I used to teach math at a small arts college. The class I taught most often was remedial. I started with addition. That was the only one most of the kids knew. Because by the time I got to multiplication, I found out many didn't know their times tables.
Last time I applied to teach at a High School, the interviewers asked me how I'd do group projects. When I said I didn't use many group projects for Math, they seemed unhappy. When I asked what they were thinking of, they said "Oh, our last Math teacher gave problem solving exercises. Like, what equipment would you bring to go camping. No right or wrong answers." ("But that's not math," I didn't say.).
Is this precise problem written somewhere in the curriculum? Going through high school, I remember being given a problem exactly like this multiple times.
I also remember history teachers often beginning with a problem relating to some investigation of a school fight (students had to determine who's a good source and stuff).
Now that I think about it, reuse of problems across classes and grade levels was really common.
I used to get so annoyed in history - all grades- when I was in school because they never managed to finish the textbook. Maybe got up to WWI or so and then just ran out of time. I never understood why the teachers didn't just divide # of chapters by weeks of class and get it done. Luckily I did a lot of reading on my own but I don't think kids do that as much now. Their lack of knowledge of history is appalling.
I don't think any of our teachers use textbooks anymore. If you think your history education was bad, mine was awful.
Elementary school : Almost nothing. No, really. I don't think I was formerly taught about the civil war until high school.
Middle school "social studies" : global warming (yes, global warming), islam, native Americans, silk road, world religions, Timbuktu. I honestly cannot remember anything else.
In high school, only very basic US government is taught. 95% of kids probably never read the constitution or really know what it says. Most kids can probably only remember at most half the presidents. Unless they took AP US history, most don't know when major events occurred (ex. Civil War ~ early 1860s, WW1 ~ late 1910s, WW2 ~ early 1940s, etc.).
Well, I never had any question like that in a Math class. I'm not that old, but....
I remember back in College where they gave a scenario about responsibility by telling a story of some girl who has to trade her honor to get some guy to take her in her boat to visit her love interest. Her love interest rejects her after finding out what she did to cross the river, so she finds another guy to beat the crap out of him. That popped up more than once....
I teach special education as well. Just left a large school where I taught reading. I had kids in 9th and 10th grade reading at a 3rd grade level. And these weren’t kids with severe learning disabilities either. They just didn’t give a shit and played the system throughout the years.
I am a special education math teacher. I get kids coming to me with pre-k level math skills. Yeah its bad.
Edit: Middle school math.
I used to teach math at a small arts college. The class I taught most often was remedial. I started with addition. That was the only one most of the kids knew. Because by the time I got to multiplication, I found out many didn't know their times tables.
Last time I applied to teach at a High School, the interviewers asked me how I'd do group projects. When I said I didn't use many group projects for Math, they seemed unhappy. When I asked what they were thinking of, they said "Oh, our last Math teacher gave problem solving exercises. Like, what equipment would you bring to go camping. No right or wrong answers." ("But that's not math," I didn't say.).
Oh, did I mention this was all in California?
Is this precise problem written somewhere in the curriculum? Going through high school, I remember being given a problem exactly like this multiple times.
I also remember history teachers often beginning with a problem relating to some investigation of a school fight (students had to determine who's a good source and stuff).
Now that I think about it, reuse of problems across classes and grade levels was really common.
I used to get so annoyed in history - all grades- when I was in school because they never managed to finish the textbook. Maybe got up to WWI or so and then just ran out of time. I never understood why the teachers didn't just divide # of chapters by weeks of class and get it done. Luckily I did a lot of reading on my own but I don't think kids do that as much now. Their lack of knowledge of history is appalling.
I don't think any of our teachers use textbooks anymore. If you think your history education was bad, mine was awful.
Elementary school : Almost nothing. No, really. I don't think I was formerly taught about the civil war until high school.
Middle school "social studies" : global warming (yes, global warming), islam, native Americans, silk road, world religions, Timbuktu. I honestly cannot remember anything else.
In high school, only very basic US government is taught. 95% of kids probably never read the constitution or really know what it says. Most kids can probably only remember at most half the presidents. Unless they took AP US history, most don't know when major events occurred (ex. Civil War ~ early 1860s, WW1 ~ late 1910s, WW2 ~ early 1940s, etc.).
Well, I never had any question like that in a Math class. I'm not that old, but....
I remember back in College where they gave a scenario about responsibility by telling a story of some girl who has to trade her honor to get some guy to take her in her boat to visit her love interest. Her love interest rejects her after finding out what she did to cross the river, so she finds another guy to beat the crap out of him. That popped up more than once....
So... Did you get the job though?
Nope. Got into something else where I don't have to pretend to be an idiot.
I teach special education as well. Just left a large school where I taught reading. I had kids in 9th and 10th grade reading at a 3rd grade level. And these weren’t kids with severe learning disabilities either. They just didn’t give a shit and played the system throughout the years.