Back to Basics in Seattle School - Fuzzy math on its way out but not without a fight

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=math06m&date=20061006&query=chinese+new+year+seattle+teacherI just found this searching for Chinese New Years, of all places.
Gung hay fat choy, or whatever that is.
My family tradition "It was Chinese New Years last week, wasn't it?"

Friday, October 06, 2006
Educators take different routes to get back to the basics in math
By Linda Shaw


"Ready, set, start," Atkinson says, and they're off. For the next three minutes, students work steadily and silently while Atkinson watches the time.

Later, the North Beach Elementary room buzzes with conversation as students work with small, brightly colored blocks for a math lesson on area. But the timed exercise, which they do every morning, is the kind of practice that some argue is too rare in Washington classrooms.

One of their solutions to the state's math problems: Bring back more drills.

"I know people hate the 'drill and kill,' but I call it skill-building," said M.J. McDermott, a North Beach parent and meteorologist for KCPQ-TV. "You kind of have to get through the work to get the fluency."

Everyone agrees students need to learn the basics in math. The influential National Council of Teachers of Mathematics reinforced that view last month by repeating what its leaders say they've always said: Fourth-graders should multiply whole numbers fluently. Second-graders should quickly recall the sum of two plus five.

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