Originally Posted by
Endus
Speaking as a self-identifying socialist, I really dislike the Common Core.
Not because the idea of a standardized curriculum is "bad"; we have a standard curriculum here in Ontario which has become a model that other provinces have adopted (with minor tweaks for provincial matter), and even internationally. It's a solid curriculum.
The issues I have with the Common Core is that it tries certain things, but isn't flexible about them. Take that math problem that The Batman's video went over. That's actually a reasonable method. It starts with the point that a subtraction is about finding the difference between two numbers. So, with a new student, this is a method that's fairly easy; add bits to the lower number that you can grasp, until you reach the number it's subtracted from. Then, add up all the bits you added. It still finds the difference, but it involves addition, which is useful if they're new to subtraction.
The methodology should be;
"12 isn't easy, but I know multiples of 5, so add 3, that's 15."
"15 isn't as easy as multiples of 10, so add 5, to make it 20."
"If I add one more 10, that gets me to 30, which is almost there."
"And to reach 32, I add 2 more."
"How much did I add? 3, plus 5, plus 10, plus 2. 3 plus 5 is 8, 8 plus 10 is 18, and 18 plus 2 is 20. 32-12 is 20."
That's fine. But you need to explain why you're doing it that way, to make it matter. If you take it out of context, it's confusing and silly. And once you've got a handle on how subtraction works, this is overly complicated, yes. But when you don't have any clue what "subtraction" is, but you still remember addition, this is a way to ease into the transition.
You should be teaching multiple methods, though. In our math classes, you're expected to demonstrate at least two methods for everything. And ideally, two completely different learning methods, too; so you might have a mental exercise like the "32 over 12, 2-2 is 0, 3-1 is 2, answer is 20" as one method, and you might get them playing with counting blocks (like those little plastic snap-together pieces), and have them snap 32 together, take 12 off, and count how many are left. Sometimes, one method "gels" with a student when another doesn't. And once it does gel, they know what they're doing, and can apply the easier systems; the root is getting them to understand what subtraction (or whatever) is. Which might sound simple to you, but as a teacher and someone who's done a fair bit of 1 to 1 math tutoring, it isn't.
That said, Common Core doesn't really do this. It's more restrictive, and gives you specific methods to work with, where the Ontario curriculum emphasizes variety and expects teachers to know their shit well enough to teach it well.