Deseret News | Math whizzes: Teachers boost Draper Elementary

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Math whizzes: Teachers boost Draper Elementary

Steven Jarvis | 6:41 p.m. Sept. 29, 2009

This was by far the best Canyons District PR article I have read. I was also appreciative that the article gave JSD credit where it was due to make what has happened at Draper elementary possible.

Bad Headline | 4:07 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Phew! I thought the headline to this story meant something else entirely. Should use the word "whizzes" very carefully!

@Steven Jarvis | 4:50 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

What do you expect? The most recent Deseret News education reporter is now Canyons' PR person.

Comments continue below

Grateful Parent | 6:09 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I am constantly delighted by the high quality of teachers in the state of Utah. Thank you for your outstanding teaching skills and for caring for your students.

Not so fast | 6:51 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

"A school full of math whiz educators "is something to be celebrated," said Tamra Baker"
_____________________

That depends, A teacher having the wrong kind of education can actually detract from educational attainment of students. It wasn't people schooled in educatioin that came up with investigations math (using calculators instead of learning how to do math by hand) or trying to learn to read without phonix. To get teachers to teach that way, required that the common sense be schooled out of them.

Mark Twain said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".

Love Math | 7:05 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I have always thought that one of the big problems with kids understanding math is that in elementary school we have so many non-mathematicians teaching young children. As a private tutor, I see many students that totally missed basic understanding in mathematical principles and never have been taught math with any fun or enthusiasm.

Kudos to these teachers who have spent so many hours to improve their skills and build their enthusiasm for teaching math. May many more follow their stellar example.

Parent | 7:08 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

The wall in this classroom looks like a warehouse. Math is great, but it goes down easier with color, art, and student achievements on the walls of the classroom.

This just in: | 7:56 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Education in one's field makes one better at their job!

I hope she believes in basics | 8:06 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I admire that this teacher bothered to get a masters degree with emphasis in math.

I hope she is a teacher committed to teaching the basics of arithmetic as well as problem solving.

Students do better in in math when they learn number sense by learning to add/subtract/multiply/divide fractions and decimals,

Unfortunately not all teachers in the elementary schools believe in the basics anymore.

former UT teacher | 8:16 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

LOOK--shocker!!! Another freaking story on Canyon's school district!!! The person in charge of the education section in the Des News must live in the district; or maybe is married to the new school superintendent or something.

There are A LOT of school districts in UT....and perhaps it is time the Des News gets over their east side/Canyons bias!!!!

Clem | 8:17 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

What this article ignores is the unfairness of public education in Salt Lake County. While schools in affluent areas such as Draper are provided with expert teachers in math and other areas, the schools on the less-affluent West Side are not given the same benefit. This is the opposite of what should happen. The kids in Draper already have all of the advantages, they do not need an extra advantage in this area as well.

James | 8:18 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

GO DRAPER DRAGONS!!

Good education cost money | 8:54 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

"The kids in Draper already have all of the advantages, they do not need an extra advantage in this area as well."

If the legislature would make teaching not such a low paid profession, more people of higher caliber could be attracted to the profession, which would allow standards in math to be raised for all of Utah.

As it is, there are too many kids who get out of elementary not knowing the fundamentals.

re: Parent | 9:39 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I have to agree with Parent. That classroom is a very barren looking place. These might be great teachers, but they have not provided a very stimulating learning environment!

Good for them | 9:46 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Math and science are going to solve the world's problems. Not politics.

Stuart G. Crump | 9:50 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I applaud these teachers for furthering their education and I hope they do great things there.

We must remember, however, that research shows that advanced degrees are not a significant factor in improving teacher performance or student achievement, just like piles and piles of certifications are not either. Certainly, the more education the better, but what matters most is a teacher's personal ability to communicate ideas to students, whether he or she learned that from school, their parents, or the PTA.

Good luck!

Sasha Pachev | 10:16 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

It is my belief that the foundation of math capabilities of a child is laid in the kitchen. I grew up in Moscow, Russia. My mother had a PhD in Chemistry and we talked science at home. But she only knew that much math, so after a while I was on my own.
I did OK. Won the Math Olympiad in my district, got the honorable participant award in the city Olympiad, and made it through the entrance exams at the Math department of the Moscow State University. But once in college I noticed something odd. I and some other kids around me had to struggle to learn the concepts of higher math, while there were guys here and there that seemed to be absorbing those ideas naturally. I wondered why that was. Then I realized something. Their parents were professional mathematicians, and the things we were hearing for the first time in first/second year of college (which by US standards would be graduate level classes) they learned at a much younger age from their parents during a dinner conversation.
So it does not matter what teachers you hire. The parents need to do it right at home.

re: former UT teacher | 10:19 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

So "freaking" glad you aren't teaching my children English skills.

Solution | 10:46 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

So why don't you stop complaining and start volunteering to change that "barren" looking wall!!!

anon | 10:52 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

According to my math, a square classroom has four walls. Go to the school and check out the other three walls before you pass judgement. You might be surprised.

Parent | 10:53 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

A story about a regular school instead of a charter. Nice.

Seriously there are lots of good things happening all over the schools of Utah. The teachers should be applauded as well as the parents, not to mention the kids themselves.

We are lucky to be living here where people still care about their kids.

Now if the legislature would just stop seeing public ed and teachers as their enemies instead of their allies...

Aker | 10:57 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Re: Parent - While I agree that the walls of that classroom appear a bit spartan I disagree that decorations make for better learning.

I'm an education consultant who works for the OECD to design examinations used to compare students from different countries. I have visited all of the top performing school systems including Japan, Finland and Singapore and can tell you that the average classroom in those countries makes a US classroom look like a luxury spa.

Japanese classrooms in particular are virtually void of anything hung on the walls. Wooden desks in neat rows face a chalkboard and a teacher. The teachers are well-trained and spend much more time teaching concepts and higher-order thinking skills than their American counterparts. They would rather spend money on teacher training than on the school building. In most classrooms in Japan there is no central heating or air conditioning. I saw similar conditions in all the top performing school systems except Canada which outperforms the US but has similar classrooms and buildings.

My son's school here in the US is beautifully decorated and nicely appointed but most of the students are already behind their top-scoring counterparts.

RU Kidding | 11:38 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Do all these teachers really understand math or are they given a line by the colleges so that they feel better? I have yet to find a teacher who has gotten a "math endorsement" in the elementary arena that really understands where math is headed. That is they really don't know Algebra, trig or even Calculus for that matter. They teach kids different ways to do math but is that an efficient way to teach math or does it just make the teacher and the kid feel better. Where is the data that supports what is happening? We should all be demanding about where the data is and why is there such a differential between kids who are taught at home the basics and the kids who just learn at school. What was said about the Canyon's teachers is just fluff that has no real substance.

Cool Story | 12:15 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Fun story--it's such a plus to be taught math by teachers who obviously love it. I had a series of fantastic math teachers and it changed the way I saw the world.

On the Wall | 12:17 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

It isn't a WALL - it is a WHITEBOARD that the teacher WRITES on and changes what she teaches. Visit a classroom to understand this.

How did a math article turn in to a wall discussion?

Not Quite | 12:31 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

re

Good for them | 9:46 a.m. Sept. 30, 2009
Math and science are going to solve the world's problems. Not politics.

---------------------

Close but no cigar. Kids also need proper socialization. Without moral training we could be another 3rd Reich, the Germans in WW2 were not lacking in Science or Math education.

re RU Kidding : 11:38am Sept 30 | 12:38 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

"I have yet to find a teacher who has gotten a "math endorsement" in the elementary arena that really understands where math is headed. That is they really don't know Algebra, trig or even Calculus for that matter".

______________________________

Teachers in elementary really don't need to know higher math, what they need is a dose of common sense. They need to know that silly games having to do with math are not a substitute for kids learning the math basics, the fundamentals of arithmetic, and in addition to that they should learn problem solving.

All this will help prepare them for higher math.

Problem is too many teachers / "educators" have gotten away from having kids learn any basics. Schools of education are ever learning but seldom able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

We as parents need to take it back. We don't need a bunch of schooled idiots teaching the kids.

Incidently if you are an elementary teacher who teaches math properly don't be offended. If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it.

To RU kidding form SIAM | 12:45 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Yeah because the elementary kids should be learning CALCULUS.

Look at the orient, europe, etc.

Great! | 12:54 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Now if we could just get a few math whizzes at the District offices, there'd really be something to crow about!

Re: Not quite | 1:14 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I wasn't saying that morals are unnecessary, but we have so much moral and social training in school now that the kids can't even do basic algebra after high school...after TWELVE YEARS of school they can't even understand enough math to balance a budget or grasp the concept of interest. (And we wonder why we're in this economic mess!) Many of my peers in college are still stuck on basic mathematical and scientific principles which govern the world we are expected to live in. Are morals important? Absolutely. But we spend too much time on that and not enough on the basics.

You guys are silly. | 2:43 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Why would a math genius take a job teaching elementary? Duh! If you want the best students math schools have to offer, pay the most. The market could change education if allowed to function. That would mean parents paying a whole lot more for their child's education than they currently do (private schools aside!).

Anonymous | 3:37 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

"It wasn't people schooled in educatio in that came up with investigations math (using calculators instead of learning how to do math by hand) or trying to learn to read without phonics."

Phonics isn't the end all in reading. Did you sound out "phonix?"

Charters > most public schools | 4:23 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

While charter schools do work better than most public schools, it because the parents are the school board. The administration and the teachers listen. Parents really care and haven't had the common sense educated out of them.

But the free market isn't always superior. Who would want to let another Enron take over distribution and pricing of electricity and give up our current regulatory sytem.

Or who would want banks who are motivated by greed and profit and many of them almost or did go bankrupt because of their gambling and risk taking ways - over credit unions who weathered this economic storm much better? Credit Unions are motivated by wanting to provide a good service to the people.

My take on all this | 4:29 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

This lady may indeed by a whiz at math, but I'd never guess it by her formal education.

Getting a masters in education with math emphasis doesn't strike me as making one a whiz at math.

If you want to be a whiz at math, get a math (not math education) degree, or get a degree in physics, chemistry or electrical engineering.

$$Gee Golly$$ | 5:05 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

I grew up on the west side and later taught short term assignments at 3 schools on the east side and 5 on the west (mainly middle schools) and saw a horrible difference.

Tax dollars should go strictly to all schools evenly. Donations to individual schools should not be allowed but that any donation must be recorded and divided between all schools in the state equally or according to student head count.

I support flat tax and I support equal opportunity under a 'real capitalist' system rather than the already socialist/hybrid/dicator-capitalist system we currently live in.

Commenters are brutal on this site very often but the majority of people I have spoken with from different backgrounds that live on the west side feel the same way, so though may think I am outlandish many and most people on the west side recognize a good part of my claim.

Another example: I have often wondered why WVC park is as bad as it is and Sugar House/Murray Parks are amazing (ie. well kept flowers, the water, facilities).

Tax dollars should be spread evenly or else the east side can pay for private "rich/capital" parks.

Myth Buster | 6:06 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

"While charter schools do work better than most public schools"

MYTH

Some Charters are phenomenal. Some need improvement. Some traditional public schools are phenomenal. Some need improvement.

Let me edit your first sentence for you:

"While SOME charter schools do work better than SOME public schools..."

Good start | 7:18 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

This country is way behind in math education and falling further behind every day. That's a good start to boost math in the elementary age. But the "math whiz" elementary teachers' math skills likely fall short of a foreign high school student. We need to focus even more on the older grades, so there will actually be some natural born students going to college that have decent math/science skills.

re: Solution | 8:22 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Thanks for your wonderful suggestion, although I wasn't complaining. I already do much more than volunteer. I am a full time junior high teacher with 11 years of experience, so I know something about creating a positive learning environment. I have worked very hard to set up a classroom that students love.

All math teachers | 8:52 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

should be proficient in AT LEAST basic calculus. While they obviously won't be teaching that in elementary school, there are some fundamental principles of mathematics that are very simple, yet have everything to do with the higher maths. If a teacher understands higher math then they will be able to teach it in a way that later on, when the student encounters these principles in a higher form, they will be able to easily recognize them and adapt accordingly.

Do we realize that currently the state of Utah only requires 2 years of math in high school? Most kids come out of high school with virtually no understanding of trig or calculus and only a very basic understanding of algebra if you are lucky. This is unacceptable. After 12 years of education, most students are perfectly capable of understanding and succeeding in calculus, advanced algebra, or other higher math.

Need better pay | 9:36 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

To "All math teachers"

This is easier said than done. Most people who are proficient in higher mathematics don't go into school teaching. They will make much more money going into other professions requiring high math skills.

complain, complain, complain | 11:18 p.m. Sept. 30, 2009

Everyone likes to complain about the quality of education in this country, but no one has any apt solutions. It always seems to fall on the heads of the teachers. "Teachers don't teach my little Sally the basics." What about parental responsibility? As Americans we complain about our teachers work ethic; but as parents we allow our children to watch an average of 4 hours of television a night after school. What is wrong with this picture? Other countries out perform us academically because we tell our children that entertainment is far more important than reading, or doing homework.
As a teacher I rarely have any of my students turn in reading minutes even though it is a requirement for their grade. As parents we tell our children everyday that academic work is far less important than filling our minds with the boob tube. We will never catch up to other countries until we get our priorities in order. No teacher will ever replace mom & dad.

Anonymous | 5:56 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Investigations Math was created as part of an initiative from the National Science Foundation. If Canyons wants to use it, let them.

Thanks Jordan | 7:48 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

I too am glad to see the Canyons FINALLY giving Jordan some credit for a program they inherited! And is truly a program that kids can benefit from.

Anonymous | 8:45 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Utah requires 3 years of math to graduate.

Get up to date.

RE complain | 10:13 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

you're absolutely correct. But we also need to make school less of a social gathering and nursery and more of a rigorous learning environment.

How I would accomplish this if I were king:

4 years math at least to the precalculus level (if the student can't reach that in 4 years of high school, then require them take extra classes until they do)

3 years of "hard" sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, etc)

3 years of Writing/English including the senior year

2 years of History (1 U.S., 1 World)

2 years of electives that are in the student's career interest areas (ex. intro to X field of study: business, computers, social studies, economics, engineering, medical, etc, or additional courses from the general requirement areas),

1 year of vocational or arts/music

1 semester personal/family finance (senior year)
1 semester career exploration (freshman year)

All courses must be completed with a "C-" or better.

Subjects to completely eliminate from general high school requirements: weak "science" (like "earth systems"), PE, and Teen Health. Social studies should not be a requirement, but a "career" elective.

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