I'm not sure if the "Round up to the nearest 5, then the nearest
10 until you reach your goal number" is necessarily going to be
THE way that adding/subtracting is going to be taught in
Florida; (this is the method that is generating ALL the
controversy in Common Core Math) - but as far as State Standards
go, the *requirements* for grade-by-grade really don't have to
change a whole heck of a lot. And... apparently, you STILL have
to "show your work"; *and* if you do your math in a "different"
way and get the right answer, you're still marked "wrong"
because you didn't follow the steps they teach. *sigh*. I
understand *why* they're trying to standardize the way people
think about numbers... but... well, it's sort of like learning
to touch-type. You don't HAVE TO USE THE HOME KEYS to type at
top-notch speeds. I know two finger typists that rival *my* 110
wpm speed. I like the homekeys because I'm lazy and don't like
to move much. But I ALSO know that there are MANY ways to type.
And.. there are MANY WAYS to get the same answer in math. To me,
they should teach *and allow* _ALL OF THE WAYS_ to do math; When
you ALREADY have mental models for math that *work* and are
*correct*; but are different from whatever the "fad of the day"
teaching-style is; you get marked as WRONG. And... when you're
told you're WRONG when you have the right answer, is
demoralizing to confidence; slows down advanced learners to a
snail's pace.. and generates a "Why Bother Trying" attitude that
can last for decades. Killing creativity at a young age kills
future innovation. But at least the standards being reached for
in Florida aren't changing much. I just hope the teaching
METHODS don't get too wacky. To know their effectiveness a
generation has to grow up with the new methods; and... EVERYBODY
is part of the grand experiment. *sigh* I guess education has
always been a series of gigantic social experiments
