I may be late to the game on this one, but if you haven’t already read this article about teaching and education “reform” in the New York Times, I’d encourage you to take a few minutes and check it out.

The part that had me saying, “this. THIS!” in my head:

“It’s one thing to know that 307 minus 168 equals 139; it is another thing to be able understand why a third grader might think that 261 is the right answer. Mathematicians need to understand a problem only for themselves; math teachers need both to know the math and to know how 30 different minds might understand (or misunderstand) it.”

That is a hard, hard thing and I honestly never had a math teacher who was any good at it.

I am beyond proud that my older sister is going to be teaching the next generation of math teachers. These are not things that can change overnight, but I have no doubt she is going to be part of the solution.