Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that APS has CKLA — a literacy curriculum that is solid and works well, APS needs to replace their math curriculum with one that works.

“Primary Math (US Edition)” is almost identical to the “Primary Math” curriculum used by Singapore, which consistently has high math score in the PISA tests. The only differences are (1) that the US Edition teaches US weights/measures rather than Metric-only and (2) the US Edition teaches US coin and printed money denominations rather than Singaporean ones. If they would switch and use that, it would be great.

Singapore Math has it's own way of doing things. We switched from public to private that uses Discover Math, a Singapore curriculum, and it took my kids (and I, as homework helper parent) a solid quarter to figure out how to do everything the expected way. One of our new-to-the-school teachers took a solid semester to catch up. There would have to be some intensive training for an entire district to catch up.

FWIW Discover uses both US weights/measures and metric and also uses US money. My kids both recently completed related units.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of the teacher, APS middle school students seem to be learning math almost exclusively on apps. That isn't a good way to learn. They need to work on paper and layout their work. They need problems assigned that develop their learning sequentially and not by semi-randomly assigned IXL problem sets.

False.

My kids - both on the advanced track -have received in-person instruction for the last six years.

Some of these posts seem to be stretching the truth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of the teacher, APS middle school students seem to be learning math almost exclusively on apps. That isn't a good way to learn. They need to work on paper and layout their work. They need problems assigned that develop their learning sequentially and not by semi-randomly assigned IXL problem sets.

False.

My kids - both on the advanced track -have received in-person instruction for the last six years.

Some of these posts seem to be stretching the truth.

Anonymous wrote:Now that APS has CKLA — a literacy curriculum that is solid and works well, APS needs to replace their math curriculum with one that works.

“Primary Math (US Edition)” is almost identical to the “Primary Math” curriculum used by Singapore, which consistently has high math score in the PISA tests. The only differences are (1) that the US Edition teaches US weights/measures rather than Metric-only and (2) the US Edition teaches US coin and printed money denominations rather than Singaporean ones. If they would switch and use that, it would be great.

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of the teacher, APS middle school students seem to be learning math almost exclusively on apps. That isn't a good way to learn. They need to work on paper and layout their work. They need problems assigned that develop their learning sequentially and not by semi-randomly assigned IXL problem sets.

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Honestly I think you’ve been lucky, or maybe my kids have been very unlucky. I think teachers are grouped by team, and they try to keep siblings in the same team unless a parent explicitly requests not to. It would be likely that most of your kids friends would be in the same classes and have the same teachers.
For my older daughter, none of her math teachers from dhms are still there— they were all fired at the end of the year. For my younger one, only his sixth grade and seventh grade teachers are still there. His sixth grade teacher is fantastic— such a sweet person and good teacher. His seventh grade teacher is still there, but she was horrible and was very inflexible— I heard that she was recently suspended for a few days for physically bullying one of her students. I’ll believe it— she is horrible!!
Be glad you have avoided the bad ones!

As I previously posted, our experience over many years and several children at DHMS is that the top tier math teachers are the worst. The admin is concerned about its SOL results and accordingly the good teachers are teaching the kids who might fail, aka the lower tiers. This might explain the different experiences as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Honestly I think you’ve been lucky, or maybe my kids have been very unlucky. I think teachers are grouped by team, and they try to keep siblings in the same team unless a parent explicitly requests not to. It would be likely that most of your kids friends would be in the same classes and have the same teachers.
For my older daughter, none of her math teachers from dhms are still there— they were all fired at the end of the year. For my younger one, only his sixth grade and seventh grade teachers are still there. His sixth grade teacher is fantastic— such a sweet person and good teacher. His seventh grade teacher is still there, but she was horrible and was very inflexible— I heard that she was recently suspended for a few days for physically bullying one of her students. I’ll believe it— she is horrible!!
Be glad you have avoided the bad ones!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Who said the teachers were crappy? The teacher my kid has is considered to be a good teacher and is well loved. But that doesn't mean this teaching model works. It's too much on kids to self teach.

+1 it works fine for kids who can self teach or kids who don’t have a problem asking for help. It can be a disaster for others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Who said the teachers were crappy? The teacher my kid has is considered to be a good teacher and is well loved. But that doesn't mean this teaching model works. It's too much on kids to self teach.

Not teaching = crappy

Sorry. Not buying it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Who said the teachers were crappy? The teacher my kid has is considered to be a good teacher and is well loved. But that doesn't mean this teaching model works. It's too much on kids to self teach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Who said the teachers were crappy? The teacher my kid has is considered to be a good teacher and is well loved. But that doesn't mean this teaching model works. It's too much on kids to self teach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?

Because it doesn’t match the experiences of my kids and their friends over the last six years there.

Yes, there was one crappy teacher but she is gone.

PP would be more believable if she had said that one or two weren’t great. But five? Sorry, that’s just not believable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your kid in school? My kids have a lot of direct instruction at Gunston but I agree that APS should be looking at systemic issues. I personally think they need more regular math home work (actual worksheets not just dreambox) starting in 4th grade. I print extra homework out myself that I get from teacherspayteachers.

My older kid also got (good) direct instruction at Gunston. Younger kid gets direct instruction in ES, but it’s whole class, and kid complains that it’s boring once she understands the concept.

At Hamm, students are mostly expected to self teach concepts with online videos.

You actually have a kid at DHMS? Which teacher did your kid have?

My kids have had multiple math teachers 6-8 and were taught in person and expected to take notes.

I have had two kids at dhms— the teachers teach using a “workshop” model. Instruction is done through guided note work sheets where the teacher is supposed to walk around and correct and answer questions. Only one of my two kids teachers ever did that though. That’s one out of 6 different teachers! They had videos posted on canvas that explain concepts. I think maybe you lucked out!

Sorry my post above was really unclear. Only one out of six teachers my kids have had at dhms taught in person. All the other teachers just handed out notes/worksheets and posted videos on canvas and you were expected to ask questions during phoenix time if you didn’t understand.

This just doesn't sound believable at all.

We are on our 6th teacher now and none have done that. The teachers walk through the guided notes with the class and then do several example problems together as a class. Then kids have classwork and/or homework.

So the APS slides linked by OP highlight that teachers should be using a workshop model, and then several posters at both DHMS and other schools report the same issue with kids being expected to self teach and they're not believable? I think you just don't want to believe. My kid has a "good" math teacher and comes home frustrated pretty frequently because a concept wasn't taught at all, which seems to be standard in their math class. There's lots of watching videos to learn.

So what do you attribute to the falling math scores?