<< and Snyder now responds:
Maybe not, but about half of the teachers in K-12 are elementary school
teachers, and I think that children do suffer when the teacher has not yet
gotten a boarding pass for the Clue Bus in the material they are supposed
to be teaching. Would you find it acceptable if your child's 4th grade
teacher had to look up every 10th word in the dictionary because they
didn't know the meaning, or the pronunciation? Would you find it
acceptable if the same person needed a calculator to add 3 and 7, or
multiply 7 and 8? What's the difference? >>
I enjoyed these comments!
I had an interesting discussion about the use of calulators in my Math for
Elementary School Teachers class Friday -- I do this with them every
semester. I asked them if they are going to let their kids use calculators!!
While half of the class just sits there blankly, the other half gets very
annimated about their opinions. ( Hey! That's just like us! 8-) )
One students said, "Sure, I'll let them use it. If we've got that
technology, why not?"
To this someone pointed out that they can't rely on that calculator for
everything.
Another stated that she would not! She basically said that, "They need to
know that easy stuff without a calculator. Then, when they get to the really
hard stuff, like Algebra, they can have the calculator!" (Someone always
walk into my little trap!!) To this, I pointed out that, to someone getting
a BA in Math, Algebra is the easy stuff..... and, to someone getting a PhD in
math, senior level math is the easy stuff.......
(The moral here is: It's all relative!)
THEN, I pull out the big guns ----- the TI-92!!! A hush falls across the
room - quickly followed by "ooooo"s and "ah"s. (I love that reaction.)
Someone said, "THAT'S a computer!" I showed them how I can factor things
---- and have the answer pop out JUST as if I had done it by hand! No
decimals! Then I expanded something and then I solved something. And I ask,
"Should we let students use this?"
This always gets us into a great discussion. I tell them that everyone is
still debating this -- and probably always will be. I also tell them to be
prepared to have their partner teacher or principal dissagree with their
ideas on the subject. It gets them thinking!
Karen
Orange Coast College
http://members.aol.com/coolmath2/coolmath.htm
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