For a while I was always told when I was younger that calculators have become the unbecoming of math.
Students typically, SpEd of GenEd students, use a calculator for even simple computations like double digit division or single digit integer operations. While I am fully aware that some students, like SpEd and 504 kids, require the use of a calculator I do not believe that some of these students are very capable of performing quick computations in their head without a calculator. However, they've been relying on calculators for much of their academic life and in a way are told that "I can't do this without a calculator". How much are we hurting the kids by giving them a calc?
I played basketball when I was younger and I was told that to be a better player I had to get the basics down first so that they become natural. Stuff like blocking the passing lanes or boxing out your man for a rebound. To be a better math person the foundations need to be set. These basic calculations are pretty much with you beyond your academic life. Spending time on these mundane calculations misses the points on the concepts.
However, calculators are not all bad. Without calculators it is impossible to go to the moon or build a smartphone. Calculators help us with the tedious calculations so we focus on the concepts that precede them.
In a manner of speaking, your post could be considered "anti-tech". But only from a certain perspective. In reality it hits on a good point, which is the fact that foundational knowledge is fundamental to the operation of technology. A student who hasn't learned the fundamentals of math, sans calculator, wouldn't know what the buttons are for. The same can go for my own subject, English. If my students don't know grammar properly, a word processor with spell check is only going to take them so far. They'll miss blaring mistakes that spell check very often misses.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in some ways I am anti-tech because I feel that some of these tests that are suppose to test knowledge are being taken by calculators and not by individuals. You also bring up a good point on word processors...Word does auto-correct or at least highlights words that are incorrect. I usually turn this feature off when I am typing and then re-read my essays and turning on the highlight feature.
DeleteI found your post to be interesting because we were told the same thing when I was a child (in the 70s). Calculators made math so much easier, but the nuns in my Catholic school wouldn’t have it!
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need a strong foundation in math. Years ago, I worked in a school and we were NOT allowed to teach basic facts. Our principal said we could only teach them in the context of a game. We played lots and lots of math games. I really like the theory behind this, but eventually, the middle school math teachers complained that we were not sending our students prepared for middle school math.
The first grade curriculum does a really good job of this with the new Curriculum 2.0. We play some games, but we focus on strategies, such as doubles, doubles plus one and making ten. We use ten frames to graphically show what “10” looks like. I found something interesting the other day. When shown a ten frame with 7 chips in it, the students were counting all 7 chips instead of thinking “5 + 2 = 7.”
I couldn't add an image, so here is a website with the image. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ten-Frame-Dot-Cards-Red-312054
I then realized that if I held up 7 fingers (all five fingers on one hand and 2 on the other) for only a few seconds, they didn’t count, but they knew it was 7. For some reason, they weren’t applying what they knew to make math easy. I made this connection for them.
Students can “make ten” by seeing they need 3 more (than the 7 chips shown) to make ten, therefore reinforcing 7 + 3 = 10.
A double ten frame can be used for understanding numbers between 11 and 20.
Again, here is a website with an image. http://primaryparadise.blogspot.com/2013/03/make-ten-math-strategy.html
In an effort to be anit-tech, the following website could be used with this particular skill.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3565
I, personally, feel Curriculum 2.0 is addressing the issue you mentioned of building a strong foundation in math so that students don’t rely on calculators. Sadly, it may take several years for the students learning Curriculum 2.0 at the elementary level to make it to you.
You bring up a great point about the 10 frames. I might give that problem to some of my high school kids. Kids are taught to count prior to looking for patterns in numbers. That's how you multiply larger numbers by looking for patterns and exploiting them.
DeleteI'm teaching CC2.0 right now in Algebra and part of the curriculum doesn't really rely on basic math skills. I think 1st and 9th graders are starting the new curriculum this year. That's a good idea that way the incoming 1st graders aren't guinea pigs every year.
Some teachers feel that the curriculum was poorly constructed, but I felt that county did a good job and like any new curriculum there will be some hiccups.
Hmmmm…great point!
ReplyDeleteTo use calculators or not?!
Using calculators in the classroom, especially in elementary school, has become a questionable topic. Much of the discussion is needed to teach students how to rely on themselves and a calculator next. I am very traditional in a changing world. I do feel that students should know and understand how to solve math problems before incorporating a calculator. Knowing how to mentally compute a math problem is very much important and not totally relying on a calculator has been of debate. I understand both sides, however, students need to know how to compute before using a calculator.
~Tennille