The letter is blunt and to the point, but what's disrespectful about it?
I just watched the first included video, "Understanding decimal place value exercise", and I am flabbergasted. This is pointless; it conveys no understanding whatsoever. In fact, I agree with the letter writer: it gives completely the wrong impression about what the place values mean, suggesting that they're all of the same importance.
What would be better would be to have the student pick out a number on a virtual slide rule. You'd have to do some zooming even to get four significant digits; showing seven is probably not worth the trouble (well, maybe do it once to make the point). That would show very graphically the relationship between successive place values.
I just watched the first included video, "Understanding decimal place value exercise", and I am flabbergasted. This is pointless; it conveys no understanding whatsoever. In fact, I agree with the letter writer: it gives completely the wrong impression about what the place values mean, suggesting that they're all of the same importance.
What would be better would be to have the student pick out a number on a virtual slide rule. You'd have to do some zooming even to get four significant digits; showing seven is probably not worth the trouble (well, maybe do it once to make the point). That would show very graphically the relationship between successive place values.