Yes, another media campaign. Long time followers of my blogs know I'm likely to jump on and off various fast-moving media campaigns, some of which I help source, spin doctor that I be (highly paid? Sliding scale).
Remember the Kite campaign? How about the Mite campaign?
The former linked to "kites" by Alexander Graham Bell, but also to Penrose "kites and darts" (aperiodic tilers). The Mite is a space-filling not-regular tetrahedron, so: "Aristotle was right! Remember the MITE!" (that was Bucky Fuller's name for a "MInimum TEtrahedron" consisting of A and B modules).
The new campaign is about countering the Common Core's mind-wasting "base 10 only" approach. The curriculum outline suggests only base 10 is important and only base 10 algorithms will be tested, no conversion into and out of hex. "Convert to Hex!" is a way to counter.
In Portland, our public schools serve mentally retarding lead in the water, like the HUD houses. PPS has plans to offer more content online starting this September, for the average home schooler still interested in getting a public education. Taxpayers have every right to this service, just write to the Governor if you don't believe me.
The impetus to stay home will increase with the knowledge that "base 10 only", just like "English only" (with punishment if you speak anything "more N8V or i18n"), are both linked to the "while we figure it out" mentality i.e. adults with a demonstrated inability to cope. These are not your role model teachers, by any stretch of the imagination. Your role model teachers are on your side, not theirs.
Fortunately, Oregon is being proactive and offering professional development courses to its rank and file teachers, especially its math teachers. I don't think with Silicon Forest and ONAMI in the picture, we're a state that can afford any "base 10 only" brain-killer curriculum. Common Core is a fine place to start, on paper, but if not transcended immediately, you're stuck in a mental slums. Escape! Seek freedom! Learn Hex!
