Jeff Danziger for April 20, 2010

Actually, what are the current math proficiency levels, and how have they been going lately?

“Failing” may sometimes mean not advancing as quickly as others.

I often wonder how many of the students that aren’t performing well at math can’t speak English, either. It’s hard to say anymore what you mean when you say “US schools”. You’ve got quite a few intelligent kids that are being home-schooled these days, as well.

I love the look on the kids face. I have seen students look like that.

Teaching Chinese, Russian, German or at least one language other than English would be good, but it shouldn’t always be Spanish (which should NOT be bastardized western dialects anyway).

Learning other languages turns to learning cultures, and better acceptance of science offerings and math as well. Bilingual folks tend to be more open to actual learning and understanding what they learn, and applying it.

senor- yes-I know- my son speaks Mandarin and Castilian, which was quickly recognized in Central and South America in his “travels”. It was the fact he did NOT speak “Americanized” if you will, Spanish, that was distinctive. German also has two major dialects. “English” in America has what, maybe 300?? The “Dictionary of American English” must be a real job to assemble!

Sorry, but your point adds to the issue- when folks learn cultures, they learn people, not just language. When they learn to THINK in different “non-native” languages- they broaden their perspective on about ALL knowledge that comes at them.

for a French-Canadian kid, learning english is just getting started.

English kids also get french lessons, but they rarely get fluent in french.

My high school offered classes in spanish. I took german in university.

What do you call someone who speaks three languages?…Trillingual What do you call someone who speaks two languages?….Billingual What do you call someone who speaks one language?…American!

As for the toon, none of the characters are the kid’s parents who probably rely on some game console to do most of the rearing

Statistically speaking, LOTS is still a very small percentage compared to the rest of the world, granted this is partly due to the fact that English is currently the lingua franca. Even immigrants to this country are generally monolingual by the third generation. In the end, it was just a joke Bruce…not meant to offend, But I do believe that we have every right to ridicule laziness…which is how our general disinterest in learning foreign languages may be perceived.

Let’s take a poll: How many people who live in the U.S. speak more than one language? All the international posters need not apply.

I can dope my way through very elementary Spanish or French text, but I’m a long way from being conversant, let alone fluent.

I can also read Russian aloud; I pronounce it fairly well, but I have no idea what I’m saying. That’s all that remains from 3 years of High School Russian, 30 years ago…

The key lesson that isn’t learned until you get pretty good in the language (whichever one) is that there are thoughts, expressions, in that language that are just not possible to express in the other(s). Not only are there not the words, but the concepts, are not there.

I learned Spanish in HS (3 years, 4 schools, muy despacio now), some (Austrian-accented) German in college (2 semesters before dropping out, gave it up) and ever since, mix the two – oops!

If anyone reads this,, My opinion is that math in the U.S. is more difficult than any place where the metric system is used. I used to work with foreign exchange students and most got failing grades in math because of the measurement systems which we use. Metrics is so much easier and I don’t even know of it being taught in the schools anymore. How many feet are in a rod?

Easily soilved, just pass a law mandating that all video games must require the players to tabulate their OWN scores.

As a math teacher of multiple decades, I can tell you the problem. For the most part, students neither care nor have the attention span to be successful in mathematics. This coupled with the fact that most teachers at the elementary and middle school levels chose that pathway, in part, because they did not do well in math complete the picture. Students today are offended if you actually ask them to do some work or to try anything that requires brainsweat! We are turning into a nation of lazy mathematical ignoramuses who love to play video games, chat on facebook, and talk on the cell phone. God help us!

I’m hesitant to ascribe any difficulty in mathematics to the metric system (rather, the lack thereof), simply because mathematical proficiency truly exists in the abstract rather than in real-world application. The difference between the metric system and the imperial system is merely one of defined units, and understanding how “3” relates to “3 squared” or “3 to the third power” doesn’t in any way depend upon the units being used.

Mathematical thought relies, at all but its highest levels, at a rigorous adherence to absolute processes which, compared to what is usual or even appropriate in subjects such as language or history, does not allow for individual interpretation. If you’re asked “What are the lessons to be learned from ‘Hamlet?’” or “What factlors led up to the second World War?”, there’s a lot of room for (charitably) individual interpretation or (uncharitably) fudge. If you’re asked to solve a quadratic equation, your opinions of what ought to be the “right “answer are irrelevant.

I don’t want to denigrate the “self-esteem” focus of modern pedagogy unduly, because if the question IS “What are the lessons to be learned from ‘Hamlet?’” or “What factlors led up to the second World War?”, then a well thought-out, well-supported answer which is nonetheless not what the teacher is looking for should not be simply branded “WRONG” with a big red pen. But in maths (or those sciences with math foundations), if a student cannot reach the RIGHT answer then it’s a disservice to that student to give him or her a passing mark for trying hard.

I’m a little puzzled as to what Danziger is trying to say here.

There’s some truth in what geometer says but it isn’t the whole story. I was an A student in most subjects but hopeless at Maths. A lot of it had, I think, to do with mediocre, unimaginative and, to some extent, punitive teaching by teachers who didn’t understand that it wasn’t easy for me.

In over 30 years of teaching both children and adults, I’ve always tried to get behind the difficulties that people have with their learning rather than assuming they’re wilfully “not trying”. And for most of them, it seems to have worked.

MATH - There is evidence that IN GENERAL there are differences in where mathematics takes place in the brains of men and women. When women do math it tends to activate areas on both sides of the brain, men’s math activity in the brain is generally concentrated on one side. (This one side pattern, is often associated with the mastery of higher levels of math).

I’ve always wondered if the introduction of significantly more story problem solving in math instruction has helped women, who already use the verbal areas of the brain when attacking math problems, but compromised the ability of males, who would do better without the extra burden of trying to drag in activity in a part of their brain (verbal) that is not ‘normally’ a big part of math practice.

Montessori math, which begins with concrete models of abstract concepts for 3-year olds, has been producing high levels of both interest and accomplishment. (One professor I knew who taught an advanced placement summer math course at NYU found that about 80% of her students had Montessori preschool experience.)

FOREIGN LANGUAGES A recent article explained that the CIA was ramping up efforts to enroll more foreign language speakers to increase the 13% of all employees who speak a foreign language today.

” CIA Director Leon Panetta said after his confirmation earlier this year that expanding foreign language proficiency among new and existing staff is a top priority. “I’d like to … get to a point where every analyst and operations officer is trained in a foreign language,” he said. “Foreign languages are extremely important … to understanding that part of the world that we have to gather intelligence from.” usatoday

This article goes on to say that, today, more than 7 out of 10 members of our covert operatives speak ONLY English. On the backup analyst teams, more than 8 out of 10 speak ONLY English. How dumb can we get?…. http://virginiahammon.com/2009/08/12/cia-a-breath-of-intelligence-central/