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In reply to the discussion: Common Core teaches Gettysburg Address with no context or background. Unbelievable. [View all]RC
(25,592 posts)I taught applied math in a high school electronics class. One day, as I was writing a math problem on the board and explaining it as I went, I noticed the lights going on around the class room. I stopped and ask what was going on. It seems that most of the class had algebra that morning and they had the exact same problem. In that class, the math problems were just put out there, without any context. I'm sure I improve the algebra grades of several students that afternoon on their weekly algebra quiz.
Anyway, I called the teacher after class and she told me she had to teach it that way. She would have liked to teach applied math, but they would not let her teach it that way. Each problem had to stand alone, with little to no context. This was in the mid 90's.
So I do have some experience with what works and what does not.