LazyMATHS.COM

I went to the website LazyMaths.com to look for useful tools to use in a math class. I found this website to be helpful but not what I expected. They take a typical math problem and solve it in the traditional way and then, using Indian Vedic math and Russian Tracthenerg short cut techniques, solve the problem using one of these two methods. In almost all cases, the short cut techniques were quicker. It even gave an estimated time for each method, and the short cut technique was always quicker. However, as I did these problems I wondered if these methods might confuse the students even more. Would I have to teach these methods to them before they could put them into practice? If I had to do that I might be defeating the purpose. A couple of the presentations had video slideshows that showed how to solve the problem, which made it easier to view and understand. However, some of them just explained in words how to solve the problems, and based on my math teaching experience, wondered if seventh graders could follow along, grasp the concept, and see the difference. I'm not so sure. I guess I will have to try this out and see the students' reaction to this approach and see if it is worthwhile.