tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post2645150839947384210..comments2024-03-22T02:15:56.280-07:00Comments on Jersey Jazzman: Teachers Punished When They Question AuthorityDukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535645107179796099noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-8108695836276300702013-06-03T03:25:20.022-07:002013-06-03T03:25:20.022-07:00Look at the comment posted "Mrs. King's m...Look at the comment posted "Mrs. King's music students said... <br />According to the math specialist at my school (who would never dream of filing a false complaint against another teacher), the distractor answers chosen by students on tests reveal just as much information as correct answers."<br /><br />I agree: you can learn an awful lot about how a student thinks even when they get this question wrong. BUT WE DON'T GET TO SEE OUR STUDENTS ANSWERS!!!! WE DON'T EVEN GET TO SEE THE QUESTIONS! How can I help the student if I don't know if it was PEMDAS, or the fraction piece, or addition, or if they thought 2(1/100)means the same as 2 1/100 that made them get it wrong. Stop telling me that bubble tests help me help students! <br />Saragnesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17065261625484574944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-47394799686347409052013-04-28T16:22:40.291-07:002013-04-28T16:22:40.291-07:00If it wasn't clear, it's this paragraph th...If it wasn't clear, it's this paragraph that's completely off-base:<br /><i>I'm not a math teacher, but even I recognize @rratto's example as a classic "order of operations" problem. You have to know PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction (left-to-right) - as the order of operations in order to solve the problem. This is a great example of how an item can be constructed to "trick" a test-taker into giving a wrong answer, even if she grasps the concept. Adding parentheses to the first two multiplication operations would easily clarify the problem, but they are excluded here, increasing the chance of a wrong answer.</i><br /><br />PEDMAS has nothing to do with this question, and looking at the question again, it might be more confusing if parentheses were added to 10 & 1 (10*1? 1*1? that would make no sense). It's likely the question appeared exactly like that; it's fine as-is.PsuedoNoisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15524275352388106372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-64279142467730465382013-04-28T16:16:57.750-07:002013-04-28T16:16:57.750-07:00It doesn't appear this question has anything t...It doesn't appear this question has anything to do with order of operations. It's 65.427 expressed as a product of powers of 10; the question basically is asking "do you understand how decimals work?"<br /><br />We also don't know if the original question had consistent use of parentheses or if some were elided for a shorter tweet.<br /><br />If the question wanted to be tricky, you would reverse the order or switch them up, but this is pretty clearly a good question IMHO. A person who understands the underlying concepts can read off the answer without any calculations; a person who doesn't is going to be confused and bewildered.PsuedoNoisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15524275352388106372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-27117440744169931152013-04-28T11:25:12.462-07:002013-04-28T11:25:12.462-07:00PS I forget to say that I visited rratto's blo...PS I forget to say that I visited rratto's blog and he looks like a lively, interesting math teacher. I can see why his students would love math.Mrs. King's music studentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05211235832988015448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-39040197975099055532013-04-28T11:20:14.966-07:002013-04-28T11:20:14.966-07:00According to the math specialist at my school (who...According to the math specialist at my school (who would never dream of filing a false complaint against another teacher), the distractor answers chosen by students on tests reveal just as much information as correct answers. In the beginning... before politicians co-opted the test data and the DOE (the horse that outclasses it's rider), the wrong answers that tempted the children would have been pored over by educators to determine implications for future instruction.<br /><br />I wonder where the NY teachers' union will stand in all this, now that one union member has bypassed them to file a complaint against another, and been 'outed' by top admins for her trouble??? No matter what happens, this forum is the pivotal player and the only one with potential to bring about authentic reforms in education.Mrs. King's music studentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05211235832988015448noreply@blogger.com