Does Anyone Else See Teaching & Learning Math Heading In This Direction?

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A

AdolfOliverBush

Sicc OG
#1
Apr 25, 2002
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#1
This is a joke email I got, but there does seem to be a lot of truth in it, especially here in California.

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 exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money.
The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar.
Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M."
The set "C", the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than
set "M."
Represent the set "C" as the subset of set M and answer this question:
What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?

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 20.

Teaching Math in 1990:

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20.
What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question:
How did the forest birds and squirrels "feel" as the logger cut down the trees? There are no wrong answers.

Teaching Math in 2000:

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $120.
How does Arthur Andersen determine that his profit margin is $60?


Teaching Math in 2010:
El hachero vende un camion carga por $100. La cuesta de >
production es.....
 
M

Mcleanhatch

Sicc OG
#2
May 8, 2002
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#2
LOL.

EVEN THOUGHT IT IS A SERIOUS MATTER, IT DOES SEEM AS IF THINGS ARE HEADING DOWN THAT ROAD.

I MEAN ANYTHING TO GET THE TEST SCORES UP RIGHT, EVEN IF THAT MEANS WATERING DOWN THE DIFFICULTY OF THE PROBLEMS WHICH IN ACTUALITY MAKES LIFE HARDER FOR THE STUIDENTS BECAUSE THEY DONT LEARN A DAMN THING!!!
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#3
May 13, 2002
49,944
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Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
#3
I find it interesting that you are admitting that the education in america is getting worse and worse, not that you ever said it was ok in the past...

I agree with you on this one. Many people speculate that it isn't a coincidence that the american education system is getting worse...I would like to think other wise, but evidence is definitely pointing in a certain direction.

On a side note, I remember how unchallenged my comrades and I were during high school. I can honestly say I learned more about drugs and alcohol then I did anything else. The school was a joke and so were the teachers.

"School is like a 12 step brainwash camp
They make you think if you drop out you aint got a chance
To advance in life, they try to make you pull your pants up
Students fight the teachers and get took away in handcuffs
And if that wasn't enough, then they expel y'all
Your peoples understand it but to them, you a failure
Observation and participation, my favorite teachers
When they beat us in the head with them books, it don't reach us....They may as well teach us extortion
You either get paid or locked up, the pricipal is like a warden
In a four year sentence, mad niggas never finish
But that doesn't mean i couldn't be a doctor or a dentist"-Dead Prez
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#5
May 13, 2002
49,944
47,801
113
44
Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
#5
"I find it interesting that you are admitting that the education in america is getting worse and worse, not that you ever said it was ok in the past..."

Shit, for some reason when I read this thread at work I thought it was posted by mcleanhatch...My bad
 
A

AdolfOliverBush

Sicc OG
#6
Apr 25, 2002
4,692
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Houston
#6
Me personally, I am going to be a teacher in about a year. I have been substituting since April, and some of the things I have seen in the classrooms and overheard in the teachers lounge have apalled me.

Yeah, they are dumbing down the material in the classrooms to show that students are doing well but it shows differently on standardized tests. Now the school system in California are asking for easier tests so that more students can pass. Where will that end?

The question remains: Whose fault is it? Is it the teacher's fault that students are failing or is it the student's own fault? Are the teacher's teaching the correct material in the correct manner or not? Are the student's learning or do they just not want to? There are so many factors.

But my one point remains: School is not meant to be a self-esteem builder (feel-good math). It is a place to learn, and if you make a mistake, suck it up and learn from it. It is okay to give students B's, C's, D's, and F's. But if they are getting those grades, parents and teachers need to help them to the best of their ability to bring those grades up. Punish your kid for poor grades.
 
M

Mcleanhatch

Sicc OG
#8
May 8, 2002
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#8
AdolfOliverBush said:
Now the school system in California are asking for easier tests so that more students can pass. Where will that end?
Click to expand...
IT WONT END, BECAUSE THERE WILL ALWAYS BE KIDS AT THE BACK OF THE PACK.

AdolfOliverBush said:
The question remains: Whose fault is it? Is it the teacher's fault that students are failing or is it the student's own fault?
Click to expand...
EVERY1 IS AT FAULT. STARTING WITH THE

1. PARENTS
2. KIDS
3. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
4. THE TEACHERS

EVERY1 IS IN PART AT FAULT HERE.

AdolfOliverBush said:
Are the teacher's teaching the correct material in the correct manner or not?
Click to expand...
????? ALOTE OF TEACHERS ARENT ALLOWED TO TEACH "THE CORRECT MATERIAL" AND INSTEAD ARE FORCED TO TEACH CERTAIN OTHER MATERIAL THAT THE DISTRIC ADMINISATRATORS ARE TELLING THEM TO TEACH, SOME OF THE ADMINISTRATORS BY THE WAY WHICH HAVE NEVER TAUGHT A DAY IN THEIR LIVES.

AdolfOliverBush said:
Are the student's learning or do they just not want to? There are so many factors.
Click to expand...
IT SEMMS THAT TODAY SOCIETY (MTV, MOVIES, ECT.....) IS INFLUENCING KIDS AND SENDING THEM MESSAGES THAT THEY DONT NEED TO LEARN

AdolfOliverBush said:
But It is okay to give students B's, C's, D's, and F's. But if they are getting those grades, parents and teachers need to help them to the best of their ability to bring those grades up. Punish your kid for poor grades.
Click to expand...
AT MY MOTHERS SCHOOL DISTRIC THE PRINCIPLES DO ALL THEY CAN TO CHANGE F-GRADES INTO C-GRADES AND THEIR MAIN EXCUSES ARE THAT

1. IT WILL HURT THEIR SELF ESTEEM IF THEY ARE HELD BACK AND NOT ALLOWED TO GO ON TO THE NEXT GRADE WITH THEIR PEERS.

2. THE PARENTS WONT LIKE IT AND THEY WILL GIVE THE DISTRIC ALOTE OF GRIEF.
 
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phil

Sicc OG
#9
Apr 25, 2002
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#9
thank your local liberal politician for the demise of education in america. its hard to believe there are people in america against giving people a choice in where they send their kids to school.
 
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phil

Sicc OG
#11
Apr 25, 2002
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#11
whats not hard to believe is that the only ones against it are entrenched democrats anchored to the teacher unions. "oh no! not accountability!!!"

that would be disastrous!!!
 
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