KTM Guest shows how to do it

Some amazing comments left by KTM Guest: (scroll down)

I'm a 6th grade math teacher with an EM elementary system. I started using Singapore math 5th grade level by myself last year, 2nd nine weeks and the stanines increased dramatically along with number sense scores. So this year I'm doing what Barry did and starting at 3B for measurement and continuing with 4A for my regular kids and 5A with the advanced kids.

I love the program! The kids learn so easily it's amazing!

Also, there is a student with asperger's in the advanced class! Finding ktm was serendipity!

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Math is math. The texts we use are all basically the same. I earned my degree in engineering and loved teaching myself math. I figured I could teach other people to do what I do. After 5 years my [student] scores were good and I was looking for more ways to improve them. I read Liping Ma's book and started looking for "chinese" ways of teaching. The TIMMS results told me that Singapore was the best so finally I ordered Liping Ma's textbook from Houghton Mifflin and then Singapore Math. It didn't look that different. I tried Liping Ma's books on my remedial class and discovered that they couldn't even subtract well. The diagrams looked the same in the Singapore Math books, so I tried them out next.

I do my own thing, try to stay in my room and my kids learn! I do have some helicopter parents :) but after awhile they start to trust me and my kids are learning.

Also, I do try to let my special needs kids do what everyone else does and then find out what accommodations they really require. Most kids can do a lot more than preconceived notions. Nobody fails unless they do nothing. I require nightly homework which causes frustration occasionally, espcecially at the beginning of the year. There are quizzes everyday too.

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I forgot to say... I buy everything myself. I have my own copy machine, laptop computer, software...

So far, no one has questioned my materials. I try to follow the general structure of the county's curriculum.

If your scores are good, no one will bother you.



wow

KTM Guest is one of those miracle teachers who's carrying our kids straight into the future — !

Talk about 21st century skills!

KTM Guest's kids are getting them!

Incredible.




what works versus whatever works

KTM Guest's comment is exactly what I imagine would or could be the best way to run our public schools: create a good, solid set of standardized tests, decide what scores we want students to attain, give this information to schools, then get out of the way and let teachers do the job.

That's what McDonald's did with its animal welfare audit.

They hired Temple (Grandin) to help them put her very simple 10-item animal welfare audit in place at supplier plants and told everyone they had to pass or forget selling to McDonald's.

In 18 months' time, the meatpacking industry had completely transformed its animal handling practices. This is an industry that was rife with abuse; animal welfare activists had been trying to reform the thing for decades. McDonald's & Temple did it in a year and a half. No one thought, going in, that was possible.

But it was.

Temple's audit is a classic "tight-loose" approach, strictly focused on outputs, not inputs. She doesn't tell plants what kind of flooring to install, how the lighting and heating have to work, how much training the employees have to have, etc., etc., etc.

She just tells the plants what has to be happening & not happening to the animals.

The animals can't be falling down; they can't be mooing in distress; they can't be getting whipped; they have to be unconscious before any butchering procedures are carried out.

She also rejects a zero-tolerance approach. Animal welfare activists typically want a requirement that all animals be killed on the first shot. Temple says that's never going to happen in the real world, because in the real world equipment malfunctions and accidents happen. She sets the bar at 95%. Ninety-five percent of the animals must be killed on the first attempt.

Plants that are audited using the 95% requirement end up doing better than plants audited using a 100% requirement. Temple has the data to prove it.




tight-loose for schools?

Last summer Temple and I wrote an op-ed laying out an audit for high schools. I'd read a lot of the research on high school outcomes, and we came up with three criteria:

• percent of students who graduate

• percent of students who go to college and graduate

• percent of students who, if they do not go to college, get and keep jobs that require either further vocational training, or moderate to long-term on the job training (this includes graduates who start their own businesses)
  

These three standards, I'd be willing to bet a decent sum of money, would distinguish good high schools from the mediocre and bad. (You'd have to be adjusted for SES, of course, but that's doable.) Any high school doing a good job educating its students would have high numbers graduating from high school, graduating from college, or finding and keeping good jobs offering on the job training.

We lost interest - maybe I should say confidence - in the op-ed after we finished, so we didn't send it to papers.

I've been wondering ever since whether a "whatever works" approach can be used in public schools.

Obviously, it can; that's what KTM Guest's county is using. In KTM Guest's county as long as teachers are showing results, nobody's telling them they have to use Everyday Math.

However, I've become very pessimistic about the odds that other counties, districts, and states will follow suit. Reforming the meatpacking industry, I've come to see, isn't analogous to reforming American public schools, in spite of the many similarities between children and a herd of never-tamed, mooing, stampeding farm animals. (I'm joking.)

Meatpacking plants were a mess. They were worse than a mess; they were a scandal.

But they weren't ideologically committed to being a mess. Meatpacking plants treated animals badly because it wasn't a priority not to treat animals badly. At least, that's my outsider's perspective. A historian would find a complex and complicated history, I'm sure. However, it's accurate to say that meatpacking plants weren't ideologically committed to beating up the animals.

Once McDonald's told them they had to stop beating up the animals, they figured it out and they figured it out fast. Temple has wonderful stories about plant troublemakers turning into plant troubleshooters practically overnight. One guy started maintaining equipment on an hourly basis, as I recall, so there wouldn't be all kinds of mechanical glitches that terrified the cattle and made them balk. He did this on his own. He was a line worker, a high school graduate & union employee who was a pain in the toochis. Once he had his standard to meet — only so many animals mooing in distress or getting zapped by electric prods — he came up with a new way meet it.

That would happen in public schools if ed school professors, administrators, and all teachers were pragmatists.

But they're not.

Public schools are run by people who are ideologically committed to their practices — people who adamantly do not see their practices as in any way harmful to children.

No Child Left Behind, a law I support, probably makes neoprogressives even more committed to those practices. In The Knowledge Deficit, E.D. Hirsch suggests an interesting sequence:

• neoprogressive educators define reading as a "formal" skill (find the main idea, "inferencing," etc.) rather than an ability that depends on content knowledge (broad vocabulary & general knowledge)

• increased testing drives progressive educators to drill these formal skills for hours every week in order to increase reading comprehension scores

• hours of tedious drill in "inferencing," "clarifying," "questioning the author" etc. lead neoprogressives to conclude that what students really need is more natural — more wholistic — modes of teaching
  

The upshot is that reading comprehension doesn't improve, but neoprogressives don't blame their teaching methods for the failure.

They blame the law.




hedgehogs and foxes

Neoprogressives are hedgehogs. They know one big thing — progressive education — and that one big thing guides every small thing they do. (Foxes know "many things.")

That would be great if the one big thing were correct.

Unfortunately, it's not. Hirsch has a great passage in The Schools We Need:

The history of American education since the 1930s has been the stubborn persistence of illusion in the face of reality. Illusion has not been defeated. But since reality cannot be defeated either, and since it determines what actually happens in the world, the result has been educational decline.

My question is always: why doesn't reality win?

Or, rather, why doesn't reality win at some point? How does an illusion persist for 100 years?

There are a number of answers to that, it seems, but a new one I've stumbled across recently is Philip Tetlock's finding that hedgehogs aren't inclined to admit error. They get more things wrong than foxes do in the first place, and when they are wrong they're the last ones to see it, if they ever do.

...hedgehogs are more likely than foxes to uphold double standards for judging historical counterfactuals. And this double standard indictment is itself double-edged. First, there is the selective openness toward close-call claims. Whereas chapter 4 shows that hedgehogs only opened to close-call arguments that insulated their forecasts from disconfirmation (the "I was almost right" defense), chapter 5 shows that hedgehogs spurn similar indeterminacy arguments that undercut their favorite lessons from history (the "I was not almost wrong" defense). Second, chapter 5 shows that hedgehogs are less likely than foxes to apologize for failing turnabout tests, for applying tougher standards to agreeable than to disagreeable evidence. Their defiant attitude was "I win if the evidence breaks in my direction" but "if the evidence breaks the other way, the methodology must be suspect."

I assume Tetlock would see me as a fox, but I've had plenty of I was almost right moments. Probably more than a few I was not almost wrong moments, too.

Reality is never going to win. Not without a lot of help.







Chapter 1: Quantifying the Unquantifiable

KTM Guest shows how to do it
hedgehogs and foxes



-- CatherineJohnson - 07 Sep 2006

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EvilMathTeacher^? here! That's what my kids like to call me...I do hope I am minutely the miracle teacher you think I am.

I can't believe how much I think like you. I just wish I wrote as well.

I'm a farm girl, too. I grew up in the Midwest.

Open House is over at my school also. I charmed the parents with an adorable powerpoint of their beautiful kids. Then I told them I don't use the textbook and I would be "supplementing the textbook" instead. That's what I think is the poltically correct term. I'm keeping SM to myself because Murphy's Law would probably get me if I told anyone what I was really doing.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 16 Sep 2006

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oh my gosh!

Hi, Evil!

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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wow

you're tough

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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But I did tell the kids that we're using the best math program in the world and they said, Really?

Several of the parents want to know what else they can do with their kids. These are my advanced kids. They don't have the top scores, but want to be at the top.

What should I suggest? Saxon? I'm afraid to start a math debate in my district if I start advertising SM.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 17 Sep 2006

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I think the whole farm girl / Midwest thing just completely pulls the rug out from under all of this stuff....

But I still can't quite put it into words. (Karen A, I think it was, says she thinks ktm has quite a few Midwestern readers. I wouldn't be surprised.)

A friendly acquaintance I hadn't seen in awhile told me the other day that whenever she's around me she gets a completely different perspective on everything going on around here.

She was saying that she has a handful of friends who aren't intensely competitive over their kids, aren't striving at all times for high SATs etc. (of course, I believe in striving!)....

Then she said that my perspective, or world, is completely different even from her group of chums.

What's tricky for me - and it's been hard to express - is that if you're in the midwest farm girl category "striving" and "competing" aren't really the operant categories.

(I'm not expressing myself well...)

I'll start over.

Many parents here feel pressed & pressured by other parents who seem to be ferociously competitive on their kids' behalf (and probably are ferociously competitive on their kids' behalf!)

I'm so Midwestern that other people's ferocious competitiveness doesn't bother me at all. If other people are competitive and striving - great! That means they're working hard.

So it's not just that I seem to have somewhat different goals for my kids than other parents may; I'm also not bothered by the same things, either.

I probably have some kind of Protestant work ethic approach to learning & academics. I feel everyone should be working hard, doing his best, and striving to succeed. Then you should carry on striving to succeed after you have succeeded.

If you're doing that, then naturally you're going to end up outrunning a lot of folks, and that's fun.

Winning is fun!

Having more stuff than your neighbors is fun! (But not too much more. Too-much-more is uncomfortable for me, which I'm thinking may be a Midwestern thing...)

Now I'm rambling.

Suffice it to say that a lot of parents seem to have moved here because Irvington was, apparenlty, not Scarsdale. (Naturally I wasn't in the loop on this back when we moved.)

Some parents moved here because the scores were low; low scores meant the district wasn't killing the kids with work and insane competition.

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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I feel (I could be wrong - this is my Midwesternness talking) that high scores are the obvious and natural result of steady, serious work over the 13 years of K-12 schooling.

I have zero interest in teachers piling 5 hours of homework on my kid; I have zero interest in $5000 SAT tutors & we won't be hiring one.

Steady, daily, solid work - based in a solid & serious AND coherent, thought-out curriculum & teaching - will certainly get a kid with decent intelligence where he needs to go.

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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ENOUGH ABOUT ME!

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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good grief

another farmer shows up and I'm babbling

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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how did you stumble onto ktm?

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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your students are so lucky!!!

-- CatherineJohnson - 17 Sep 2006

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I googled something about singapore like i do all of the time. I found a crazy insane parent ranting and raving about her kid's math teacher. Then i started googling my name trying to find out if there was a blooki/blog about me out there! I was absolutely hooked. It was like crack! I couldn't stop reading it! Then I started linking to your sites and discovered that Carolyn was a mathematician and I realized you weren't really crazy.

The more I read the more I read. I ordered the Russian Math book but haven't started to use it yet. I'm still building the foundation.

BTW, I've lived in Hudson Valley, NY and (Bay Area SF) California, too. I don't live in the midwest anymore, but I do still have that crazy work ethic! My husband is a chef and we're doing the family thing in the southern part of the country now.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 17 Sep 2006

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your students are so lucky!!!

That's what keeps me going! The kids and wanting them to learn math better than what I got!

I made all A's in math in HS and then failed calc 1 at the U of I. It destroyed me for the rest of my life. I never want that to happen that to any of my students.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 17 Sep 2006

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"I probably have some kind of Protestant work ethic approach to learning & academics. I feel everyone should be working hard, doing his best, and striving to succeed. Then you should carry on striving to succeed after you have succeeded.

If you're doing that, then naturally you're going to end up outrunning a lot of folks, and that's fun.

Winning is fun!"

Yes!!!!!

I checked out the posts on What's New that popped up and read about studying engineering. It took me 10 years to finally earn my degree after the horrible start I had at 17. I didn't fail calc or chem, but the instructors gave me the D. Worst year of my life. I ended up quitting in the middle of the 2nd semester. Then it took 5 years to finish community college and another 4 years to finish college. Or course, I was working full-time and wandering through my life in a daze.

After the engineering degree, I wandered after the hubby still trying to figure out what to do. It was another 6 years before I started teaching. And boy, did I make some humongous mistakes, and almost lost my job while trying to do my job. I just wanted those kids to learn. It ticked me off when they wouldn't just do the minimum. There is a lot of "diversity" at our school. Lots of Haves and Have Nots. Helicopter Parents and MIA's.

I think finally this late bloomer is finally figuring it out.

Oh, I always call myself the "canary in the mine", because i'm always the first to go down. Hence, NOT talking about Singapore too much. (Can't always control myself though):) My grandfather and great-grandfather both worked in coal mines, too.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 17 Sep 2006

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Welcome, EMT!

Your students are indeed lucky. I agree with your approach; I would lie low for now, too, if I were you. If you were to actually put your head up, they might have to smite you.

It's interesting, we have something in common, though the timing wasn't the same; I was horrifically an underachiever at math until I started taking calculus, at which point things really began to pick up.

But Ed's story (Ed = Catherine's husband) is similar to yours -- he was an overachiever all through high school, but took a calc class at Princeton, didn't do well, and semi-gave-up. The calculus class was an unusually punishing one, though. It's amazing what an influence we can end up having on kids, as teachers, isn't it?

-- CarolynJohnston - 17 Sep 2006

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You went to University of Iowa? Catherine used to teach at UofI^?. I live in Iowa City! But I have to move to the East Coast soon! I like Iowa better than Connecticut! Go Hawks! I don't even like football!

The Iowa/Iowa State game was today and the Hawkeyes won.

Sorry, I get a little punchy this late at night. Welcome, EvilMathTeacher^? =)

-- LesleyStevens - 17 Sep 2006

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Hello, EvilMathTeacher^?, from another Midwesterner. Go, Badgers, anyone?

-- LynnGuelzow - 17 Sep 2006

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What should I suggest? Saxon? I'm afraid to start a math debate in my district if I start advertising SM.

A lot of what we do around here is look into what works for people. I would say that most of the mathhead parents could easily work with Singapore or one of the Dolciani texts.

If your parents are math-phobes (and they usually identify themselves as such pretty quickly into any conversation about math) then Saxon is excellent. You can't beat if for explanations and practice.

If parents can't do it at all then Kumon seems to be an effective resource and they're apparently everywhere. Catherine discovered that it is actually a curriculum, not just a mindless bunch of drill sheets.

There's been a lot of discussion about the best textbooks out there for students. Our resident engineers and math teachers have all weighed in and Catherine has them all listed.

I will say that even though I'm KTM's resident math-phobe and a big fan of Saxon, my husband is quite proficient in math and has often used the books as a backup reference. We also leaned heavily as parents on the books Algebra To Go, Geometry to Go, and Math on Hand. They're little reference books, but we both found ourselves whipping them out a lot during the year.

-- SusanS - 17 Sep 2006

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Thanks for the recommendations.

So, its Dolciani

or Saxon

or Kumon.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 17 Sep 2006

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And of course, Singapore. I have most of the grade school books and they're pretty cheap. But I lean on them for supplemental practice due to my own math deficits. Others around here use them almost exclusively. I would if I could, but I need the drawn out explanations Saxon provides.

Welcome aboard! We love teacher input.

-- SusanS - 17 Sep 2006

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One other aspect to SM to note -- it teaches all of the standard algorithms that most parents will at least recognize. I think most of the parental frustration that I hear locally centers around the fact that most don't know what a "stem and leaf" graph is or how to do matrix multiplication, or trade first subtraction, or. . .or. . . I could go on and on.

-- LynnGuelzow - 17 Sep 2006

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The new Saxon editions do teach all of the statistics and graph analysis stuff that the state tests have been including, much to the purist's dismay. I know that in Saxon 6/5 they covered stem and leaf, box and whiskers and all kinds of graph analysis, along with probablility.

I have to agree with the purists (who love the older editions), that it chops up the chapters and loses some of the sequential traits that Saxon is known for, but I am also glad to finally learn what the heck they are teaching in the schools.

-- SusanS - 17 Sep 2006

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I googled something about singapore like i do all of the time. I found a crazy insane parent ranting and raving about her kid's math teacher. Then i started googling my name trying to find out if there was a blooki/blog about me out there! I was absolutely hooked. It was like crack! I couldn't stop reading it! Then I started linking to your sites and discovered that Carolyn was a mathematician and I realized you weren't really crazy.

lol!

We're not crazy, exactly.

A bit addled, but not crazy.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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I found a crazy insane parent ranting and raving about her kid's math teacher.

I believe that would be me.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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I don't live in the midwest anymore, but I do still have that crazy work ethic!

it really is permanent....the longer I've lived away from the Midwest the more I've come to appreciate the place

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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I made all A's in math in HS and then failed calc 1 at the U of I. It destroyed me for the rest of my life. I never want that to happen that to any of my students.

incredible story

and there are SOOOO many like it

I always wonder what direction my life would have taken if I'd had better math teaching.

I, too, had straight As in math all through high school, then failed my first calculus test at Wellesley (I had NO idea what was going on), dropped out, and that was that.

I don't think I was headed for a math-related field.

But I've loved statistics all my life, and have always longed to learn the field.....and I think I would have done so, in some way, if I hadn't concluded that I was done with math.

That's what I keep saying about Christopher.

I don't think he's head toward a math-related field per se.

But I want the door to be open.

Also, now that I've read and absorbed E.D. Hirsch (I'll get that posted at some point) I realize that, pace NCTM & their "21st century skills," our kids will probably need to be able to pick up new skills and learn new fields FAST.

Their education right this minute is giving them the essential foundation to be able to do that.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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Belaboring the point.....when I discovered that Christopher was failing 4th grade math, my own math education, such as it was, saved him.

The math I learned back in Lincoln, IL allowed me to find the books I needed and to reteach their content to myself quickly.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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After the engineering degree, I wandered after the hubby still trying to figure out what to do. It was another 6 years before I started teaching. And boy, did I make some humongous mistakes, and almost lost my job while trying to do my job. I just wanted those kids to learn. It ticked me off when they wouldn't just do the minimum. There is a lot of "diversity" at our school. Lots of Haves and Have Nots. Helicopter Parents and MIA's.

I love those terms!

I'd never heard "MIA"!

(You have to love it that BOTH metaphors for parents are military terms - !)

What an incredible life story you have.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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Oh, I always call myself the "canary in the mine", because i'm always the first to go down. Hence, NOT talking about Singapore too much.

yup

lie low

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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I, on the other hand, have just written a letter to the WSJ....which I'm contemplating copying to the administration & school board.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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So, its Dolciani

or Saxon

or Kumon.

Dolciani
Saxon
Primary Mathematics
Harold Jacobs (for algebra & geometry)

Homeschoolers rave about Jacobs, and my neighbor, who teaches math for non-majors at Mercy College, loves the guy.

I have his books and they seem terrific, but I haven't worked with them.

KUMON is a....hmm....it's a Japanese franchise that gives the kids sequential worksheets to do each and every day.

The worksheets teach concepts as well, but KUMON is intended to be a supplement, not a complete curriculum.

However, KUMON encourages kids to jump out ahead of their curriculum in school, so the worksheets teach as well as offer practice.

-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Sep 2006

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I believe that would be me.

That's okay. You do it so we don't have to.

-- SusanS - 18 Sep 2006

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I was wondering when you were going to jump in here.

My homeschooler friend loves Jacobs, too. I've never heard of him.

-- SusanS - 18 Sep 2006

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I believe that would be me.

That's okay. You do it so we don't have to.

hee hee

That was never the plan with ktm.

Carolyn and I were just going to write about math.

The middle school was such a nightmare that I got diverted.

-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Sep 2006

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My homeschooler friend loves Jacobs, too. I've never heard of him.

I have never heard a bad word about the guy.

I wish I had twice as much time as I do.

Now that I'm in Algebra 2 my daily Saxon takes more time, and I really don't have time to work with other books.

I've spent virtually no time with either Dolciani or Jacobs.

-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Sep 2006

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I'm deep in the trenches! I just about have all the kids on board. I'm still working on 10% of them. They haven't decided to start learning math yet. They're just playing and enjoying watching my head spin because I can't do anything about their insane behaviors! A lunch detention certainly isn't going to change their minds.

Anyway, I have the "on or below grade level" kids in Level 4A of SingMath^?. We are almost done with that book. I'm hoping to finish 4B and 5A before winter break.

The kids who are "above 6th grade" are in the Level 5A of SingMath^?. Again, trying to complete a SingMath^? semester in a quarter instead. Hopefully we'll get through 6A and most of the new material in 6B by winter. Then we'll have one quarter to work on ALGEBRA!

BTW: These are 6th graders. My goal is for 85% of the kids to qualify for advanced 7th grade (Glencoe Pre-Algebra: this particular book gets good marks from Mathematically Correct) or Honors (HS Credit) Algebra next year.

If we are really 2 years behind the best in the world, then this should be about right. I've basically got to do 3 years worth of work in 1, right?

Have you used the Intensive Math books from SingMath^?? So far we are working the Level 5A books and they are certainly kicking ME up a notch! I'm going to have to send out answers to HW assignments to the afterschooling parents or there will be riots on my classroom!

Can't wait to get the Level 4 Intensive Math books TOMMORROW from UPS!

Quotes from kids: Wow! You ACTUALLY TEACH how to do math. My teacher last year never did!

I just see numbers in my head now.

Oh! So that's why it's half the base times the height. That's cool :)

I still don't understand what we are doing when you add fractions (with related denominators 4A). Will you show me again?

************ Sorry about the confusion on U of I. It's Illinois not Iowa. I grew up less than an hour from Urbana Champaign.

************ Catch-22 Land Calling: I'm worried about teaching mastery vs teaching to the test in the spring. SingMath^? doesn't do much with questions like our Algebra test questions. I KNOW the rest of it works so well that it shouldn't matter, but the state test is a gatekeeper for 7th graders getting into algebra in 7th grade.

If I just skim across the top of the test requirements, then the cream will rise up there without much teaching on my part. That's the way it always worked in the past. Maybe 1% would make it to Honors Algebra in 7th grade. Last year, after starting SM late in the year, I think there were about 20-25/120 who qualified from my students. For some reason, details are sketchy when you are being TOO successful?!

************* I just need a sounding board and reassurance. It's lonely out here! Thanks for listening :)

******* Tutoring: I am offically telling parents to either get Saxon homeschool books if they want to tutor their kids, or send them to KUMON. I also tell them I can send home problems to work on at home, but some kids are so far gone that they need a formal "afterschooling" program.

********* Haven't seen Jacobs yet. I guess I need that to compare with Dolciani.

I have SingMath^? 7 and 8 books which are really a huge leap from the Level 6 books. I wonder how they bridge that year.

********** Operations with integers are not part of our state test, so I keep those for after the test. It's impossible to use a great pre-algebra program without them.

************ Russian Math: I can't use this book with 6th graders because NONE of them know anything about decimals, multiplying by powers of 10. It drives me crazy. I guess EM doesn't invent the decimal system in 5th grade.

SingMath^? does decimals in the B books and since they don't spiral, I have to wait until 2nd quarter to teach those.

************* Again, thanks for being here.

-- EvilMathTeacher - 01 Oct 2006

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EvilMathTeacher^?,

Wow! You are doing great out there. I think it's particularly great that you have found the Singapore level for your slower kids and are teaching them at that level.

My son used the Glencoe Pre-Algebra. It had a great accompanying website with extra help, practice, and even a section for parents.

As far as teaching to the test, I believe you guys have it rough (particularly if you're in IL.) At the district that I'm in, the school recently adopted a MAPs testing system (not totally sure what that stands for)for formative assessment. They take these right at the beginning of the year. Anyway, they take a test on the computer and find immediately where their skills fall. Even though we have a similar rule that kids must score in a certain percentile to be considered for 6th grade Pre-Algebra, if a kid scores high on these MAPS tests, they can possible be moved up. One of our kids actually did that even though he had not been pulled out for math in previous years.

-- SusanS - 01 Oct 2006

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Thanks for the support!

There are so many "adults without kids in the room" at school, and of course, the parents of my students who pull us teachers in every different direction.

It's a rewarding, great job, especially when an 11-year-old says, just factor out a 5!

Some days you feel trapped in your room. There's no bathroom and no escape if you need it. If you really need someone to help you and you call for help, there's no one who answers.

Then, there are 2 shootings in 3 days and you think, maybe it's not worth trying to convince to work hard...why not just make it easy to make a good grade...

Again, thanks!

-- EvilMathTeacher - 03 Oct 2006

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You are inspiring, EMT!

I use the SingMath^? Intensive Practice books. I love them, but I pick and choose from them to really nail down concepts that we are struggling with. I am in 4B with my 5th grader. We have set a goal to finish 4B before the end of October so we can start 5A and get her working "at grade level." I feel like we have to move quickly now in the Fall, because after the Christmas break, she is going to really get a lot of test prep from school. I just know she won't be able to carry a full program at home for a month or so before the state tests.

The Intensive Practice books are fascinating -- they are not just more of the same from the regular text and workbook. But decimal practice in 4B is very challenging.

-- LynnGuelzow - 04 Oct 2006

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I was in a team conference this week with the language arts teacher on my team. We were discussing a 504 plan and extra time for standardized testing.

She actually said that she didn't know if he would need extra time on the STATE EXAM, because she never gives a test as hard as the STATE EXAM.

Can you believe it? I tell my kids that the easiest test they will take all year will be the STATE EXAM. It's because of the absolutely amazing challenging problems.

We just worked on turning right and left in right angles. It used right in 2 different ways. It looked so easy, but yet the kids just couldn't do it. (4A book for 6th graders)

Can't wait to get to the decimals!

-- EvilMathTeacher - 04 Oct 2006

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So, you're saying the kids couldn't tell the difference between "right" and "right", right?

(Sorry.)

-- DougSundseth - 04 Oct 2006

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Yes. Amazing isn't it?

Can you imagine how confusing this is for a kid with English as a second language?

-- EvilMathTeacher - 04 Oct 2006

WebLogForm
Title:	KTM Guest shows how to do it
TopicType:	WebLog
SubjectArea:	SingaporeMath, TeachersTeachingKids
LogDate:	200609071506