Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Small vent about geometry class

My eldest attends a charter school. The advertisements present the school as being big into math and science.

They offer geometry in 8th grade. During the first half of the year, the teacher only finished a third of the textbook. She has to finish the course by the end of the academic year, and so on the first day back after the break, she announced that they'd be skipping most of the right triangle chapter and that they wouldn't be doing any more proofs. The proofs were already watered down as it was (the book provided the steps and the kids just had to fill in the theorems or postulates), but now they're completely gone.

I thought the proofs were a huge part of geometry. I thought that they were a critical step in teaching students how mathematics works.

I suppose I shouldn't care too much about this, because they decided to let my son study independently (this is why it's only a small vent). He uses an excellent old textbook, not the poor-quality one his school uses. So things are about as good as they can get for him in this school.

Yet I'm watching this situation unfold and thinking that it's emblematic of our entire public education system. The other kids in his class are being cheated. It is so painful to watch. We water down the textbooks to make the material "accessible" and when it's still too much, we just skip stuff and pretend that the kids are still learning geometry. Then these kids get to college and wonder why they get stuck in remedial classes or wonder why college-level material is too hard for them.

And no one cares about the gifted kids, because as DS's teacher says, "there's no such thing as a mathy mind."

This is a horrible development. The principles of right triangles are the basis for Trig, which is one of the most incredibly useful mathematics in the world (engineering, astronomy, etc.). Geometric proofs are one of the first exposures to logical thinking. She's basically throwing out the most beneficial parts of the subject because she didn't manage her time well.

-

I'm sorry to hear about that Val. I agree that some of the most important concepts are being ignored. At least your son wont be too affected.


I'd probably go ballistic if a teacher said that to me. My dad went off on my brother's teacher once... made her cry... we were in Catholic school at the time, so she was a nun. That didn't save her. I don't condone his actions... but understand the frustration.

Yeah, that.

Update: they started the chapter on right triangles on Monday and are having the chapter test tomorrow. They skipped the intro to trig and everything that went with it. All they covered was Pythagoras and 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangle side relationships. No proofs.

I'm sorry to hear this, and it's giving me some push to look into the geometry that my child will take next year.
FWIW -- I think AOPS has a very challenging geometry course, one I would take even after taking the "basics" at school.

Sounds like she's budgeting her time to get through the material that will allow the kids to get the material they'll need for mandated school testing - which at our schools is directly related to teacher performance. Pity.

My husband made a math teacher cry over a similar issue - he asked enough questions that it became apparent the teacher was in over her head and was just following the teacher manual, didn't understand the building blocks or foundations involved in what she was teaching.

yeah, seriously. but then again, she could skip circles too.

Actually, what we've done in response to this is water down college too. Which makes it a self-fulfilling prophesy that "anyone can do college level work."