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Re: math skills, was Proper scientific notation



GARY HEMMINGER wrote:

Lacl of comprehension of order of operations is EXTREMELY common,as
my diagnostic test has shown. Try on your students: 2*2^n + 3*2^n

This thread raises for me the recurring lament about the lack of math
skills that I see in my classroom. Many of our average
tenth graders are totally dependent on calculators (only 1/3 of
them could do .6/.2 without a calculator on
a recent test). Their algebra skills are dismal, and their
resourcefulness in problem solving, notwithstanding the school's PR
that we are emphasizing problem solving skills, is nonexistent.
At this point my question is really what can I do about this in my
room with my kids, since at this school at least, the math teachers
basically don't want to hear about these problems. (This is despite
the fact that we have a highly touted curriculum which purports to
integrate math and science.)
I'm sure that to some extent we all, at both the HS and college
level, have always ended up teaching some math to our kids, and an
ad hoc reponse to a specific deficit is often the best way. However,
I must admit that faced with students who can't solve 5x = 10, I have
felt that I just don't know where to start.
Does any one have suggestions? Are there any sets of review sheets
for example, that would be appropriate for the skills needed in an
algebra based introductory course?
It's interesting to speculate as to the extent to which the recent poor
showing by US physics students is caused by lousy math skills.

*****************************************
Gary Hemminger
Dwight-Engelwood School
315 E. Palisade Ave.
Englewood, New Jersey
07631
e-mail: hemmig@d-e.pvt.k12.nj.us
********************************************
I think what we are seeing is the result of NCTM and other groups who
believe that drilling math facts kills the desire to learn. I am not
advocating that drilling math facts is the solution, only that it is not
the problem in itself.

If a basketball player has trouble shooting free throws, he practices.
If a baseball player has trouble hitting curve balls, he practices.

Our students have been given the false impression that calculators mean
never having to practice arithmetic. They have been told that all this
neat technology is there to make their life easy and that all they have
to do is have fun. Learning is short term for the test. Otherwise, it is
not important. Critical thinking will not happen until just plain
thinking starts, and most of our students are too busy looking for fun
to think.

My oldest child is a freshman in high school. She claims she wants to be
a marine biologist, yet she will not read her biology book! Other than
hormones, I am not sure what is going on in her mind. She is typical of
the students I teach who tell me they want to be peditricians, yet hate
chemistry. They seem shocked when I tell them they must master chemistry
and calculus to get into med school.

Gary's comment about PR is right on. Our honors and AP classes are full
of students who do not want to work. We are preparing for AP parents
night and wrote a general statement about hard work, reading the text,
and expecting fewer A's. My principal, who I have a good working
relationship with, wants it polished by one of the English teachers
because it is too rough. What that means is that our parents will be
scared off because little Johnny or Mary's GPA will drop. This also
means more phone calls to the administration and lower ratings on our
school's state report card(don't even get me started about this piece of
political garbage).

I am sorry to see that things in New Jersey are as bad as Texas.

Vern Dewees
South Garland High School
Garland, Texas