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elementary school math-fact challenges
Here's what I don't get: I've been told that the MCAS is un-timed. (Is this true?)
If this is so, why is there so much emphasis on doing the math-fact sheets as fast as possible? Timing them and so forth? For some kids, rising to the challenge will work. But there are some kids (such as Sophia, and at least one other kid you know...) for whom the timer causes so much activation of the sympathetic nervous system that it impairs both performance and learning. In a big way.
Mathematicians are not judged on speed. So why is math treated like a track event in 2nd grade?
If this is so, why is there so much emphasis on doing the math-fact sheets as fast as possible? Timing them and so forth? For some kids, rising to the challenge will work. But there are some kids (such as Sophia, and at least one other kid you know...) for whom the timer causes so much activation of the sympathetic nervous system that it impairs both performance and learning. In a big way.
Mathematicians are not judged on speed. So why is math treated like a track event in 2nd grade?
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When the fundamental goal is to get the child to be able to do certain things quickly, by rote, being unable to do so due to being unable to cope with the stress has the same effect as not knowing the facts. Perhaps distinguishing the two causes would lead to different teaching regimens, but I don't know of any workable regimen other than "practice it until you get it right". (More about practice later.)
As for school generally, I take the Pinkeresque attitude that schooling is for teaching people things that humans are not good at and do not enjoy learning. (Contrasted with walking and talking, which humans have as natural skills, and have natural drives to learn.) In that regard, confidence in one's learned skills naturally comes from having learned the skills.
In my case, I did not like the early years of math. I was particularly truculent over two episodes, counting between 10 and 100, and multiplying large digits (6 through 9) by large digits. I was helped over that hump by my mother sitting down with me and forcing me to learn the stuff. (When I'm at a restaurant, I try to stick someone else with figuring out the bill.) OTOH, I liked algebra and geometry, and eventually went on to get a Ph.D. in math.
But I still don't like doing arithmetic, and when I'm at a restaurant, try to stick someone else with figuring out the bill. I doubt that's because I was taught arithmetic in an incorrect manner. But that's beside the point, because school's goal is to teach me arithmetic. Enjoying it is not particularly important. Worse, learning how to learn and perform well a skill one does not enjoy is a vital skill.
One of the more revealing/depressing studies I ever read of is someone who compared the employment outcomes of people who had graduated from high school with those who got GEDs. This was in the old days, before the MCAS and other exams to ensure that one did not get a high-school diploma without, like, actually learning the stuff. Whereas the GED required you to pass a stiff examination. It turns out that despite the GED holders actually knowing more of the material, they did worse in the job market. It seems that high school trains students (or filters them) for working smoothly in regimented, bureaucratic systems ... and that is a vital job skill.
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