Fuzzy math humor -- the calculator
Well, it would be humorous if it weren't so sad -- and true.
From the Weapons of Math Destruction archives....
posted by Cheryl van Tilburg @ 2:14 PM
3 comments
JIS Topics
A blogspot for parents, teachers and administrators to commune on the Jakarta International School. How can we make the school better? What role do each of us play in creating a true learning community? What should inform our opinions? This is a place to discuss our school....
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Well, it would be humorous if it weren't so sad -- and true.
From the Weapons of Math Destruction archives....
About Me
- Name: Cheryl van Tilburg
- Location: Singapore, Singapore
Before moving to Jakarta, I taught English literature and composition at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. I received a BA in English from the University of Michigan, then went on to get a masters degree in international management (Thunderbird), and another masters in teaching (National-Louis University). My husband says he'll divorce me if I go back to school (I believe he's joking...) -- but I think a person should always try to learn new things. That's why I started JIS Topics. But after three years, it became clear that JIS wasn't a good match for our children. (It will haunt me forever that it took three years to figure this out.) We packed our bags and left a country we loved in search of a better education for our kids. So now we're in Singapore, at the Singapore American School. It's not perfect, but we're doing what we can to help bring about improvement.
BlogRoll
- Eduwonk.com
- The Education Wonks
- D-ED Reckoning
- Edspresso
- The Education Gadfly
- This Week in Education
- NSBA's Board Buzz
- Kitchen Table Math
- A Shrewdness of Apes
Previous Posts
- This isn't rocket science -- just hard work and sm...
- Quote of the day
- "Cool" website for college hunters
- Testing as a tool for learning?
- Finland's education system held up as exemplary
- Using data for accountability and improved instruc...
- Maybe small class sizes aren't the magic bullet
- Article on Singapore Math ready for your reading p...
- How can schools prove their success?
- A "B" in class, but an "F" on the big test?
3 Comments:
Calculators don't think--they compute. Humans think when they take the calculations and put the numbers to use.
Dear Anonymous,
If you're suggesting that using calculators is an acceptable replacement for mastering basic math facts, then we'll have to agree to disagree. (See today's posting for some links that might explain where my view comes from....)
Quick recall of math facts makes life so much easier as the math concepts get more difficult (think algebra and trigonometry).
Thanks for your comment! I'm sure the debate will rage on....
Regarding anonymous' comment, calculator use can obscure what the mathematical operation is. It is not unusual to meet students so overdependent on calculators that they cannot compute the problem 0.5/0.2 by hand.
Post a Comment
<< Home