the extent to
which this curriculum has been demolished during the last 30 years, and the
deeply flawed "reforms" that are being promoted by many of the same people
that destroyed the traditional curriculum.
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What I've seen in the past 35 years, first as an engineer, then a teacher,
then lots of other things, is a not very widespread attempt to replace
isolated skills and problems that people - even engineers - never use
outside the classroom (square root algorithm, divison of fractions,
factoring trinomials, antifreeze mixture problems, solving complicated
radical or fractional equations, arcane integration techniques, etc.) with
material that promotes understanding and applications, sometimes with
assistance from technology.
Is this what you mean by 'flawed reforms' and 'destroying the traditional
curriculum'? Am I to understand that you recommend assigning pages of paper
and pencil practice of techniques and situations not encountered outside
school?
Actually, rather than letting me guess what you stand for, how about telling
us. Don't tell us that the reforms are flawed. Of course they are not
perfect. Just tell us what kind of math instruction you recommend, and why.
Please don't leave ut the 'why'.
_______________________________
William J. (Sandy) Wagner
127 O'Connor St., Menlo Park, CA 94025
(415)328-8657 (voice) (415)323-1035 (fax)
sandyw@best.com