Sounds like a nuisance to me

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Sounds like a nuisance to me
By Carolyn

I am an "old" timer, too, but I am not resistant to some change, if it's reasonable. I, too, would be lukewarm to this idea of everybody doing exactly the same thing at the same time. Like Dawn, I think this is some kind
of fad which will disappear in time. Over the past 15 years I have seem so many buzz words and things come into place. I am so glad that we are not going to be forced to do this.
Sometimes I think administrators, including those in district office, have lost touch with what is going to actually work in the classroom. They make all of these great plans which we are supposed to follow.

My principal has a bizarre way to teach math. He wants us to cluster standards so that we teach anything related to numeration at one time, then we teach anything related to decimals at one time, etc. Translation: Bounce from Chapter 1 to Chapter 10, then back to Chapter 2. It just doesn't make sense. I was handed a list of prioritized skills which we ALL are supposed to teach and the order they should be taught in. This means that I am supposed to teach whole numbers through billions, then teach decimals, then teach addition of decimals, then teach multiplication of decimals, then teach division of decimals, then teach ratios and percents, then teach fractions. All of this is supposed to be related somehow and is supposed to be more "relevant" to the students this way. Personally, I am going to listen to his advice, then I am going to teach the lessons the way the book is designed. I won't teach one skill before I teach a skill which is required for understanding another. And they wonder why the math scores are so low.