The Myth of the New Math - Episode 3

Mastery For All with Mr. James O'Neal

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There is a HUGE myth out right now about "The New Math". Well I'm here to say, and you can quote me (lol), "There is NO NEW MATH! The why of mathematics is finally being explained!" The explanations are NEW to us, because most of the time they were not explained or explained well when we were in school. Today, students in kindergarten are learning about math and having ways to explain it before we give them algorithms to use.
These algorithms are useful, but it's more empowering when we know where they come from. I was a junior in college before I understood the Pythagorean Theorem. It's not like the proof is hard, it was just that NO ONE explained it to me! And I mean NO ONE! So today when I teach I show the students "why" a^2 + b^2 = c^2. I've been honored to teach this locally on our school's television series, "Math Xtra". We had a whole show dedicated to The Pythagorean Theorem. You should check it out!!!
Needless to say, everyone under the old system is now frustrated because we are being asked to articulate math in which we have no experience hearing and now parents are asked to help kids with the same articulation and everyone is frustrated!!! I can honestly say the struggle is real, but it's worth it! Do you hear me? It's worth it! Our brain learns/retains knowledge better when it is connected to previous learning and where that learning makes sense. No longer is math it's own island and every "new" topic is a hard start and stop from the previous. We are connecting ideas through the coherence of the standards :-).
I invite you on this journey to know "why" we do what we do. If this episode speaks to you, share it with a frustrated parent, teacher, administrator, just share it because it will bring comfort to the ears who hear!
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I look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery. #MasteryForAll