As an elementary math teacher, I have finally hit my limit of Facebook posts against Common Core Math. I just can't read one more complaint and let it slide. Look, in a way, I understand the frustration level some parents face with this seemingly new math system. But there is so much more to the Common Core that most of these people are overlooking. It just seems to be that Common Core math has become a scapegoat. In fact, I have yet to see one complaint about Common Core ELA, Science, or History. Did you even realize those existed? See, here's the thing about Common Core. At it's core (yea, I did), all it is, is a way for every student in the United States to learn the same basic concepts at the same general time. That means if you up and move from Oklahoma to New York, your student can easily transition into the new classroom without you, the parent, worrying that s/he never covered certain topics or covered those topics in an earlier grade. Wouldn't you rather have your student be able to understand the curriculum no matter where you move, than to have to play catch up or slow down student learning? If you don't, by all means, continue waging your war against Common Core math. And ELA, Science, and History too. But, in the off chance that you're still interested, hear me out on my old friend CC math.
The way I see it, there are two problems here. One, is that the parents don't understand exactly what's happening in their student's math homework, so they fall into defensive mode. No one wants to look like they know less than their child. Two, the many varying ways that students are able to learn math now don't make sense to the parent, and so it can't possibly make sense to the student. I can't tell you how many parents I have seen putting their personal bias about math onto the student. As a teacher, that drives me crazy. If something doesn't make sense to you, fine, but there's no reason you should be putting that on your student. You're turning them against something that could possibly make sense in their head, and now they are afraid to admit, because you've spent the past few weeks talking about how it couldn't possibly be right, or make sense.
Alright, I know this isn't the most eloquently flowing piece, but I'm a little fired up, so I apologize if it seems a bit disjointed. For now though, follow me back to my days in elementary school. I was a student of the 90s. I started Kindergarten in 1989, so I mean that in the fullest extent, I was a student of the 90s. And do you know what I could tell you about math in elementary school? Absolutely nothing. I couldn't tell you what a place value block was, let alone what place value was or meant. I had no idea why I was borrowing numbers in subtraction, just that I had to do it. Fractions made no sense to me, decimals weren't even on my radar, and anything that involved shapes was an art project or nothing at all. In fact, I dare any one of you to be able to say definitively that yes, you not only knew how to do math in elementary school, but you knew WHY the rules of math were the way they were. Sure, some of you were probably fantastic at math, you could solve a problem in seconds flat, and you were probably top of the class. In fact, I distinctly remember a boy in my third grade class who was a math whiz. He was always the first one done with his timed tests and was always ready to do the problems on the board while I was still working on the first step. That didn't change either. In fifth grade, I spent most of my mornings writing all the problems I got wrong on my homework, three times each, on the blackboard. And do you know what I learned from that? Nothing. Not one thing. I still had no idea why my math was wrong, and I still couldn't fix it when the same problem came up again. So it went up through high school, and even college. Do you know what changed my life? The ever so hated Common Core Math.
You see, before Common Core was being taught in the classrooms, I didn't know there were other ways to do math. I didn't realize that math had a reason. Because I, like many of you, was taught that math is what it is, and there's no reason to question that. You learn your facts, you do your math, and you move on. But no one ever told me why. No one told me that place value had a meaning, or that you could use visual models to understand problems. I had no idea it was easier to subtract nines if I knew how to subtract 10s. Or that fractions could go on forever between numbers. Or that multiplying multi-digit numbers is a lot easier if you can break your numbers into expanded form and multiply by place values. But now? Now I do know. I know that there are many different ways to solve problems. I know that if you understand WHY you're doing something, it makes more sense when you're trying to do it. I know why you need to regroup a set of tens when you're adding or subtracting. I know how to use base-10 blocks to solve all types of problems. I can break down numbers into sets that make 10 and then add on, or subtract from, if necessary. But above all that, I know why your students NEED common core math.
They NEED to know that there is more than one way to solve a problem. They NEED to know that just because one method doesn't make sense, it doesn't mean that s/he is stupid and will never be good at math. They NEED to know that asking why helps you to understand how. They NEED to know that, just because it doesn't make sense to an adult, doesn't mean that it's wrong.
Go ahead. Argue with me, tell me I'm wrong, tell me I don't understand, say maybe if I was that bad at math, I should never have become a math teacher. I've heard it all. But before you do, think about your student. For once, instead of projecting your bias onto him/her, ask about his/her thoughts on the method being used to solve the problem. Ask your student to help you. Be brave enough to ask the teacher to explain the concept being taught before telling your student it doesn't make sense. Look up a video that explains how to use the break apart method or the area model for multiplication. Make an effort to learn the way your student is learning. Because in the end, it's not the Common Core math that's making the work hard for the student, it's the negative way that the student constantly hears it being talked about. Relearning something is hard, and maybe Common Core will never make sense to you, but I promise that constantly shutting it down as a viable option for problem solving is only going to hurt your child in the long run, especially if the concept does make sense to him/her.
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