I think the main idea of Erlwanger's article is that the system of teaching students is broken. The evidence I have for this opinion if that the author spends a lot of time discussing how Benny understood math and how it was the wrong way to do problems but to him it made sense. Benny is a really smart kid, bases on his knowlege he was doing things correctly. However the system said he was understanding the math correctly in fact he was one of the best students in the class. This shows that the system is broken because it passes kids through who don't know what they are doing.
I think the main point in paragragh one is that people who the schools and teachers say are passing math classes and understanding math problems really arn't. This is valid today because a lot of children in today's schools just remember enough to regergitate information on the test but the forget it and do not understand what they are doing and why they are doing it. this system is broken and must be improved by better teaching methods and better more conceptual understanding based tests.
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It sounds like overall what you were getting at is that teachers should try to teach relationally rather than strictly instrumentally. When you talk about the broken system and how better teaching methods should be used, I would maybe briefly suggest some so we know what you have in mind. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI agree that students are having a hard time remembering concepts if they were never taught the reason why/how to do a problem. I agree that school systems need improvement, but I am not exactly sure what you mean by "system" (IPI system? school system?) Also, there could have been more reference back to Erlwanger's article to strengthen your argument. Overall, nice point made.
ReplyDeleteI liked the point you made, how the teaching system is broken, at least to some degree. It is true that some kids only remember things for the test. I was wondering how you can fix the system? It does need more conceptual, but how can that be done? It is just something to think about. Good job :)
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job providing evidence of your main point.
ReplyDeleteI would have been more clear in the topic sentence (the first one). You said, the "system of teaching students is broken". What system are you referring to and what are we teaching students? Make sure this is clear to the reader.