animadimorti (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

she isn't saying just teach one way she is saying that they are wrong in not teaching the basic algorithm.

slevvio (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

im a mathematician and i just use a calculator

katlp (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

this woman seems to be basing her aversion to these division problems to the fact that parents wont understand. well we wouldn't possibly want children with a deeper understanding of numbers and their relationship to each other than their parents do! wouldn't that be awful! Check out the New Zealand numeracy project... no algorithms until secondary school but VERY valid ways of teaching maths with understanding.

KnowJesusKnowPeace (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I placed 10th in California's Math Bowl in the 8th grade. Mental math steps are important. There are many short cuts to take which make a problem solution mentally possible. I do not see any reasonable excuse for not teaching the traditional algorithm, however.

gunchibaiyya (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Ms. McDermott, all the places you said "I can figure out blahblah" is the actual problem. It's easy for some to figure out just, and rest are afraid of Maths.

danesolyntjes (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

"turk" Terk whatever it's called is probably pretty darn good at teaching kids how to use their mental math skills. Did she really not know that 6 can go into 13 two times when she was working out the division one, or are was she just being difficult?

Iv1993 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@Iv1993Also, what a bitch Everyday Math is >=O

Iv1993 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

OMG I do that with divisions all the time XDIf I can't find the answer, I go around multiplying numbers till I get it XD

mike4ty4 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

And they can't even do SIX times FOUR without a frigging CALCULATOR in COLLEGE?! Oh my GOSH! This is just insane!

Nelyami (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@luomio because you can't do it, lol