpolation when I taught a novice GPS class for sportsmen. They were hunters, fishermen, snowmobilers and ATV riders. I had fun and they had fun. They knew the rudiments of map and compass, but none could plot a position from the GPS on a topo map. They can now.
I was taught geography in the eighth grade. We learned a great deal about map reading and the earth. Today our kids are taught social studies instead of geography. Most of those classes seem to be comparisons of various types of government systems which devolve into criticisms of our own political system. Those tactics do not create good citizens with confidence and pride in our country.
Three before me is not about not bothering the teacher. It's about learning how to think. Students talking about the problem at hand gets them thinking. I use 3 before me a little different. My students are supposed to 1) consult their instructions 2) consult their partner then 3) consult another lab group. Why do I do this? Because if I don't I age 50 minutes of "Mr's I, what do I do neeexxxxtttt?" from 24 students. They would much rather I hold their hand and tell them what to do instead of use their brains to figure it out.
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