Matt Has a Choice — Shouldn't We?

Matt Damon is moving his family to Hollywood and recognized—like many of us have—how important it is to find just the right school for our kids. His decision to now avoid rather than embrace public schools, however, seems to indicate that what he once thought "unquantifiable" just two years ago is now something measurable. What has changed and has he betrayed his mother?

Mr. Damon and his spouse have elected to send their children to a private school "that most matches the public education that [he] had, but that kind of progressive education no longer exists in the public system." This decision apparently was not made lightly, as seen in this excerpt from the recent Guardian interview with him about his cross-country move—

Choosing a school has already presented a major moral dilemma. "Sending our kids in my family to private school was a big, big, big deal. And it was a giant family discussion. But it was a circular conversation, really, because ultimately we don't have a choice. I mean, I pay for a private education and I'm trying to get the one that most matches the public education that I had, but that kind of progressive education no longer exists in the public system. It's unfair." Damon has campaigned against teachers' pay being pegged to children's test results: "So we agitate about those things, and try to change them, and try to change the policy, but you know, it's a tough one."

Why Math Class is Harder than English Class

Most students complain that math is their hardest subject.

Many adults agree.
Including teachers.
Students’ scores on quizzes and tests and their class grades seem to bear this out.
Why?

Poetry, that’s why.
Well, poetry and polynomials.

Factoring & Versifying

A couple years ago I had a gig tutoring Fiona, a 12^th grader, in algebra, specifically in the area of factoring polynomials, and I gained insight into why students come to believe that math can kill you while English class is a breeze.

Fiona was failing Algebra 2, but together we found ways to transfer her strengths in understanding English literature and interpreting poetry to math, thereby successfully navigating the last semester and avoiding disaster and insanity. It turned out that poetry and polynomials have a lot in common!

The Poetry-Polynomial Connection

At that level, polynomials come in three general flavors—two-term (binomials), three-term (trinomials), and four-term (four-term polynomials)—and Fiona was having trouble mastering the six methods used to factor them, as well as identifying the patterns that cue her as to which method to use when. Teachers typically spend a month on the topic, taking up about ten 90-minute blocks of classroom time of extended torture for many teenagers.

Despite Fiona declaring that she “hates math and math hates her,” we began working on factoring by Greatest Common Factor (GCF), Grouping, deFOILing, Difference of Squares, Difference of Cubes, and Sum of Cubes methods.

Is High School Math “Useless Nonsense”?

You're in the merge lanes exiting from Route 28 onto 7 West on your way back to Leesburg. Progress toward home is being measured in fits and starts of inches and sighs; engines and tempers verge on overheating. You've already merged left toward Route 7's lanes when a car zooms by you on your right, shooting up the empty lane to nose into the long line of waiting cars at the last possible moment. Another goes by. Then another. You reconsider your decision to be considerate. The exhaust-enclouded line suddenly seems endless, and you ask yourself, "Should I 'cheat' too and get home sooner?"

Well, should you? Is it worth the dirty looks and gestures from the "considerate" drivers to be one of the line budgers? Or do you become one of the "vigilantes" who punish the "sidezoomers" by blocking them? So many options to choose from, so many decisions to make! What's a "non-math" person to do?

The World is Divided Between “Math People” and “Non-Math People,” Right?

"So even if you dislike math in high school, you might end up needing it [in college]," Steven Howlett states in his article "The Glories of Math! Or Not ..." in an issue of the student newspaper at the high school I work at. In the same article, co-author Michael Fackelmann concludes – after surveying his parents at the dinner table and teachers in school – that high school math is “useless nonsense,” and that no one ever uses "complex formulas and problem solving methods ... in real life situations."
Not ever.