Community Chat

[LTT1]

@foundinlv... I must have been a crummy teacher! Only an extremely few of my students were able to learn to solve simple equations. The concept of solving equations based on "do I add or subtract" was alien. The concept of negative numbers simply blew their minds... even when the weather was (-) 12 degrees

[LTT1]

@Desertdi... I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that in doing accounting you were solving "linear" math problems... in other words, you could not move on from one set of calculations accurately to the next until there were no errors, because an error, in turn, would cause the ending to be all wrong. It disturbed me that "my kids" could not do these type of problems. After all, these problems usually involve adding or subtracting, but one needs to have their heads on straight to grasp where they are in the process.

[LTT1]

@hckynut... my guess is that if you were able to calculate these types of ratios, you COULD have grasped Alg/Geom and higher with no problem IF YOU NEEDED TO.
This disturbed me, too, about my students. Could they/couldn't they? IDK how one determines this ahead of time.

[LTT1]

@hckynut(john)@DesertDi...
I had a student whose uncle employed him during the summer to lay tile. He said he was crummy at it (and he did lose this job) because it was difficult to lay the tile in patterns. This student, I would say, should definitely NOT be required to take the higher maths and he should be encouraged to choose a career in which these concepts are not needed?

[JustJazzmom]

Geometry is used when you need to know how much carpet to buy on an area rug in a room; how many rolls of wallpaper are needed for the walls in a room? How large a window do I need to replace the one that is not energy efficicient?

How much furniture can be put into a room without it looking crowded??

These are all examples of using geometry.

[Desertdi]

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@LTT1 wrote:
@Desertdi... I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that in doing accounting you were solving "linear" math problems... in other words, you could not move on from one set of calculations accurately to the next until there were no errors, because an error, in turn, would cause the ending to be all wrong. It disturbed me that "my kids" could not do these type of problems. After all, these problems usually involve adding or subtracting, but one needs to have their heads on straight to grasp where they are in the process.

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True...........but you can always "fix" things.    I did some "creative accounting"..........      Say a customer owes you $101.....but only pays $100, you can move the $1 to a sales policy adjustment (another transaction)  and force the account to balance............

[LTT1]

@hckynut(john)... if you are like my husband, and are good with numbers, you are probably good at card games, too... I play bridge but for the most part it baffles me...

[hckynutjohn]

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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)

[LTT1]

@jonbon... you are a truly great parent to help your youngsters learn their subjects and to be involved. We spent hours with our daughter during her undergraduate years, guiding and re-learning. I often wondered what the students did during the school day because we were doing so much at home.

[LTT1]

@brii... some of my (voc) students would laugh and say "I don't know how to do it, but I DO know that you have to find "x." I was OK with that!