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July 19, 2003
Math is hard!
I just finished working for six hours on ten problems in my Calculus 2 course. It really has made me think about how important vocabulary and prior knowledge count in mathematics. Most of the math teachers taking this course haven’t taken any form of calculus in over ten years, yet we’re expected to remember the differential forms of trigonometry.
We have no idea what we’re doing, we just simply mindlessly apply the formulas, hoping to get an answer similar to the answers in the back of the book. It is dreadful, because we are essentially the university MA equivalent of the Level 1 students we teach in our middle schools. We apply algorithms because they might work, and we have no idea if the answer makes sense.
We strive every day to help make math sensible to our kids, yet we might as well be shouting out ‘one million!’ to our teacher’s questions. We’ll remember this long enough to make it through the test, and then never deal with it again.
Posted by G at July 19, 2003 11:31 AM
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Comments
Well, at least you made me feel better about math. If you're having difficulties with it then I don't feel so bad about my eyes glazing over when I see anything more difficult than basic arithmatic. :-)
Posted by: Lee at July 20, 2003 05:06 AM
So here you are... one full summer after you started NYCTF Math Immersion. You were ready to bag it during the winter, but said that the right thing to do was wait until the summer to make a formal decision.
Are you going to continue with it, or have you not made a decision yet? Not to bias you, but it sounds unbearable... the kids, the principal, the whole nightmare. It's hard to even read about! Wouldn't you be happier doing something else? Your well-being counts too, you know. :-)
Posted by: A Former NYCTF Hopeful at July 20, 2003 04:45 PM