Just a quick thread here:

For every student that grew up in a pre-2000s math classroom loving mad minutes, rote teaching, and math in general, there is another who developed crippling anxiety and hatred of math because of traditional, top-down content delivery. (1/6) https://twitter.com/davidstaplesyeg/status/1341760874118217728

Staples’ obsession with denouncing “discovery math” is extremely shortsighted. His angst focuses on the students who learned well in those old-style math classes and completely ignores the students who struggled mightily from the cookie-cutter approach of days gone by. (2/6)

Education is NOT one-size-fits-all and pretending the old way was the best way is a slap in the face to all those adults who walk around still scarred from the embarrassment of learning in math classrooms that weren’t designed to afford them the opportunity for success. (3/6)

It’s also a slap in the face to the droves of students in today’s math classrooms that succeed because their diverse learning needs are met by teachers who rightfully differentiate their mathematics teaching. (4/6)

Those students would grow up to become adults with math anxieties who hate numeracy, if not for caring, devoted teachers who utilize a diverse array of strategies to accommodate for ALL LEARNERS and learning styles (visual, kinesthetic, concrete, and yes, traditional). (5/6)

It’s a damned shame that PostMedia affords David Staples a platform to disenfranchise and undermine the educators who work tirelessly to provide programming that is inclusive of all mathematics students. He is not an expert or an educator, nor is he correct. Fin. (6/6)