Comments for Unrequited Expectations

Comment on Singapore Math – a revelation by Bill Moore

Bill Moore — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:30:07 +0000

@cube yup! I agree, but the problem no becomes the emphasis on standardized testing….which is a good thing in the sense so many schools and teachers inflate student grades…or in some cases deflate them. no win situation

Comment on About Me by Bill Moore

Bill Moore — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:25:21 +0000

Good read…this may be the first blog I ever give a read of more than a couple posts.
Bill Moore
-teacher illinois

Comment on Maple 13 by Maple 13 « Unrequited Expectations « bankruptcycreditcarddebtconsolidation

Maple 13 « Unrequited Expectations « bankruptcycreditcarddebtconsolidation — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:04:15 +0000

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Comment on Singapore Math – a revelation by cube

cube — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:48:30 +0000

First, I’m not a teacher, so I don’t pretend to know anything about the Singapore Model Method, but I have taken much mathematics in my life and would like to give my observations from that perspective.

Children are not taught to think about what the problem at hand is asking and, thus, how to solve the problems in math classes, but they are merely taught how to solve the same type of problem through repetition.

That is not teaching critical thinking skills!

I don’t have the answer, but I know enough to know that current methods aren’t adequate in the US.

Comment on Singapore Math – a revelation by Jessica

Jessica — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:38:28 +0000

We used the Singapore Math textbooks and workbooks in my college “Math for Elementary Teachers” course, along with a text “Elementary Mathematics for Teachers” or something along those lines.

I found the Singapore Math problems to be very conceptual in nature. Granted, there are many examples that are very similar to one another, but the whole concept of creating a bar diagram for almost any(if not all) situation encountered really forced us to think about the math involved and the underlying concepts that needed to be developed in order to solve the problem and set up the diagram appropriately. You’d be surprised, though, how many of my peers really struggled with the concepts in that class…

Comment on Singapore Math – a revelation by Jim

Jim — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:22:22 +0000

How would you define the “top half” of math students? Being at an independent school we already select who we have and by most standardized test measures our students are at or above national averages.

And I am very interested in your resources and ideas!

Comment on Singapore Math – a revelation by favoriteparent

favoriteparent — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:10:36 +0000

It takes so much to fully implement singapore math into a school and Lsquared is right about it being for the top half of your math students. But the benefits outweight the struggles with implementation. I hosted a Parent University last night for 20 parents who needed serious support in helping their kids with the word problem models. Third grade! But the best part is that they left really fired up about helping their kid and see how this dynamic and challenging math will make their kids into something they are not. I have a ton of resources and ideas of “what not to do” with singapore math if you are interested…@ktmtrain

Comment on Singapore Math – a revelation by Lsquared

Lsquared — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:50:40 +0000

I hope you keep being pleasantly surprised. I think the Singapore math books have a lot of good problems in them. I like them because I feel like children who learned in that program would be able to solve what I think of as appropriately hard problems–problems that are on the high-ish end of grade level. I recently bought the Singapore math book for teaching with bar diagrams, and I found a lot to like in it.

Comment on Exclusive: Incredulous UN Bans Criticism of Islam | EuropeNews by euandus

euandus — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:52:03 +0000

Thanks for your post. I just wrote one about what it means when such brutality is “normalized” by virtue of simply being used on a regular basis…when in fact it ought to be regarded still as beyond the pale. I am providing the link in case you are interested. http://euandus3.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/using-rape-against-political-protesters/

Comment on Required Reading for Math Teachers I « Research in Practice by favoriteparent

favoriteparent — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:19:19 +0000

I agree. Sometimes I look around the room at my group of kids and see one picking at his pencil or playing with her hair. It’s hard for me to believe they are getting the same lesson as the kid who is wide-eyed and nodding, with their hand in the air the entire time…ready to answer any question I might ask. If you teach kids to “observe” you, they will do the same as adults. That lady that nods off at a staff meeting or the husband who only hears the last three words you “nagged”.