Half of One Thousand
So on Friday last week I was doing a worksheet that involved my students learning that there are 1,000 mL in a Liter. As I was walking around helping students to complete it I found that one or two students in each class were really struggling. I asked them the easiest question to start.
"If you divide 1,000 mL into two containers how many mL would each one have?"
"I don't know"
"Well, what do you get if you divide 1,000 in half?"
"I don't know"
"Do you know what half of 1,000 is?"
"No"
"Can you make a guess?" (Me thinking they are just shy)
"40?"
"Hmmm.... try again"
"100?"
"Hmmm... can you write out 1000 divided by 2 on your page?"
"No, I don't know how."
Hmmm... I go on to try using money thinking maybe it would click. No luck. What do I do when I have kids in my class that don't know how to divide and I am supposed to teach concepts that require algebra? This happens every year but for some reason I just felt like venting my frustration.
"If you divide 1,000 mL into two containers how many mL would each one have?"
"I don't know"
"Well, what do you get if you divide 1,000 in half?"
"I don't know"
"Do you know what half of 1,000 is?"
"No"
"Can you make a guess?" (Me thinking they are just shy)
"40?"
"Hmmm.... try again"
"100?"
"Hmmm... can you write out 1000 divided by 2 on your page?"
"No, I don't know how."
Hmmm... I go on to try using money thinking maybe it would click. No luck. What do I do when I have kids in my class that don't know how to divide and I am supposed to teach concepts that require algebra? This happens every year but for some reason I just felt like venting my frustration.
posted by Wendy at 4:08 PM
4 Comments:
Well I honestly feel for those kids. Somewhere along the way they were failed.
I was one of those kids. Now I can say that I know what 1000 divided by 2 is (yay me), but I am mathematically challenged. I have been known to count on my fingers (in sign language so it is more discrete) and I struggle to find out the cost of something when it is on sale at some odd percentage off.
I would just say take your time with them, but don't call them out in class or they won't even TRY to learn as it will be embarrassing. Maybe keep them after class if you can and give them some "practice" work for home to help them.
Good luck :)
I think that is just sad! Hopefully technology will help that child get a job where they don't have to do any math. I wish parents understood the importance of basics while their children are young and took an active interest in seeing that they don't get left behind. So often I hear parents say that grades aren't important until they attend high school by then it's too late. If the basics aren't there then there is nothing to build on. Education is important beginning at day one.
Oh...I feel for you. We just had a similar problem in the econ class that I was helping with, and one girl didn't know how many months were in a year. It's tough to figure out interest if you don't know that!
Wow, amazing - lots of people failed on that one.
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