New Math

All these things are important -- collaboration, problem-solving, learning where to go for help/answers -- BUT is it not true that children/young people know less (in terms of grammar, algebra, that sort of thing) and do more poorly than, say, college and university students in the past? Maybe I'm guilty of the teacher's worst sin (i.e. it wasn't like this when I was a kid...), and I'm going to be on guard for that as I go along. BUT what I'm saying is that I still think that kids need to learn stuff, to learn, for example, how to do the math, and to actually DO THE MATH. It's just so darn good for the brain... Maybe the old math (and English, etc.) also has some place. So MAYBE if we're learning how to teach kinds to learn (according to their various and individual learning styles), we still need to be rigorous about what they're learning and what we're teaching. I think we need to guard against laziness! In ourselves, I mean. Mental fitness is like physical fitness; you just have to keep doing it to stay in shape. Jill Britten at Camosun has a fabulous website (http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/home.htm), all about how to teach math to elementary and middle school students. She incorporates history, geography, art (M.C. Escher) into her teaching exercises, as well as plenty of computer applets you can use for teaching, and that kids can use and access. Anyway, those are my thoughts. And I'm open to learning!