tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post5110128617678776317..comments2024-03-19T07:30:55.288-04:00Comments on Curmudgeon: Math Reform: Games, Practice and PsuedocontextCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04323026187622872114noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post-53457513416667451102011-06-15T10:27:48.452-04:002011-06-15T10:27:48.452-04:00"Raw, pure math." I really do like that ..."Raw, pure math." I really do like that phrase.<br /><br />You're right about the attempt to cater to students' interests. They have few if any interests that are genuinely mathematical. The point is to set up new interests in them, interests that they did not have before. <br /><br />We shouldn't attempt to shoehorn mathematics into the students world. Rather we should attempt to expand their world.Dr. Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00209597695197799059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post-15932969474409585722011-05-05T03:15:48.213-04:002011-05-05T03:15:48.213-04:00So, the rain has stopped, the flood waters have re...So, the rain has stopped, the flood waters have receded, and the ark has struck ground on Mt. Ararat. Noah starts unloading the animals, two by two, per divine instruction. First down the ramp, the giraffes. "Go ye forth and multiply!" commands Noah, and the giraffes go off to fulfill his request. Next come the elephants. "Go ye forth and multiply!" commands Noah again. The elephants obey. And so it goes, each pair of animals disembarking, receiving their instructions, and going off to replenish their numbers. Last down the ramp come a pair of snakes. "Go ye forth and multiply!" commands Noah. The snakes stop on the ramp and stare at Noah. "I said, 'Go ye forth and multiply', serpents!" repeated Noah. Still the snakes hesitated. "GO YE FORTH AND MULTIPLY!!!" bellows Noah.<br /><br />"We can't!" says one snake. "We're adders..."<br /><br />----------------<br /><br />Weeks later, Noah is out walking around surveying the landscape, assessing the flood damage. He stops to rest on the stump of a fallen tree. Indeed, there are many dead trees uprooted by the flood. As Noah is sitting there, he looks down and sees the adder ... and Mrs. Adder, and a nest full of baby adders! "Well, congratulations!" he exclaims. "But ... how did you do it? You told me you could not multiply!"<br /><br />The snake looks at him and says, "We learned we could do it by logs."<br />_______________________<br /><br />(Yeah, none of the students I have gone over logs with found that amusing either!)PeggyUnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post-46564989796841533222011-04-20T12:41:20.633-04:002011-04-20T12:41:20.633-04:00It feels like reading an argument between entertai...It feels like reading an argument between entertainers about what really makes entertainment - neither seems too concerned with the math. "Narrative arc" indeed! <br /><br />The best way to engage a kid in math is to teach him the next thing he is capable of learning to do by himself. Kids like doing math and getting right answers and doing harder problems.<br /><br />When we jump ahead, or when we drag and stop moving ahead, we lose kids. When the jump is big enough, we lose them forever. Michael Phelps can't bring them back. Neither can an entertainer/math teacher.<br /><br />JonathanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com