Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change. I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this?
Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:
Teaching Math In 1950
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
Teaching Math In 1960
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
Teaching Math In 1970
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
Teaching Math In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number
Teaching Math In 1990
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)
Teaching Math In 2007
Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?
In all seriousness though, a similar thing happened to me recently. I gave the girl like 20 bucks for something that was like $X.15 and I don’t like to have a lot of change, so I dug through my wallet for a dime and nickel (15 cents for those of you who are in the current education system) and handed it to her. She looked up at me obviously confused and then gave me the change that she was going to give me and my 15 cents back. I told her that I had the 15 cents and wanted a full dollar and she said that she didn’t know how to do that and that the transaction had already gone through. Sometimes I wonder what the economy/society will be like when these kids are in charge
I went to Brownsville High School for part of my freshman year of h.s. My algebra class was supposed to be part online and part classroom instruction…But it’s Brownsville, so of course we did everything online and I soon learned that if I would hit the help button so many times it eventually gave me the answer. If I recall correctly I had over 100% in that class due to bonus work. And math is my worst subject. :bowdown:
Math is my best subject…give me a holla if you need help.
Agreed, I started workin at long johns when i was 16. In all honesty, cashiers should be so extremely math smart bc of these exact occurances. If they arent at first, they should be by the end of the week.
X1128426952952395369!!! Online learning blows…I failed Comp II twice bc the “instructor” was only required to be online 3 hours a WEEK…and of course it was the hour after the paperwork was given out and an hour before it was to be handed in…and of course i was at work both those hours.
As for calculators…I had a teacher in grade school that did not allow you to use them in his class…best teacher i ever had! I do believe i had one in high school too, unless it was needed for complex problems, we didnt use them. I know I wont let my kids use one either. I find nothing wrong with the advancement of technology…I do however feel that the brain is the most powerful organ and should not be replaced with a computer chip.
Same here, we had to “earn” the use of a calculator. We had to prove that we could do the math correctly without the calculator and show that we understood the calculations going on within the machine before we were allowed to use one.
This is probably going to open a whole other book, but IMO catholic/religion schools (at least back in the day) were the best way to go bc of their strick learning/teaching ways. The kids bitched and moaned about how hard it was, but I bet it made them better off later in life. Sometimes I wonder if its the best route to go…
Calculators should not be used at all through 8th grade. In all grades, however, the “no child left behind” BS standardized tests allow use of a calculator and unfortunately we live in an age when teaching “to the test” must be done in order for administration and government to believe teaching is actually taking place.
If a child makes it to high school and can’t do simple math without a calculator, it’s too late to try and teach them then, or else the entire class gets dragged down, because the course of study is way past that point. How some kids are making to Alg 2 and Geometry in 9th grade but can’t do their multiplication tables is beyond me, but it happens regularly. And it isn’t always a teacher fault as they are given curriculum and the technology based on grant money and they have to use it.
“Getting rid of teacher unions and firing the deadwood” is only useful if they also get rid of standardized tests and allowing calculators to be used on the standardized tests.
It’s a catch-22. What do you use to judge whether a teacher is “dead wood”? Usually, the test scores of the students. But those very tests are the reason why teachers are forced to use the methods that seem “easy way out”.
My wife is a math teacher, just as an FYI, and has won student-nominated regional teacher excellence awards and is in the Western PA teacher “Hall of Fame” (yes there is such a thing, and it is student nominated, not adult-nominated).
So I guess I’m biased when people go and automatically blame the teachers when the reality of it is that the expectations and system suck that our government, and society as a whole, put forth.
It’s also because of their lack of funding. If they could afford calculators or laptops for every student, which is becoming the norm, they would do it.
But, yes, I agree with you.
Calculators get used because the district gets awarded grant money or even the items themselves and as such must incorporate it in to the curriculum.
I can agree to a point…there are ways around to make the school admins happy, with better results in the students. You have to be creative. You have to care about the open minds in front of you more than the book beside you.
:greddy: Its so sad but true. In stead of schools being a learning center they become too “politicly correct” and make current events the main objective.
:doh:
