Box Method

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(C)Copyright 2020, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

I used to have a coworker who was so convinced that Ken was based on him that he was shocked when I pointed out that Ken had neither a beard nor mustache.

But give him some time off, and who knows what will happen.

I have been keeping busy in my house, so I didn't get to address the issue of using the Area model (aka, the Box Method) for multiply 2- and 3-digit numbers. In the past couple of weeks, an example floated around social media of a front-line worker who couldn't do the "new math" with their child, and just did it the "old way". This, I understand. The outpouring of ridicule for the new math ... well, I guess I understand that, too, because people haven't learned it, or More Importantly, learned WHY it's being taught this way.

Side note: an issue I did bring up on Twitter is that, when first rolled out, some instructors didn't know why they were doing this either. They just did it because they were told to, and they might not have even done that much well because of resistance. Learning it that way would make the core knowledge behind it difficult to scale up.

If I ever do write an article, I'd likely reference Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles 2, when he ponders "Why did they change math?" The superhero reference is not accidental since I would be addressing an essential worker who is giving their all out there while many of us aren't leaving our homes. But, he did eventually get it, and understand it.

If a student learns rules, they may be able to recite them from memory, and maybe they can apply them through rote. On the other hand, if a student develops the Number Sense and makes the connections, the extra steps in the first exercise can be used over and over through high school into college with more advanced topics. Along the way, they can build layers upon layers on their foundation.

Odds are I won't get around to writing that blog post, because I never seem to. But at least there is this entry, so my plans aren't totally FOILed.




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