Brady Fukumoto

Fighting for fact fluency since 2009

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

Most folks who think they are bad at math are really just bad at arithmetic.

"I used to be good at math," they muse. "I got As in elementary but wasn't smart enough for fractions (or long division or algebra)"

It's not your fault, it's the flawed system. Here's proof.

(1/5)

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

This is true. Effective inquiry teaching requires subtlety, timing and keen attention.

Like meditation, it is extremely difficult in a chaotic, under-resourced, over-sized classroom.

[Drew Perkins @dperkinsed]

Saying inquiry teaching doesn't work because you struggle with it is kinda like saying meditation doesn't work because you couldn't quiet your mind.

Often, the educators who dismiss inquiry-based learning seem to lack the exact skills and mindset it's designed to build.

[Will Oremus @WillOremus]

My first story for @TheAtlantic is about how ed tech slop is taking over American classrooms.

[MacKenzie Price @mackenzieprice]

The worst time to work on your math facts is when you're learning Algebra.

If students are using their working memory to figure out 4x5, they have less mental capacity available to learn more advanced concepts.

For this reason, our students practice fast math to mastery.

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

@mathillustrated Yes, the problem is when learning never goes beyond arithmetic tricks but that has no bearing on the tricks themselves.

Tricks (strategies) are just patterns, and recognizing patterns is how students develop number sense. I can't see why anyone would say they are not so good.

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

Memorizing arithmetic tables to the point of fluency is the least interesting part of math but crucial to solving more interesting problems later on.

[Ralph Pantozzi @mathillustrated]

“I remember learning lots of little tricks like this in my math classes growing up. There’s nothing wrong with learning tricks if they help you remember things. The problem is when the math students are asked to do doesn’t get much beyond this kind of memorization.” - @ehanford

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

@mathillustrated So you disagree with the passage you quoted? 🧐

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

@mathillustrated Japan is also notoriously indifferent to things like "testing anxiety".

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

@mathillustrated It's common sense that tests you are bad at cause more anxiety than tests you are good at.

That's different from giving poor performers extra attention that doesn't end up easing their anxiety. Which to me says more about the quality of the attention than any inborn anxiety.

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

Shows the importance of arithmetic fluency, which is culturally ubiquitous in Japan.

It allows for class-wide exploration into subtle intricacies and patterns of math, all of which would be impossible without fluency.

[Ralph Pantozzi @mathillustrated]

In Japan, teachers would ask students to come up with their own procedures for solving problems. A typical class might begin with the teacher giving students a word problem…The students come up with as many ways as they can to solve the problem. #iTeachMath

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

The most revealing sentence from @ddmeyer's obituary for AI tutors.

It's clear that asking great questions is THE crucial skill for kids growing into the modern age of AI.

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

In the age of AI, asking great questions is way more important than knowing lots of answers.

[Anna Stokke @rastokke]

If students struggle with fraction arithmetic, algebra is inaccessible. If they struggle with basic number operations (including times tables), fractions are inaccessible. Math is hierarchical & gaps compound. There's no way around it. We have to get math right in primary.

[Kyle Aretae @aretae]

@garrytan 10k hours tutoring + teaching math.
~All failure is not having 2 steps before automatic.

Near 100% of fraction failure is because multiplication is too slow. MOST algebra failure is fraction failure. Most of math comprehension sits on multiplication tables.

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

Teach children their multiplication tables please

[Spencer A. Klavan @SpencerKlavan]

It’s literally the exact opposite of this. Kids who pass off foundational cognitive tasks like memorization to AI will be lost in an ocean of people just like them, all powerless to think their own thoughts, dependent on bad mechanical imitations of mental acts they have no capacity to perform or judge for themselves. They’ll grow up into glazed-over subaltern dupes at the mercy of machinists who view them as little more than farm animals to milk for training data. You could hardly do a worse disservice to a young person right now than to empty out the contents of their soul and strip them of the mental armor that only a rigorous literary education can provide. And all in the name of some gullible claptrap about humanity and tech that wouldn’t stand up to five minutes’ scrutiny if the people peddling it and swilling it down had ever read a single thing worth reading. We had all better snap out of this kookery right the heck now or we’re cooked, fam.

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

This is a contemporary permutation of the 'why do I need to teach things that kids can just Google?'

A car can get you somewhere faster than walking, so why bother learning to walk? Because you need to walk to the car. Walking takes you to places cars can't reach.
If you travelled everywhere by car, you would think the world was just a connected grid of roads and motorways. Your world would be diminished, and eventually people would forget there was even anything but roads.

One reason we teach children art, science, literacy etc, so that they understand how to use the tools we have created. If we outsource thinking to AI then we lose the capacity to think. We need to use AI to help our thinking, not replace it. If you don't run the room, the room runs you.

[Ms. Sam @SciInTheMaking]

I am a high school chemistry teacher. For years, I encountered students who did not know their multiplication tables and it interfered with their ability to understand chemistry. This year, I decided to take matters into my own hands. ⬇️

[Brian Poncy @brian_poncy]

There have been multiple times people have used facts on fire, showed improved student scores, and kids were excited about math. The district leadership learns about it and despite the data tell teachers that they cannot use timed practice in the district. Its maddening that teachers with data are not being listened to.

[Brady Fukumoto @br80io]

@Austen Learning to ship software is not the same as learning to code.

[Carl Hendrick @C_Hendrick]

Most education apps love passive formats because they're low-friction. Users don't get frustrated. Session times stay high. Paying parents are happy. Many prioritise engagement streaks.

But session time ≠ learning time. An hour of clicking, watching, and recognising can involve almost zero actual cognitive application.