TechyDad, Author at TechyDad

The Return of Common Core Math

October 1, 2014 TechyDad Math, School

Last year, I wrote about how NHL went into a full blown panic over his math homework. I featured one of his problems and compared the Common Core method of solving it against the "Old School" method. I concluded at the time that not only was the Common Core method more work than was necessary (drawing pictures instead of actually dealing with the numbers), but its methodology wouldn’t scale to larger problems. I haven’t seen much of NHL’s math work this year, mainly because he finishes it all in school. I managed to steal a glance at his homework tonight and it actually seems sane.

JSL, on the other hand, actually shed tears thanks to his homework recently. After helping him with it for a few days, I figured I’d do another Common Core vs. Old School Math comparison.

Let’s start with a random problem from JSL’s most recent homework. What is 52 – 7?

We’ll start with the Old School method. First, we display the problem like so.

Next, we try to subtract 7 from 2. Seeing this isn’t possible, we take one off of the 5 and add 10 to the 2.

Now, we can subtract 7 from 12 and get 5.

Finally, we subtract in the tens place – easy since it is 0 from 4.

And we have our answer: 45. Not hard at all, right?

Now, let’s see how the Common Core method does it. First you write out the problem.

So far, so good. Now you break 10 off of the 52 like so:

Taking 10 off of 52 leaves 42 left so we’ll fill that in too.

Now we subtract the 7 from the 10 and get 3.

Finally, we add that 3 to the 42 to get 45.

So we have our answer: 45.

Looking at both methods, I understand what the Common Core authors were shooting for. They were trying to take the "borrow 10" step from Old School math and recreate it in a more visual fashion. The problem I have with this is that it needlessly complicates the math problem. 52 – 7 turns into three separate problems: 52 – 10 = 42, 10 – 7 = 3, and 42 + 3 = 45. There’s also the unwritten math problem of what tens break out do you need to do. After all, if the problem was 52 – 16, breaking 10 out wouldn’t help. Instead, you would need to pull 20 out of 52 and adjust the rest of the problem accordingly.

In the end, the Common Core method isn’t horrible. Certainly, not as bad as last year’s math. Still, it is needlessly complex and not developmentally appropriate for a second grader. I’m all for progress, but everything new isn’t necessarily better. In this case, the Old School method is easier and more direct while the Common Core method is more confusing. The good news is that I think my son has finally figured out how to do this math. The bad news is that he shouldn’t have had to.

The Poor, Forgotten Blog Post

September 29, 2014 TechyDad Blogging

On Wednesday, I picked JSL up from B’s parents house and started running some errands before coming home. On the way, JSL and I got to talking, as we usually do. I don’t remember the conversation much. It was likely the usual things. School, books he is reading, stuff he wants to do, stuff he has done. That sort of thing. Something in the conversation sparked an idea, though. An idea for a great post topic.

I’ll admit that great post topics are hard to come by at times. All too often, I’ll sit in front of my computer, with the blank post window staring back at me, wondering just what I should write before it gets too late. Too many times, I get annoyed by the stares of the blank window and the emptiness of my idea bank and turn on the TV or do some idle web surfing to try to spark something. Why I do this, I don’t know because it almost never works. Instead, I find the hour even later with still no post in sight.

So when I had this idea, I should have written it down. Obviously, I was driving at the time so jotting down the idea while steering the car was a no-no. Still, I was in an area where I could have pulled over and quickly sent myself a reminder e-mail. I didn’t, though. I was sure I’d remember the idea later. We all know how that usually turns out.

Now the idea feels like it’s still in my head, but just out of reach. The more I grasp for it, the more it slips *just* past the edge of my mental fingertips. It feels like if I just strain a bit more, I’ll recall it, but nothing seems to bring it back. I even asked JSL if he remembers what we were talking about in the hopes that this would re-spark the idea, but he’s forgotten the topic of conversation.

So it seems that the idea is lost and – turning lemons into lemonade – I’ve turned the loss of the blog post idea itself into a blog post.

On a related note, while lamenting the loss of my idea, I noticed that the latest Dork Tower had been published by John Kovalic. In it, he deals with ideas that get lost because they weren’t written down. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was following me around.

(Click the panel for the full Dork Tower comic.)

I’m sure, for the next couple of days, I’ll struggle to remember what the post was about. Whether I recall it or not, I don’t know. All I do know is that, the next time I get a blog post idea, I’m writing it down!

NOTE: The "light bulb" image above is by mystica and is available from OpenClipArt.org. I modified it by adding a question mark.

A Doctor Who Rosh Hashanah Greeting

September 24, 2014 TechyDad Doctor Who, Holidays, Judaism

The next two days are Rosh Hashanah. During this time, Jews will celebrate the new year with sweets such as apples and honey. If you are Jewish, then I’d like to wish you a very happy new year. If you aren’t Jewish, then go ahead and have some apples and honey anyway.

Addicted To Perler Beads

September 22, 2014 TechyDad Crafting, Doctor Who, Geeky Pursuits

We seem to have a new addiction in our household: Perler beads.

Have you ever used these? If not, let me explain what they are. Perler beads are tiny plastic beads.

You place them on a plastic pin board to make designs.

When your design is done, you use an iron to slightly melt the beads, keeping perler bead ironing paper – or just parchment paper – between the beads and the iron. (If you don’t, the beads might melt ONTO the iron and this would obviously not be good.)

When the ironing is done, and your creation cools, you have something very cool to play with.

My first creation, of course, was David Tennant’s Doctor.

While I was making this, NHL made an ice cream sundae.

Later, JSL joined in the fun. He wanted to make Robin from the Teen Titans TV show. We looked up an image online and worked on it together. I told him what colors to use and he placed them in. Then, I ironed it for him.

After this, I decided to look up Autism awareness patterns. I found a nice small one of the Autism "puzzle pieces." It turned out so nice that I glued it onto one of the blank tie clips I have. Yes, I plan on wearing this into the office.

I’ve also considered making more of these and attaching them to pins to wear when I don’t have a tie on.

I also made a larger one that we’ll turn into a magnet.

JSL worked on some fireman pieces (which aren’t completed enough to make for a good photo) and NHL worked on a gaming system.

Finally, B got into the act also. Previously, she been the "designated sorter" – sorting beads from the huge bucket into individual color bins.

She decided to make a butterfly for JSL to go with his Robin figure. (Long story. Basically, there’s a Teen Titans Go episode that JSL loves where Robin tries to survive in the wilderness by constantly eating butterflies and shouting "PURE PROTEIN!")

Here’s a perler bead shopping tip: You can get big buckets of beads from Amazon but we’ve found that going to local craft stores such as Jo-Ann with 40% or 50% off coupons (look in the paper or online) can help you beat that price.

As far as inspiration goes, there is a vast store of perler bead creations online that people have posted. Some are in the form of patterns for you to follow. Others are just photos that you can use to recreate the creation for yourself. These can go from the very small to the very big. The sheer variety of perler bead possibilities means that we’ll be making perler bead crafts for a long time to come.

Have you ever worked with perler beads? If so, what have you made with them?

Random Thoughts: Mayim Bialik/Frozen, Pina Colada Song, Doctor Who, and Pirates

September 19, 2014 TechyDad Disney, Doctor Who, Music

I sat down to write my next blog post and there were a couple of topics swirling about my brain. None of them seemed enough to constitute an entire blog post, so I thought I’d just mash them all together into one post comprised of four mini-posts.

Mayim Bialik and Frozen Misconceptions

Actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik recently posted about why she and her sons hate Frozen. I recognize that tastes vary from person to person and what one lauds as a great movie, another will view as a piece of trash. I’m sure Mayim could name a movie that she loves that I’d hate to have to sit through. That being said, the reasons she gave for hating it seemed misguided to me. (Note: If you haven’t seen Frozen – WHY HAVEN’T YOU?!!! Also, spoilers are ahead.)

First off, she cited the movie’s "reigning plot line" of Anna trying to find a man to marry. What I think she missed is that this plot line was there for the sole purpose of subverting it. Anna thinks she needs "true love" in the form of marrying the first guy who acts nice towards her. She doesn’t bother to get to know him beyond one night of talking. Later, when he turns out to be the villain, she makes the same mistake a second time and thinks she needs Kristoff. Granted, she *is* being turned to ice and sees Kristoff racing back towards her. Once she sees her sister is in danger, though, she drops the "gotta find a man" quest in favor of "must save my sister." THIS turns out to be what, in turn, saves Anna, not some guy’s kiss. Trope subverted.

Next, Mayim worries about the portrayal of men as scheming villains. Except Prince Hans wasn’t a scheming villain because he was a man. He was a scheming villain because he was a scheming villain. Kristoff was a man and also a nice guy. So was Anna’s father. Widening our definition of "man", we might even include Olaf and Sven. Prince Hans *was* using Anna to gain power, but it’s not male bashing to have a male villain.

Mayim’s third gripe was the "doll-like" figures and faces of Anna and Elsa. I’ll admit that, on looking at it again, they do have a certain doll-like quality about them. Then again, so does Prince Hans. Kristoff, being a mountain man and not someone who lives in a castle, seems built more ruggedly. I write this off as animator’s license. There are many different styles of animation. Not all look 100% realistic. That being said, I can understand being pulled out of a movie or show because of the animation. I’m generally not a fan of shows that flip between "normal" and "anime" modes. (Such as the old Teen Titans show.)

Do You Like Pina Coladas? And Getting Caught Cheating On Your Spouse?

I’ve been listening to the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack a lot recently. Perhaps a bit too much. I’ve started pondering meanings in the Pina Colada song. In case you’ve forgotten it, the song tells the tale of a guy and his "lovely lady" who fell into a boring routine. He was reading the personal ads in the newspaper (to the youngins out there, this was the old-style Match.com) when he came upon a listing that intrigued him. Ignoring the fact that he’s was planning on cheating on his lady, he answers the ad and arranges to meet this woman. He waits for his mystery woman in a bar and then sees his lady walk in. It turns out she was the one who placed the personal ad. They share a laugh at having tried to cheat on one another and everyone is happy. The End.

Wait, what?!!! Is the Pina Colada song seriously suggesting that cheating on your significant other will relieve relationship doldrums? Granted it might, but only to replace them with a relationship tornado that rips everything (i.e. your relationship) to shreds. Pretty much any other action other than cheating (or attempted cheating) will be better that this.

Like I said, I might have been listening to this a bit too much.

Bored By The Doctor

I feel traitorous saying this, but I’m not liking the new episodes of Doctor Who. The first one seemed confused, but I chalked that up to the Doctor having just regenerated and not quite being all there mentally. However, the following episodes didn’t seem up to par either. I’m not sure if this is all part of Steven Moffat’s Season 8 Grand Plan, but he’d better kick it up a notch soon. Take, for example, Listen. (Spoilers ahead.) The episode seemed promising. It started getting interesting. And then it seemed to go nowhere. The Great Villain evaporated into nothingness and was never there at all. It was a big letdown. It doesn’t even seem to be Peter Capaldi’s fault. I actually like his Doctor. I’m not sure I like him more than Matt Smith’s and definitely not more than David Tennant’s, but he’s good. However, he doesn’t seem to be getting good episodes. Capaldi can only do so much. Here’s hoping these Doctor Doldrums let up soon. (Meanwhile, I’ll be "cheating" on the Doctor with Sherlock. Amazing show!)

Avast, me Hearties

Arrrr… Today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day, ye swabs. So hoist the colors and grab ye treasure maps or ye shall be keel hauled!

There you have it. Four completely different topics mashed together into one nice post! Hope your weekend is great, and slightly random in only the best of ways.

NOTE: The image above is comprised of "Brain" by trubinial guru, "Pirate’s Boat – Navire Pirate" by cyberscooty, "Tardis" by tatica, "Single Snowflake" by erik_, and "Music Note" by cyberscooty. All of these images are available via OpenClipArt.org.

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