Common Core Mythbusting

If you've been on Facebook for any amount of time, one of your online friends has probably posted a video similar to this one:

There is a plethora of videos similar to this one, and most of them have sensationalized, click-bait titles:

• Arkansas Mother Obliterates Common Core in Four Minutes!
• COMMON CORE MATH MAKES SIMPLE ARITHMETIC AS COMPLEX AS CALCULUS!
• Proof Common Core is Killing Common Sense
• Teaching Math in Bizarro World
• New Common Core Math Doesn't Add Up
• Common Core Teacher Takes Nearly a Minute to Solve 9+6=15
• Common Core Assignment Makes No Sense to Dad
• Common Core Makes Me Mad

Along with the headlines, these videos tend to share a common two-pronged thesis: There is a specific Common Core method in math, and it is ridiculously hard and confusing in comparison to how math has traditionally been taught. 

For anyone who accepts the information in these videos at face-value, this is an effective argument. The method shown in the video I've posted and in so many others does seem at first to be overly-complicated, especially when explained in a confusing manner by someone whose intent is to make you believe that it is. And we're all familiar enough with basic addition and subtraction that when the video goes on to make a comparison to the carry and borrow method we learned in grade school, our initial reaction is probably agreement with the narrator that it doesn't make any sense.

Fortunately, in education, we're not in the business of accepting information at face value, and a critical look at either part of the argument shows that there is nothing complex about it, that it does add up in a way that is far more natural for the human brain than borrowing and carrying, and that it makes perfect sense when explained well by a good teacher. 

The first part of the anti-Core argument--that there is a specific method prescribed by the Core--is patently false. There isn't one, and I would challenge anyone who says there is to go to the Common Core website or the excellent Iowa Core website and find it. (For that matter, I would encourage anyone to explore these sites whether they believe the myth or not, just to be more informed about the standards that have become so vital in American education.)

The second part of the argument--that "Common Core math" is confusing and over-complicated--involves a little more critical thinking. In the case of the video above, it took a second viewing for me to realize that what was being shown was simply how I do math in my head. It's been said that there are three kinds of people: Those who are good at math, and those who aren't. (On Facebook, that sentence would be followed by an obligatory "LOL.") That may be true to an extent, but for many people who struggle with mental math, it's possible they're trying to carry and borrow in their heads. That method works well on paper, but poorly when attempted mentally. Mental math is a different animal, and it looks like the method that is ridiculed in so many anti-Core videos. 

In fact, when it's explained by a teacher whose purpose is for his students to learn an effective math strategy, it's not complicated at all.

For more information on debunking Common Core mythology, google "Common Core myths."