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Flunking Math, But a Quick Study

Flunking Math, But a Quick Study

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by: fcabanski Active Indicator LED Icon 16 OP 
~ 10 years ago   Mar 5, '14 11:23pm  
Met a student for the first time today.  He's flunking math.  But everything we worked on, he understood and could solve a problem on his own and re-teach the concept after the first time I explained it to him.  He also surprised me, based on his grades, with his knowledge/recall of certain things like Pythagorean Triples the ratios of lengths of sides opposite angles in special right triangles.He volunteered information about his deficiencies in math - he related he doesn't understand solving algebraic equations well, and he's not good with factoring.  He also related his problems with taking notes, and his problems with the teacher and her style.  The bottom line is this boy is bright, but like many students:- He's missing foundation information and skills.- He's not practiced at critical thinking or the methods for problem solving.  (ISME - Identify the problem type, Set up (mostly means write down the info the problem gives including a diagram, and write down what you know about that type of problem), Make Sure you know what the problem is asking, and Make Sure what you've written is accurate, Execute meaning solve the problem.)- He doesn't understand how to take notes in math class.  I recommend making a crib sheet containing all formula, and  writing the problems as the teacher works them.  It's even better if you can video each lesson.- He doesn't know how to drill for math.  Generally, this involves working problems until they're so easy they're boring.It won't be hard for this young man to raise his grade to a passing level.  If he works hard, he will be earning A's and B's in math. 4951
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lil03speedster Active Indicator LED Icon 15
~ 10 years ago   Mar 5, '14 11:41pm  
Great job @fcabanski! I love math!!! My employees look at me weird when something mathematical comes up and I answer within a couple seconds. They reply "Are you human?"  I reply with, "Y are you and your X split?" They walk away laughing... 4951
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lil03speedster Active Indicator LED Icon 15
~ 10 years ago   Mar 5, '14 11:59pm  
Which also reminds me. When I was in college, my College Algebra professor taught us how to remember the Quadratic Formula. (Picture the "Pop Goes the Weasel" song). X= negative b, plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac ALL over 2 a. Greatest song I remember even though I never used it for my degree in Finance, and don't use it in Retail Management. 
 
Loading Image... 4951
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fcabanski Active Indicator LED Icon 16 OP 
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 12:36am  
sinb/tanb = CosbyBinary Humor:  There are only 10 types of people in the world.  Those who understand math, and those who don't.A new government 10 year survey cost $3,000,000,000.  It revealed that 3/4 of the people in America make up 75% of the population.Kid "Dad, can you help me find the lowest common denominator in this problem?"Dad "Don't tell me they haven't found it yet.  They were looking for it when I was a boy."
Q: How many molecules in a bowl of guacamole?
A: Avacado's Number
 
Q: Why is 6 afraid of 7?
A: Because 7 8 9
 
One evening Rene Descartes went to relax at a local tavern. The tender
approached and said, "Ah, good evening Monsieur Descartes! Shall I serve
you the usual drink?". Descartes replied, "I think not.", and promptly
vanished. 
4951
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zazoo1995 Active Indicator LED Icon 2
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 8:51am  
Unfortunately a lot of students are like that today. Schools just aren't teaching the way they used to. It's all about Standardized tests nowadays, the teachers don't actually focus on teaching the students practical stuff anymore. 4951
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N+T Active Indicator LED Icon 14
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 10:27am  
I thought I was ok at math till I read this thread! 4951
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SandyKnee Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 12:06pm  
[ Removed By Request ] 4951
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EddyFree Active Indicator LED Icon 10
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 12:11pm  
Q: Why is 6 afraid of 7? A: Because 7 8 9
 
@fcabanski: Alternate One :Q: Why is 6 afraid of 7?  A: Because it found out that 7 was a registered 6 offender
4951
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EddyFree Active Indicator LED Icon 10
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 12:27pm  
From what I've seen, in their efforts to "teach for the test", they are fast tracking these kids...The kids have little if any time to digest the material before they move on to something else...Causes a lot of issues, especially in subjects such as math that are "building block" subjects and require prior mastery of a concept before moving on...A young nephew of mine recently had math homework(2 digit multiplication) and ask me to help him....I was shocked to find out that he didn't have his basic single digit multiplication tables committed to memory yet as we were required to have when I was his age, before moving on to 2 digits...So as the OP said, they never really learn how to learn... 4951
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nikkiole Active Indicator LED Icon 1
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 1:49pm  
Teachers are on a schedule for testing and if the students don't understand the concept by the time the deadline comes around, it's kind of like "oh well". Standardized testing should be thrown out the window 4951
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elguapo Active Indicator LED Icon 15
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 1:51pm  
I usually leave out the "L" when saying "fLuncking math"..... 4951
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fcabanski Active Indicator LED Icon 16 OP 
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 2:01pm  
".I was shocked to find
out that he didn't have his basic single digit multiplication tables
committed to memory yet as we were required to have when I was his age,
before moving on to 2 digits.."Most of the students I tutor, even through HS students, don't know the multiplication tables, when we begin.  Some of them add instead of multiplying.  What is 6 times 3..6 + 6 + 6 = 18.  The followup question is "what is 438,652 x 63".  Student "calculator!"One thing I teach students is to consider the teacher and classroom time as only one learning resource.  They have to take responsibility to learn the concepts.  Athletes perform drills to hone their skills on the field or court.  Students need drills, that's solving problems, to hone their math skills.  If the teacher assigns 12 problems for homework, but the student doesn't understand, work 20 problems, or 30, until the problems are routine and simple. 4951
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nikkiole Active Indicator LED Icon 1
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 2:03pm  
I've always hated math. I have a math class in about 30 minutes and I hate it. It doesn't help that the teacher has this hard to understand Chinese accent. It's a miracle that I'm passing the class. 4951
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Burnsway Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 2:08pm  
Are you smarter than a kindergartner?   http://twitchy.com/2014/03/05/another-common-core-math-problem-that-makes-no-sense-whatsoever/Loading Image...  4951
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Burnsway Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 2:09pm  
Can someone tell me what hidden partners are and why we are to show them to an adult....LOL I couldn't make heads or tails of this assignment. 4951
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fcabanski Active Indicator LED Icon 16 OP 
~ 10 years ago   Mar 6, '14 2:18pm  
That lesson is about addition.  The "hidden partners" are the numbers of cubes "hidden" inside five cubes.There is a 3 cube stick and a 2 cube stick hidden inside the 5 cube stick.  Why this is better than counting with fingers, then adding "two fingers plus three fingers is five fingers" or "four blocks plus 3 blocks is 7 blocks" is beyond me.Professors keep coming up with new ways to teach math.  School districts try these methods, because the professor backs them with studies.  One student I tutored missed a whole year of math, because the school district decided to try teaching math class in Spanish.  The idea was the students would learn math and Spanish at the same time.  But because the students didn't know the math or the Spanish, they had no point of reference.  The students learned neither the math nor the Spanish.The bigger concern is this.  Why does the poor kid, whose hands are shown in the top image, only have nine fingers? 4951
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