Update: We were disheartened to learn today that the Painseville pop who wrote the check to Melridge Elementary school in “Common Core” math didn’t actually send the check to the school.
Cleveland.com reports that, alas, it was “just a joke.”
A pretty damn good joke.
Originally posted: Sept. 18, 2015 at 3:05 p.m.
It’s no secret that Ohio’s “Common Core” standards have generated some heated debates among parents since its integration into school curriculum back in 2010. It’s also generated some colorful commentary — the latest of which comes to us today from a frustrated parent out of Painesville, Ohio who, as the Independent Journal points out, literally “put his money where his mouth is.”
“If you check out the amount, it’s made out in ‘common core math,'” the Independent Journal’s Kyle Becker writes. “So, if [Melridge] Elementary school wants to cash it, it’s going to have to explain to the bank cashier how it works (talk about an exercise in futility.)”
Well done, sir.
This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2015.
This is childish and should not be praised. The way we teach children changes. Math looks different now, but the answers are still the same. Get over it.
It’s MELRIDGE Ele. Not “Millridge”
& 👍 awesome job parents!! I’m with you 110%!!
It the exact thing that should be praised.i calls to attention just how ridiculous common core math is.
This is exactly what needs to be done, common core is dumbing down the next generation of childern. I excelled in mathematics and still cannot help my 1st and 3rd graders with their math homework. I show the “old” way and they are like wow that’s so easy then they get it wrong for not following the common core method.
They are actually doing the opposite of dumbing them down which is why you can’t do the math. We know how to write math out and but have no fundamental understanding of how most of it works. The common core aims to teach how math works instead of just how to find the answer. Just because something is easy does not mean it is the best way.
This was a childish stunt. This parent is teaching their child this how you deal with change and frustration. Ridiculous.
No brian@clecast,its stupid to take ten steps to get the right answer then two! You are in the vast minority of people that think common core is a good idea!
math should be like electricity, it takes the easiest route. period. why would you want to do it a harder way?? I love the way this guy proves a point!! way to go! to agree with common core is absurd. Was someone sitting there one day and was like “heeey…I have a great idea” Go to work one day and let your boss see you doing your job a harder, longer way and see what happens. 😉
@You Moron! – Thanks for being the examplar of resistance to change. Your contributions to societal and educational stagnation are stunning.
I’m an engineer with two masters, so you can say I’m pretty good with numbers. I just have one question… how much is this check for.
*queues up “New Math” by Tom Lehrer*
So Brian, any change is good? I am all for finding a better way to do things, but we should not embrace a new over complicated way that our kids can’t understand.
If you think common core is an improvement in education, then you must not have children bringing this shit home. Yes, change is sways hard to accept, but this goes way beyond that. Common core is making our children dumb. It is absolutely asinine to teach children to use “counters” to solve simple equations. Our education system is becoming a joke. Anyone with a shred of common sense can see that this “new” math has absolutely no pro’s in helping our kids succeed in life.
I have not herd onr postive thing about common core. I have heard many stressed out familys complain about it and are frustrated, especially single parents who do not have the time to learn elementary math again. WHY WAS THIS EVER CHANGED IN THE FIRST PLACE !SMH.IF OUR SCHOOLS WANT TO IMPROVE. THEN LET THE KIDS GO TO SCHOOL ALL YEAR ROUND.
Common Core is a travesty of education! Don’t try to explain that math is different now either. The Mathematics of today is the same as it was when the pyramids were built.
I have been a trainer for Common Core math since 2011. The Common Core does not have anything in it about this kind of math. I promise. Read it. The Common Core is a set of standards, and it includes things like adding, subtracting, and solving word problems using money. This makes for a funny story, but it is inaccurate.
I know my college professor thinks it’s an absolute waste of time to be teaching our youth this way. According to him it is not applicable to the real world takes to long.
He should have printed his name since there is no time to learn cursive to make a signature.
Come to Canada, where math is still taught the way that makes sense lol! This common core stuff is absolutely insane! My cousins in Chicago have shown me their kids’ homework a couple of times. Its simple addition and subtraction! How can states possibly think its better to teach children BASIC math with 15 bass ackward steps? Brian@clecast I agree with you that change is good, however, when you take a system that has worked for time and eternity and change it to a system that engineers, mathematicians and former A+ math students cant figur ure out, its a little ridiculous
Jane drove 168 miles to Columbus, Ohio in hopes of talking sense to Ohio legislation and repeal common core. After finding out there are no legislators actually working she drove 168 miles back home empty handed. How many miles did Jane drive?
168
+168
_____
336
Basic/standard math
100+100=200+50+50=300+10+10=320+5+5=330+6=336
Or
Round 168 to 200…200×2=400… Subtract 168 from 200 by rounding 168 down to 150=50 take the remainder of 18 and round up to 20 and subtract from 50=30… Remember to add back the 2 from the round up to get 32… Round 32 down to 30 and remember the 2…30+30=60…2+2=4…60+4=64… Subtract 400 from 64 by rounding 64 to 60…400-60=340… Remember the 4… Round the four up to 5…340-5=335…add back the 1…335+1=336 🙂
Common core
Super easy y’all
After seeing Todi explain my math versus common core math, I’m not having children if I can’t help them with their homework. Is it like thia for Algebra, trig, and calculus now? Homework will take hours, if not days to do.
I dont know much about common core other thanwwhat I’ve seen posted by a Chinese immigrant comparing it to Chinese ‘communist core’, but after seeing todi break it down – the first equation of the common core version is actually how my dad and I (educated in the old math) do it mentally. And he’s pretty quick. I think it might have to do with looking at it from a different perspective.
This is a clear example of those who are not in education making assumptions and running with it. There is no such thing as common core math. There are common core standards. The standards don’t tell you HOW to teach they tell you what to teach. How people teach is determined by themselves and the curriculum materials they use. People should really start reading and researching before they just believe whatever!! SMH!!
I learned math the “old” way but as I time went on, I actually taught my self this “new” way. I don’t always use it, but I still do nonetheless. I would imagine I’m not the only person who has learned it this way or they would not be encouraging it. However, why not just continue teaching the basic way and as children continue through school, offer it as an alternative, not a requirement.
Sometimes it’s advantageous to use the new method but I don’t think it should be crammed down the throats of our children.
“If it ain’t broke…don’t fix it!”
If change is good, then why don’t we just change it back to the way it was before? Oh wait… That sounds too simple. Sorry about that…
The point is to teach you how to mental math, not pen and paper math. They do still teach the old way also, but no one is complaining about that so it doesn’t get attention. Common core is a set of standards about what each child should learn in each grade every year to prevent having such a huge gap between schools in rural areas and schools in the suburbs. I moved a ton as a kid and the difference two schools a half hour apart is ridiculous. I took algebra 5 times, even though I aced it the first time, simply because that’s what they were learning in varying cities in each grade. The common core aims to help prevent that. It has nothing to do with the way they are teaching math now. Also math has always fluctuated in how it was taught there is no old way as that has changed routinely, and if it was such an ideal system when we were growing up why do so few of us understand math and have a panic attack looking at math problems like these?
People need to educate themselves about what is going on with their children s educations before they complain. There are actual problems that should be getting attention and fixed, I assure you the common core isn’t the issue.
Personally, I feel that states are trying new ways to find the mathematicians and scientists of the future, and discovering these students who can figure out these problems are our future! I was always in accelerated math classes, but I can’t help my kids. I teach them “old” math in everyday life and they learn and comprehend these new “standards”/ways of doing math (ie: lattice math). All 3 of my kids were/are in gifted math and on math Olympiad team, and love school so I’m happy. I say go to Zero Homework and quit giving struggling kids ways to boost grades. They either ” get” the material or they don’t. There’s no proof it does anything for students, except give C and D students a way to boost their grades!
Look kids, Marie is an idiot.
Teacher, you are correct that there are Common Core Standards and teachers may decide how to achieve these standards, HOWEVER, teachers are expected to resent the lesson so that it is comparable to problems that appear on PARCC assessments. In some school districts the students scores on these state assessments can make up to 50% of the teachers evaluation in math and language arts in Ohio. All other subjects use SLO’s, student learning objectives, where those assessments are created by the teacher who teaches the class. What teacher isn’t going to create an assessment their students can’t pass? Present all the facts, don’t sugar coat it! Demonstration using models IS in the standards, and that is exactly what the check represents. I WAS a teacher, I taught the standards, just not acceptable to PARCC and Common Core. I have chosen to walk away from the mess. Whoever thought this was a better way to teach? Do the research, it comes down to a business man, who convinced government officials this was a better way. We are not teaching our students to think for themselves and be creative.
Brian, you sir are an idiot! Math hasn’t changed nor will it ever change. Teach it the right way. Our youth today is struggling enough with their pansy asses and and participation ribbons and graduating every damn grade!
Pretty sure the last 150+ years of the way math was taught worked just fine. Famous saying, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If you like this new method then you must be as ignorant as the people who wanted to ban the Confederate flag
The reason we have switched to Common Core is very simple. It’s all about money and selling books and training and test practice materials. They do not want the parents to be able to help their kids because they would not be able to sell their products. So politicians that know nothing about education are accepting perks from the testing and practice materials companies to push common core.
Punishing the elementary school because of “ohio’s common core” is pointless. It doesn’t belong to Ohio, nor was it Ohio’s idea. It’s the country’s common core curriculum, and Ohio adopted it, as did 40+ other states, to keep the funding they need for their schools.
Bill Gates loves Common Core — which is comparable to Jimmy Haslam’s infatuation with the QB formerly known as Johnny Football.
I live in Painesville and have to chime in on this one. We are extremely frustrated by an administration and school board who are not listening! I applaud these parents for being creative and bringing attention to a pretty dysfunctional school system
as a high school math and physics teacher I understand the goal of trying to help kids understand WHY the math works and HOW math/physics is a whole rather than a bunch of disconnected topics. However, common core disregards all research on cognitive development. You can’t/shouldn’t expect elementary kids to make connections that require the cognitive development of the avg 16 yr old. The time we are spending trying to force too much too early will reveal itself when this generation falls behind past generations mathematically. As a high school teacher I can explain WHY a topic from Elem/MS worked and HOW it is connected in minutes if the skill is there. Sadly, there will be nothing gained over the course of 12 yrs by spending hrs trying to force that level of understanding too early, and not only will nothing be gained but a great deal of time will be lost…and as any teacher knows, time is our most limited and valuable asset. Not to mention that ultimately the math steps themselves are still going to be done the “old/normal/efficient/logical” way in HS…which means I almost have to unteach the extended version in order to reteach the universal way. It’s ironic that as the world is pushing for “global learning” our younger grades in America are moving the opposite way.
Quick mental math problem:
You go to the gas station and fill up with $29 worth of gas. You only have a $100 bill on you, so you hand that to clerk. How much change do you get back?
If you answered $71 all in your head– guess what? Not only are you correct, but you almost certainly did “new” math to get your answer. There are several ways to do this. For example, perhaps you mentally added $1 to the $29 (to get $30), then added $70 to get to $100. In fact, this is the way many clerks were trained to give change before computers did all the work for them.
So what’s so bad about formally teaching students something you already use mentally all the time? Not only does it help you understand what’s going on, in some cases it can be faster to perform than the “old” way. Another benefit to the “new” way is that if you stop the calculation early you still get a good estimate of the actual answer.