Why are MoCo kids failing math exams?

[Anonymous]

Also want to add based on so mamy posts on this site that parents push push push to get theiri kids in the highest level classes and when they struggle it is on the teachers

just saying

[Anonymous]

My kids, now in HS and college, have all been very strong math students; the oldest was a math major and is now teaching middle school math, the second, also a math major, has tutored high school students, and the youngest is a peer tutor at her school. Their response to the claim that students don't study hard enough for the exam is is interesting: "You really can't study for a math exam -- if you don't know the material by then, it's too late. The way to excel in math is to master the material as you cover it. Students who are struggling should seek help along the way, and teachers should know which students need additional instruction and practice long before you get to the final." Furthermore, they agree that too many MCPS students manage to stay on the accelerated track for years only with the support of extensive tutoring.

[Anonymous]

One problem is that the math teachers aren't math experts. How many math teachers in MCPS were math majors in school. Not many. Most were "education" majors - a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One problem is that the math teachers aren't math experts. How many math teachers in MCPS were math majors in school. Not many. Most were "education" majors - a joke.

Wrong. http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/getfile.aspx?file=13a.12.02.06.htm

A. To receive certification in the areas of agriculture (agribusiness and renewable natural resources), biology, business education, chemistry, computer science, earth/space science, English, environmental science, family and consumer sciences, geography, history, marketing, mathematics, physical science, physics, speech communication, technology education, and theater, the applicant shall:

(1) Complete one of the following options:

(a) Earn a bachelor's or higher degree from an IHE with a major in the certification area; or

(b) Complete 30 semester hours or more of content course work taken at an IHE in the certification area;

So you either need to be a math major or basically have a math minor (30 credits of college level math classes--at least 6-10 classes)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea. Because the average person can look at a problem and say oh wow they are "solving systems of equations by substitution". Okay, nobody in the real Math world even says that. It is ridiculous. I need to know this was taught in ch 10, go back skim the chapter and reteach it in a way the student can understand it. Not the rote way the teacher taught it.

So you don't understand the material enough to be able to Google it, but you do understand it enough to be able to use the textbook to teach the material to the student in an authentic way, not the bad, rote way?

I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One problem is that the math teachers aren't math experts. How many math teachers in MCPS were math majors in school. Not many. Most were "education" majors - a joke.

It's not 1970 anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW - I feel that most of these textbooks are well written. I am surprised then that they are not being used and handed to kids to keep at home.

Really? The Glencoe math textbooks and the Harcourt math textbooks my MCPS kid used to bring home were -- well, they weren't awful. But they sure weren't good. Mostly they weighed a lot.

[Anonymous]

there are soem great videos on you tube and you will be amazed after the student see it once they can do the math

[Anonymous]

When we need extra math reasourcs we look for the topic on-line. There is usually a video or website that has what we need - explanations or extra problems. I have no objections to not having a book. Last year DS teacher pointed us towards helpful videos for reinforcements often (like Khan Academy). DS just took his first Algebra final and got an A..but I assume there are new ( and perhaps easier) tests under 2.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't blame my DD. Last year, she had As both quarters in Geometry and failed the final exam for a B for the semester. This year in Algebra 2 Bs both quarters and she studied for the exam with a tutor and still failed. There some fundamental disconnect between the class itself and the exam.

She brought home an Algebra 2 textbook but rarely uses it; instead, she gets many packets of work.

Where is that? She gets letter grades?

An MCPS high school. Are we only talking about elementary schools here? And what kid takes Algebra 2 in elementary school, even in hyper-accelerated MCPS?

[Anonymous]

I failed a math class once in high school. It was because I was lazy and didn't study. Maybe my parents should have just blamed my teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea. Because the average person can look at a problem and say oh wow they are "solving systems of equations by substitution". Okay, nobody in the real Math world even says that. It is ridiculous. I need to know this was taught in ch 10, go back skim the chapter and reteach it in a way the student can understand it. Not the rote way the teacher taught it.

Surely your child has notes from class that day that somewhere say "systems of equations" on it. I would hope your kid is bringing home something they completed in class. Every assignment I give students has a title on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't blame my DD. Last year, she had As both quarters in Geometry and failed the final exam for a B for the semester. This year in Algebra 2 Bs both quarters and she studied for the exam with a tutor and still failed. There some fundamental disconnect between the class itself and the exam.
[b]She brought home an Algebra 2 textbook but rarely uses it;[/b]
instead, she gets many packets of work.

She brought home an Algebra 2 textbook but rarely uses it;[/

She has the book but rarely uses it ...............ok teachers fault I get it...................

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It comes down to money..worksheets and online homework are a lot CHEAPER than traditional textbooks. It's a shame- especially for younger kids- whose brains process print material much better than online math games, etc, etc. [/quote]
IN WHAT UNIVERSE?
Let me guess -- your kids are not allowed to have any electronics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question is not who is the student it is who is the teacher. The parents are the teacher, every single night. The kids do not understand the material, they are given homework they can not accomplish, the parents teach the material. If the child goes to school the next day and asks the teacher to reteach the material they can't because they have to stay on track and move to the next lesson whether the kids understand it or not.

If this is the problem, a textbook won't solve it.

Yes it can, I can review the material and teach it.

Some text books even have the chapter noted so you can refer back.

Just google it. Seriously. It is faster, will be better explained, and your kid won't be lugging a textbook back and forth.

"How to solve systems of equations by substitution" will immediately hand you 17,000 websites, videos, worksheets, etc.

+1 for google!
It's a new world people -- try to keep up!