Am I the only person who thinks that “common core” isn’t the worst idea ever?
I mean, at least the idea of it?
Having more than one option on deck for solving random problems in life?
I admit I only just saw this image or method for the first time today. There was no explanation provided, so it took me a few seconds to figure out how this method worked. But when I did, I got really excited! That “Aha!” moment I live for. Here I think I know how to math and along come the familiar numbers I know, laid out and redistributed into a glorious mystical arithmetic kartush. That sounds sarcastic, but learning something new in life is always an elixir to my neurons. Especially at this time of day.
As I can appreciate that this rush of picking up new concepts or techniques is not something the entirety of my “I already know”/”Can’t be bothered” culture shares, I’ll try my best to empathize. Or at least make a few concessions before defending my decision not to issue the middle finger (fully at least) at the idea of common core.
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST CORE:
While I’ve lurked around Youtube to see what DC Schools has to say in promoting it versus PTA parents and students alike shoving their pitchforks in the air, I’ve observed points on both sides of the argument. There does seem to be a huge gaping chasm between what was promised and what was actually delivered. And this may be due to the fact that the setup was not designed to include a sufficient number of educative authorities who should be involved (because duh, they’d know a better learning layout than a bunch of businessmen). And those who were part of the focus groups apparently had little to nada of their input even added to what was ultimately constructed. They were just there in name only. So that’s no good.
Also, I appreciate how daunting homework piles become with some core methods.
Remember mom and dad saying “They make you do so much more than when I was your age”? Much like that, the kids now have their extracurricular activity dance cards filled up as well, in their preparation attempts to get into a good college later on. Indeed, we can see how this takes up a ridiculous amount of your evening if you tack on things like solving a ton of equations using four different methods. Don’t they understand you have six other classes plus soccer practice?!
That said, I feel like that – the time constraint – is the biggest problem I hear parents complain about on behalf of their kids. That and a limiting belief system: “You can’t expect a fourth grader to do all of this!” Expect? Never. You’re quite right. But can we lovingly encourage them to try? Say, “Just give it your best shot and don’t worry about the results”?
COULD IT BE IMPROVED?
Mayhaps the time management issue could be resolved by adding a competition like element with the goal of learning how to budget your minutes. Seeing as its 3:00 P.M., I’ve gotten not shit done today, and that’s becoming a life-theme for me lately, apparently I would’ve benefited from a few lessons in time management myself. In class, maybe have students compete with “Who can solve using this method the fastest?” style mathlete games. Call it the Mean Girls Math Race if you have to. Give them a prize at the end. Kids dig pop culture references, winning, and validation.
One parent said in an emotional plea to a board of school officials that her kid had to count out 108 things for a math problem (multiplication, I think it was – to show a real understanding beyond blind timestable memorization). And I thought, yeah man! That could take all night if you had to do that for every problem they give! So maybe a happy medium work here – just make the first 3 to 5 problems be the only ones where you have to do all of the provided methods, and then for the remaining problems, have them stick to just one method – of their choosing. Why not just fcckk the whole thing off? Well, because there’s always going to be that one kid who can only learn abstract concepts by seeing you crack it open and pull out the gears and nuts and bolts. And if she (like me) knows she’s the only kid who “doesn’t get it”, that’s a lonely ass feeling.
And I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to pipe up and draw attention to being the only dumbass.
That’s a mindset that carries into adulthood and bleeds into far more than math.
That whole “I don’t wanna look dumb; I’ll just figure it out later” became so ingrained in me that I’m still trying to nix it. I suppose that’s the hope I see in the idea of common core – at least in theory. I like the idea of perpetually looking at any new problems and knowing you have a whole arsenal of weapons with which to attack it if your first line of defense doesn’t work. I’m not an eighth grader (though I might act like one) so I dunno how exactly it’s being practiced at the local level.
But as a concept, it has potential to make kids be a bit more open-minded.
TOOLS FOR WINNING LATER IN LIFE
The thing is, our subconscious brains are constantly looking for pattern recognition in life. It’s an innate characteristic that’s helped us survive for ages. And it extends far beyond foraging for food or drawing fun metaphors from language – all the way into how we attack life-situations. Think of it like a muscle you have to work. When you already have learned a whole set of skills, you can take on any life problem like the Taken dad. Whether you’re subtracting integers, or adding bullets to your resume later on, there are no problems. Only solutions. Why? Because you’ve trained your brain to think from that perspective.
You know what kills this great perspective though? A closed mind and a bad attitude.
Especially from your parents.
’cause that outlook’s cyclical.
You see it from parents online (a very telling platform for what you also say behind closed doors, minus maybe a bit of the profanity) and it’s clear their kids pick up on that. Opining is fine. But if you’re really angry – do something about it. Why not set an example by being proactive and going to meetings to speak your mind instead of showing your kids that complaining aimlessly into the ether is the way to get your way?
Whether it’s with the work we choose to do later on after school is over, the religions or spiritual paths we judge and compare, the beliefs systems and lifestyles in general of others – people tend to be extremely individualistic to the point of being closed minded. Providing a whole toolkit of techniques to break your way out of a closed coffin box of thinking is far from a bad idea. In fact it might be one of the few good things I’ve seen happen in the school system that normally tells us “this is fact, do not question it, this is the only way”.
THE SCIENCE OF LIMITING BELIEFS
Latching onto your negative emotion about “don’t wanna” and letting it slowly metastasize into a “the world is against me” outlook is an educational cancer. That’s not just an opinion, either. In fact, here’s some science: our cerebral cortex (the part of our brain involved in higher thought like learning and logic) has SO many synapses in it (brain cell receptors that must fire to work) that it would take you (and I quote) “32 million years to count synapses in the cerebral cortex alone”. That means we have an infinite capacity for learning in there. (But wait! There’s more!) Wanna know what the single quickest way to hinder this vital-to-learning part of the brain is? The limbic system’s extreme emotional reaction to whatever thought’s coming out of it.
Like a shitty emotional reaction to it.
(Mmmhmm. Also thought you needed leg braces, dtnchya, marathon man?)
And since it takes five good thoughts to cancel out a shitty one (more science!)…
…that interplay can build till your kid’s not “Not a smah’t man, Jennn-aaay”.
Something to consider the next time you say “She can’t do that” in front of your kid. She hears that, believes it, and thinks small. You’ll never know if she can or can’t, because all you’re teaching her is how to chuck the tools that’d help her find out for herself with your emotional flamethrower of terrible example setting. From God, to fashion, to math – why not open minds early on to understanding the fact via a very literal application that YES there are a lot of very different ways to arrive at a right answer in life. Common core might suck in application, but the larger ideas it’s supposed to accomplish speak of a common sense I see forgotten more often than not. And parents just see that part of the plan plays out shittily, so they wanna fcck off the whole thing instead of seeing how it could be really good for their kids after some mods.
But let’s have a bit of compassion here. It’s not their fault.
How can we expect them to think outside the box for this problem?
When they were probably taught but one method to solve all life’s problems?