<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 6:42 PM, spike <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:spike66@att.net" target="_blank">spike66@att.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mike Dougherty<br>
<br><b><span style="color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">>…</span></b>I'm not really sure what are the goals of "common core" <span style="color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I have some ideas on that. I hope they had in mind something about updating education methods that have been outdated for so long it hurts. The traditional model of a group of children of the same age sitting and listening to one grownup talk has been an enormous waste of brains. It fails to engage a huge proportion of the student, on both ends of the ability scale. They are holding the notion that Common Core will challenge all the students. I have high hopes, along with a realistic attitude.</span></p>
</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I was in a rush earlier, but have spent some time researching common core.<br><br></div><div>Perhaps the new curriculum will benefit new entrants into the education system more than it appears to harm those impacted during the transition. If so, the decade of children that learned one way and were tested another could have problems in their adult lives. How much more or less than any other decade of children might be hard to prove conclusively. <br>
<br></div><div>Maybe those children learning Common Core programming from their start will succeed at > 30%. I feel that's not likely to happen. Instead I imagine only those in the top of their class will be given the opportunity to advance while the rest remain peasants for life. <br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> As computers get better at interpreting our writing, it allows us to get away from five-bubble testing and still save labor costs in grading homework and tests. An example of a more open ended question is this: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">There are three cookies and five children. What now?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">There are no choices, the student has to suggest an approach. I can think of a dozen answers to that. The challenge for us is to figure out how to teach software to evaluate the answers. You can even assume a keyboard answer, where the software can use multiple criteria, such considering spelling, grammar, word length and so on. What I hope for is some means of teaching students the real valuable skills for the world they will inhabit. There is little need for most of the skills you and I were taught in school.</span></p>
</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I think this example provides another illustration: Rank the five children according to some criteria ("standard") then give all three cookies to rank #1. S/he can eat all three or share as s/he wishes (with whatever sense of entitlement comes from being #1). Perhaps #1 shares with #2 and #3, creating some reciprocity of trust for a minor reordering in the next ranking. There might even be some unexpected 'sharing' that comes from the realization that if #4 & #5 consistently lose the contest they may simply beat up #1 and take those cookies. Yes, that's a metaphor for the have-nots using criminal action to take from those who have. <br>
<br></div><div>I realize this is probably not the discourse you might have imagined on Common Core.<br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Consider these kinds of questions: <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Suppose you go through your education, finish with a degree, then discover you just cannot get a job. What do you do now?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">When you think about it, there are plenty of answers to that question, some better than others. It is a question which the students need to be asked often.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><u></u><u></u></font></span></span></p>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"></span><br></p></font></span></div></div></blockquote></div>
<br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Agreed. It also needs to be asked of teachers, administrators, and the government that implements a system that produces unemployable, degree-wielding job seekers.<br><br><br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_extra">notice: If anyone reading this feels that I am underinformed or otherwise off-the-mark, please do enlighten me.<br></div></div>