Anonymous
04/23/2021 06:24
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
That's crazy. I took algebra in 6th grade growing up in CT. Are gifted students just supposed to sit there and stare out the window?
They're supposed to do group work, so they can do the work for the other kids in the class. And/or teach their struggling peers (because the smarter peers are definitely better teachers than the... credentialed teacher in the classroom, obviously.)
And dumber kids that comprise of 95% of the class are totally not going to bully the smarter kids out of the enjoyment of learning.
You think 95% of kids are “dumb”? You are the problem they are trying to fix.
Anonymous
04/23/2021 06:08
Subject: VA math changes - ways to speak out
“ It is speculating until it is implemented and people see it in action”
How they will deal with ensuring kids are prepared to actually take calculus senior year with the new progression is speculation.
But it is not speculation that they are doing away with honors/AAP/ability grouping. They are very clear on that front in the webinars although they use different words. They say all kids will be in heterogeneous classes learning the same content k-10. Within those the only thing they will offer the faster kids is “deeper” math on that topic - whatever that means. They also talk a lot about needing to use “group worthy” math techniques- so lots of group work for math eating up time rather than actually practicing the math problems to have them sink in well.
How they will deal with ensuring kids are prepared to actually take calculus senior year with the new progression is speculation.
But it is not speculation that they are doing away with honors/AAP/ability grouping. They are very clear on that front in the webinars although they use different words. They say all kids will be in heterogeneous classes learning the same content k-10. Within those the only thing they will offer the faster kids is “deeper” math on that topic - whatever that means. They also talk a lot about needing to use “group worthy” math techniques- so lots of group work for math eating up time rather than actually practicing the math problems to have them sink in well.
Anonymous
04/23/2021 06:04
Subject: VA math changes - ways to speak out
“ if they are saying on the one hand that it is a mistake to have kids accelerate because they are not getting a deeper understanding, ”
They are saying this but have not cited any data I recall showing that is true.
They are saying this but have not cited any data I recall showing that is true.
Anonymous
04/23/2021 03:42
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:I'd watched the general audience-targeted webinar videos and found them light on specifics so I watched this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siS8jlTcUzo that was for teachers.
It has more specifics about how the 8-10 Essential Concepts would replace Alg 1-Geo-Alg 2 and, in theory, it seems fine if they are planning *as they said* to have students in a position to take pre-calc in 11th, calc in 12th. However, I still think they are completely fooling themselves if they think they can keep up the pace to cover the essentials of alg 1/geo/alg 2 for students to be ready if they insist on heterogeneous classrooms and groups. And the teachers know it too - they start with polling teachers about the idea that it's bad to "isolate" lower performers in separate groups and were disappointed that most of the audience disagree that it's a bad thing. And then when they supposedly are soliciting feedback all they ask about is what "excites" you about this idea. Zero solicitation about what concerns you. Reads to me as they don't want any constructive feedback to improve the plan, probably why they aren't going to pilot this on a small scale first.
That's strange, because students who take precalculus in 8th grade are given the option of moving to integrated math 9 or algebra. If algebra is already covered in integrated math 8, then how will kids who have only had prealgebra going to move to integrated math 9?
It would be extra strange if they are saying on the one hand that it is a mistake to have kids accelerate because they are not getting a deeper understanding, and then they are going to have all students accelerate to algebra in 8th grade.
I had a teacher tell me they considered doing an integrated math curriculum combining algebra 1-geometry-algebra 2 into TWO years of instruction. They considered it, but decided against it because of transfers. However, this would have been done without removing tracking. Presumably this would have been an option for the more advanced kids.
Anonymous
04/23/2021 03:33
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:
We don’t know which HS it is....
The original Railside has been used as an examplar, without people knowing what high school it was. Then when the data was checked by people who managed to get around the refusal to provide the names, it was found that Railside was not performing better than the comparison schools after all.
Anonymous
04/23/2021 03:32
Subject: VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Have they said whether kids who are now in 5th or 6th (vast majority of whom have not yet started the Algebra I, Geometry path) will be affected? Or would current 5th graders still move on to Algebra I in 2-3 years?
In LCPS, any 6th grader who is in Math 6 will not be able to take algebra.
If they are in prealgebra or foundations of algebra in 6th grade, they will be able to take algebra and geometry at some point instead of the new courses.
Anonymous
04/23/2021 03:27
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Voters elected an administration which supported this proposal. I don’t get the outrage.
Ignorance.
Huh?
People are outraged because they don't understand the changes. They are speculating and coming up with all sorts of doomsday scenarios.
It is speculating until it is implemented and people see it in action. At this point several years worth of kids have been put thru inferior classes.
Anonymous
04/22/2021 22:36
Subject: VA math changes - ways to speak out
Have they said whether kids who are now in 5th or 6th (vast majority of whom have not yet started the Algebra I, Geometry path) will be affected? Or would current 5th graders still move on to Algebra I in 2-3 years?
Anonymous
04/22/2021 22:24
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
That's crazy. I took algebra in 6th grade growing up in CT. Are gifted students just supposed to sit there and stare out the window?
They're supposed to do group work, so they can do the work for the other kids in the class. And/or teach their struggling peers (because the smarter peers are definitely better teachers than the... credentialed teacher in the classroom, obviously.)
And dumber kids that comprise of 95% of the class are totally not going to bully the smarter kids out of the enjoyment of learning.
Anonymous
04/22/2021 22:18
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:
That's crazy. I took algebra in 6th grade growing up in CT. Are gifted students just supposed to sit there and stare out the window?
They're supposed to do group work, so they can do the work for the other kids in the class. And/or teach their struggling peers (because the smarter peers are definitely better teachers than the... credentialed teacher in the classroom, obviously.)
Anonymous
04/22/2021 22:04
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'd watched the general audience-targeted webinar videos and found them light on specifics so I watched this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siS8jlTcUzo that was for teachers.
It has more specifics about how the 8-10 Essential Concepts would replace Alg 1-Geo-Alg 2 and, in theory, it seems fine if they are planning *as they said* to have students in a position to take pre-calc in 11th, calc in 12th. However, I still think they are completely fooling themselves if they think they can keep up the pace to cover the essentials of alg 1/geo/alg 2 for students to be ready if they insist on heterogeneous classrooms and groups. And the teachers know it too - they start with polling teachers about the idea that it's bad to "isolate" lower performers in separate groups and were disappointed that most of the audience disagree that it's a bad thing. And then when they supposedly are soliciting feedback all they ask about is what "excites" you about this idea. Zero solicitation about what concerns you. Reads to me as they don't want any constructive feedback to improve the plan, probably why they aren't going to pilot this on a small scale first.
One of the presentations did say they were going to pilot it. I can dig it up tomorrow.
They have said they are piloting the new semester classes for 11-12th. Nothing on the plan to pilot the new K-10 path.
That’s disappointing- I think a pilot would be critical for success for such a big change.
Anonymous
04/22/2021 22:01
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'd watched the general audience-targeted webinar videos and found them light on specifics so I watched this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siS8jlTcUzo that was for teachers.
It has more specifics about how the 8-10 Essential Concepts would replace Alg 1-Geo-Alg 2 and, in theory, it seems fine if they are planning *as they said* to have students in a position to take pre-calc in 11th, calc in 12th. However, I still think they are completely fooling themselves if they think they can keep up the pace to cover the essentials of alg 1/geo/alg 2 for students to be ready if they insist on heterogeneous classrooms and groups. And the teachers know it too - they start with polling teachers about the idea that it's bad to "isolate" lower performers in separate groups and were disappointed that most of the audience disagree that it's a bad thing. And then when they supposedly are soliciting feedback all they ask about is what "excites" you about this idea. Zero solicitation about what concerns you. Reads to me as they don't want any constructive feedback to improve the plan, probably why they aren't going to pilot this on a small scale first.
One of the presentations did say they were going to pilot it. I can dig it up tomorrow.
They have said they are piloting the new semester classes for 11-12th. Nothing on the plan to pilot the new K-10 path.
Anonymous
04/22/2021 21:59
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Voters elected an administration which supported this proposal. I don’t get the outrage.
Ignorance.
Huh?
People are outraged because they don't understand the changes. They are speculating and coming up with all sorts of doomsday scenarios.
Someone sent an e-mail and received a reply from Tina that they are eliminating tracking. It is not speculation, nor that they are eliminating algebra and geometry and replacing them with integrated math 9 and integrated math 10.
The speculation is around the course options & specific path for AP Calculus & IB.
The doomsday scenario that everyone will suffer without tracking is also speculation.
They gave the list of classes to be available, and it is pretty obvious with algebra in 9th and geometry in 10th.
I enquired about the pathway to taking calculus, specific courses. I have not gotten a response yet.
People have already seen this in elementary school, how these group projects work. They have enough evidence not to believe the hype.
There was a Railside study that implemented the elimination of tracking and EMP classes. The school eventually dropped the EMP and scores improved.
Citation from legit source?
And we still haven’t seen the path for AP calculus so just speculating....
Besides the sources, I checked out the high school itself. It looks like it reimplemented the integrated math model in 2017-2018, so they clearly dropped it prior to that. Don't know about tracking.
I took a look at the assignments for AP Calculus AB at that school. The first one with problems it says the teacher will pick 3-6 problems to grade(out of about 20), and it will be the same for each student.
Given an arbitrary graph, f(x), and picking an arbitrary point, (x,y), on the graph, we can draw/sketch a tangent line.
Provide strategies or steps to figure out the slope of the tangent line.
NO NEED TO TURN IN ANYTHING; JUST HAVE YOUR GROUP'S IDEA READY TO PRESENT ON FRIDAY!
[ASYNCH] FlipGrid Video Submission
For your GROUP A or GROUP B assignment/explanation, please record a short video with your cell or your webcam explaining your strategy!
Final Assignment
You are to write a 1-2-page, double-spaced reflection paper on your experiences from this AP Calculus course so far. These experiences are not limited to just the academic ones within the classroom walls. You may share any personal experiences, challenges, and successes that you have encountered during this school year. This is a paper to summarize your personal and academic growth in the world of mathematics, seeing that you have successfully made it through one semester of the most rigorous mathematics course that San Lorenzo High School has to offer DURING A FRICKIN' PANDEMIC! You may also include any feedback on the course, as each AP Calculus class helps mold the course for the upcoming semester.
Grammar, spelling, and syntax will all be evaluated in the grading of this paper. The expectation of the quality of this paper will be near a college-level standard of writing, so please submit the finest literary masterpiece that you have ever written for any high school math course.
[EXTRA CREDIT]
1) Listen to the song in the YouTube link
2) In the attached Google Doc, write two paragraphs (3-5 sentences each):
a) - What is the meaning of this song? Use specific examples from the song, if you can, to prove your point.
b) - Does this song apply to you in your life/school/family? Explain how it does or does not.
[EXTRA CREDIT] Black History Month
In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document:
a) First half of the page: Give me a short biography about your most inspirational member or members of the African-American community (past or present).
b) Second half of the page: Tell me how or why this person has impacted your own personal life.
[EXTRA CREDIT] Women's History Month
In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document:
a) First half of the page: Give me a short biography about your a female inventor (past or present).
b) Second half of the page: Tell me how or why this person's invention has impacted your own personal life
- OR -
b) Second half of the page: Tell me how this person has impacted your own personal life.
[EXTRA CREDIT] Autism Awareness Month
In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document:
a) First half of the page: Give me a short history about autism in the US. (when was it discovered, when was it classified as a disorder, what work is being done for it today?)
b) Second half of the page: Tell me about a time where you interacted with a person who may have had intellectual disabilities. Were you nice, or were you mean? Would you have done anything differently if you could go back? OR...maybe YOU have a diagnosed or undiagnosed intellectual disability - Do you feel like it impacts your daily life? What strategies have you used to cope with it?
Created by John Giang: Friday, April 2 11:47 AM
[SYNCH QUIZ] Chapter 4.1 Group Quiz
It does look like they tried to do derivatives all thru February, and are now rushing on the integrals, but it's not clear.
We don’t know which HS it is....
People have posted how the high school can be identified. Check earlier in the thread for the process.
Anonymous
04/22/2021 21:57
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:I'd watched the general audience-targeted webinar videos and found them light on specifics so I watched this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siS8jlTcUzo that was for teachers.
It has more specifics about how the 8-10 Essential Concepts would replace Alg 1-Geo-Alg 2 and, in theory, it seems fine if they are planning *as they said* to have students in a position to take pre-calc in 11th, calc in 12th. However, I still think they are completely fooling themselves if they think they can keep up the pace to cover the essentials of alg 1/geo/alg 2 for students to be ready if they insist on heterogeneous classrooms and groups. And the teachers know it too - they start with polling teachers about the idea that it's bad to "isolate" lower performers in separate groups and were disappointed that most of the audience disagree that it's a bad thing. And then when they supposedly are soliciting feedback all they ask about is what "excites" you about this idea. Zero solicitation about what concerns you. Reads to me as they don't want any constructive feedback to improve the plan, probably why they aren't going to pilot this on a small scale first.
One of the presentations did say they were going to pilot it. I can dig it up tomorrow.
Anonymous
04/22/2021 21:55
Subject: Re:VA math changes - ways to speak out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Voters elected an administration which supported this proposal. I don’t get the outrage.
Ignorance.
Huh?
People are outraged because they don't understand the changes. They are speculating and coming up with all sorts of doomsday scenarios.
Someone sent an e-mail and received a reply from Tina that they are eliminating tracking. It is not speculation, nor that they are eliminating algebra and geometry and replacing them with integrated math 9 and integrated math 10.
The speculation is around the course options & specific path for AP Calculus & IB.
The doomsday scenario that everyone will suffer without tracking is also speculation.
They gave the list of classes to be available, and it is pretty obvious with algebra in 9th and geometry in 10th.
I enquired about the pathway to taking calculus, specific courses. I have not gotten a response yet.
People have already seen this in elementary school, how these group projects work. They have enough evidence not to believe the hype.
There was a Railside study that implemented the elimination of tracking and EMP classes. The school eventually dropped the EMP and scores improved.
Citation from legit source?
And we still haven’t seen the path for AP calculus so just speculating....
Besides the sources, I checked out the high school itself. It looks like it reimplemented the integrated math model in 2017-2018, so they clearly dropped it prior to that. Don't know about tracking.
I took a look at the assignments for AP Calculus AB at that school. The first one with problems it says the teacher will pick 3-6 problems to grade(out of about 20), and it will be the same for each student.
Given an arbitrary graph, f(x), and picking an arbitrary point, (x,y), on the graph, we can draw/sketch a tangent line.
Provide strategies or steps to figure out the slope of the tangent line.
NO NEED TO TURN IN ANYTHING; JUST HAVE YOUR GROUP'S IDEA READY TO PRESENT ON FRIDAY!
[ASYNCH] FlipGrid Video Submission
For your GROUP A or GROUP B assignment/explanation, please record a short video with your cell or your webcam explaining your strategy!
Final Assignment
You are to write a 1-2-page, double-spaced reflection paper on your experiences from this AP Calculus course so far. These experiences are not limited to just the academic ones within the classroom walls. You may share any personal experiences, challenges, and successes that you have encountered during this school year. This is a paper to summarize your personal and academic growth in the world of mathematics, seeing that you have successfully made it through one semester of the most rigorous mathematics course that San Lorenzo High School has to offer DURING A FRICKIN' PANDEMIC! You may also include any feedback on the course, as each AP Calculus class helps mold the course for the upcoming semester.
Grammar, spelling, and syntax will all be evaluated in the grading of this paper. The expectation of the quality of this paper will be near a college-level standard of writing, so please submit the finest literary masterpiece that you have ever written for any high school math course.
[EXTRA CREDIT]
1) Listen to the song in the YouTube link
2) In the attached Google Doc, write two paragraphs (3-5 sentences each):
a) - What is the meaning of this song? Use specific examples from the song, if you can, to prove your point.
b) - Does this song apply to you in your life/school/family? Explain how it does or does not.
[EXTRA CREDIT] Black History Month
In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document:
a) First half of the page: Give me a short biography about your most inspirational member or members of the African-American community (past or present).
b) Second half of the page: Tell me how or why this person has impacted your own personal life.
[EXTRA CREDIT] Women's History Month
In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document:
a) First half of the page: Give me a short biography about your a female inventor (past or present).
b) Second half of the page: Tell me how or why this person's invention has impacted your own personal life
- OR -
b) Second half of the page: Tell me how this person has impacted your own personal life.
[EXTRA CREDIT] Autism Awareness Month
In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document:
a) First half of the page: Give me a short history about autism in the US. (when was it discovered, when was it classified as a disorder, what work is being done for it today?)
b) Second half of the page: Tell me about a time where you interacted with a person who may have had intellectual disabilities. Were you nice, or were you mean? Would you have done anything differently if you could go back? OR...maybe YOU have a diagnosed or undiagnosed intellectual disability - Do you feel like it impacts your daily life? What strategies have you used to cope with it?
Created by John Giang: Friday, April 2 11:47 AM
[SYNCH QUIZ] Chapter 4.1 Group Quiz
It does look like they tried to do derivatives all thru February, and are now rushing on the integrals, but it's not clear.
We don’t know which HS it is....