Community Chat

[LTT1]

@Desertdi... I hate to keep referencing the lack of skills of my particular set of students, however, they would not "get" this concept... it is algebraic, if you break it down. So, for at least three years, I kept getting the reminder that I was to teach Alg/Geom/Math Models according to the TEKS. All of that valuable time spent not on how to balance one's checkbook or create a personal budget.

[Desertdi]

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@hckynutjohn wrote:

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@SANNA wrote:

I would also include a mandatory studying of geography, because it is sad how little people in our country know what is where.

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Now that would include me. Didn't think I needed to know what was where.  WRONG!  My wife still kids me to this day.  During my auto racing days around the Midwest, I did all the driving and left reading the paper maps up to my passengers.

While am much more knowledgeable now, I still am not much good at it. Do I wish I had paid more attention in geography class? Oh yeh! Has it greatly effected me at any point of my life? No it has not. I do agree it certainly is a good thing for students to know.

Should it be mandatory? I still think/simple math/reading/learning how to handle finances, and especially a Major Course in Common Sense, SHOULD BE Mandatory learning.

hckynut(john)

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You can't be as bad as one of MY midwestern pals.......who thinks AZ is someplace near NJ..............

[JustJazzmom]

And how many New Mexicans feel they live in a foreign country, at times?

[Desertdi]

@LTT1    I can understand.......almost everyone in my late husband's family is a teacher.    I have heard the "frustrations".

[Yahooey]

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@JAXS Mom wrote:
Balance a checkbook, most young people aren't writing checks except for rent.

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I doubt they even think balancing a checkbook is a necessity. Using debit cards until it gets rejected. Then it is time to get more money loaded.

I learned to balance a checkbook in basic accounting and learned to say zeroes and not 'o' when reciting numbers aka telephone or credit card numbers which I still do to this day.

Most adults can't do percentages. An item is on sale with an additional 25% off. That's why there are price checkers. sigh

[LTT1]

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@Noel7 wrote:

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@LTT1 wrote:
@sfnative... Hi! How are you? I will mention here that agreeing with your point, I instilled some math self-confidence in my students by mentioning that they were proficient in car engines and football plays... Examples of interest areas that develop spatial concepts.

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 @LTT1

In third grade, my teacher would line us up by gender for a math quiz.   I've told this sad story here before   She quickly threw multiplication tables at us.  Anyone who missed got a hard slap on the back of their bare calves with a yardstick. 

And that was a private school where I was in classes with children of diplomats both foreign and domestic.

Bless you, loves, for instilling self-confidence in your students.

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@Noel7

I really felt for my dear kids... and thank you for understanding what I was trying to do.  Even tho they THOUGHT they were bad at certain things, I wanted them to consider that maybe they weren't bad.  Shame on the school system for shutting them down for 13 years.  We do need to devise a system that stops that, but it is getting complicated here, isn't it?

[LTT1]

OK... one more thing and then I will let it go...my story is that I thought I was bad at Math and Chemistry in high school.  HA!

Got to college and I thought... what is all the fuss about... this isn't hard?

Then, after BS graduating, I became a practicing MT(ASCP) then a Clinical Instructor (taught college/graduate students -- very motivated b/c it was their career).  I found this to be easy, too. (and it included Chemistry)

Then while obtaining a teaching certification (2nd career after SAHM)... was asked to teach summer school Algebra... oh! they found out I was GOOD at math.  How, how? how did this happen?

I think it was learning the maturity "ropes" of climbing the career ladder that did it.

My first college chemistry class tried the patience of the student instructor because I couldn't neutralize an acidic solution -- it took me 5 hours... ROTFL

[muttmom]

Our children were in Gift & Talented classes beginning in early elementary school.  While they had some excellent teachers, most were certified in elementary education.  They took Algebra I in middle school.  The teacher taught them what to do with little regard to why they do it.  When they entered high school they were placed in Algebra II.  The teachers were subject certified and highly critical of elementary school teachers caring only about the answer. It was not an easy adjustment for them or other students in their classes that came from the same sending district. We had more than a few tears over the fact they did not always receive full credit for correct answers.  There was no longer combining steps or I did it in my head. Algebra is about method and manipulation. When it came time for pre-calculus they were in class with students who'd taken both Algebra I & II in high school.  The students who'd waited until high school to take Algebra had a stronger foundation. 

Solving an arithmetic problem and solving an algebra may yield the same answer but they are different animals.

[ShowMeTheDeal]

Absoluitely yes. Our country is sorely behind in Math and Science compared to the rest of  the world. We need more Math not less.

[hckynutjohn]

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@Desertdi wrote:

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@hckynutjohn wrote:

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You can't be as bad as one of MY midwestern pals.......who thinks AZ is someplace near NJ..............

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Nope, not quite that bad. I do know NJ is way East and LA is way West. Also know ND is North and very cold in winter, while TX is South of me, and not near as cold in the winter.

See!!!  I told ya I've learned a bit more since high school.

=^..^=

hckynut(john)