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Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:02:20 PM   
MasterRenegade77


Posts: 1852
Joined: 1/1/2004
From: Upstate N.Y. (Broome Co.)
Status: offline
BASIC MATH:

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 when 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:

1. 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?


2. 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?


3. Teaching Math In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
$80. Did he make a profit?


4. 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.


5. 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.)


6. Teaching Math In 2005

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la
producciones es $80.


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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:18:51 PM   
litleone8620


Posts: 3669
Joined: 6/12/2006
Status: offline 		I was not suprised by the way your post ended. It is the sad truth.

I graduated from high school two years ago, and they had several classes there that were: English as a second language.

And yes, the curriculum seems to be getting easier and easier.

How about this for sad commentary:

In college i am using the EXACT SAME Microsoft Office book that uses programs as: Acess, Excel and Word, that i used my JUNIOR YEAR in a high school computer class.

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:29:32 PM   
jezabelKH


Posts: 663
Joined: 5/21/2006
Status: offline 		So very true, sad but true.

no one counts back change anymore!

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:30:56 PM   
TreSwank


Posts: 1165
Joined: 3/5/2005
Status: offline 		THIS WAS THE BEST POST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:37:04 PM   
NeedToUseYou


Posts: 2297
Joined: 12/24/2005
From: None of your business
Status: offline 		I think the girl was just terrible at math. Simple as that.

I'm only 29 and could have done that math in the third or fourth grade. What's happening I think is schools do offer a good potential education but they also offer classes that shouldn't even be worth credit. For example, in high school, a person can select to advance all the way through Calc classes, right. Or they can take the easiest possible classes in the school, and end in something like pre-algebra. LOL. Big difference, both will graduate, the one that ended in pre-algebra, actually has the equivalent of a 8th grade education, the one taking calc, has the equivalent of a freshman college student. Hmmmmm, that's the problem, to wide a selection. At the end they are both a diploma, even though one student knows way more than the other. Go figure.

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:40:15 PM   
merlote


Posts: 13
Joined: 6/10/2006
Status: offline 		Excellent post, and a very sad commentary on the state of education.



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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 8:42:07 PM   
marieToo


Posts: 3595
Joined: 5/21/2006
From: Jersey
Status: offline 		Im not sure what the sad part is supposed to be.  Is it that the girl didnt understand English?  Or that her math skills were weak? 

The math thing is because no one has to count back money any more.  The register tells you how much to give back.  Its no wonder that people's minds get lazy.  Just like we have spellcheck now and no one has to use a dictionary.  ( I guess that could be considered sad).

The English thing...well...I dont find that sad at all.  People speak different languages.  Thats nothing new.  I find it interesting and challenging  when I meet up with a person like that.  It can be fun trying to communicate, and I usually go home with the knowledge of a little bit more spanish vocabulary and maybe I've left them with a little more knowledge of English.  How bad could that be?  

Maybe the sad part is that Im too stupid to know what the sad part is. 

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 9:03:07 PM   
MistressLorelei


Posts: 997
Joined: 11/7/2005
Status: offline 		It's not only math, it's grammar, spelling, history, science, and common sense.  

Parents are both working full-time, and babies are being dumped off from birth in day care facilities... which grow with the child.  There is elementary daycare, middle school daycare, and high school daycare.  Many parents are satisfied that their kids aren't selling drugs on the corner, and are safe in school.... regardless of whether they are learning, doing their homework or at grade level..  The drop out rate is climbing, and a trend in more irresponsible parenting, requires many kids to move out and go to work before graduating.

Schools employ teachers, who on average, only last 5 years in their chosen careers, because teaching our youth, is worth about as much as garbage collection.  The government has cut education funding, and the guidelines of pass fail these days are to simply show steady improvement (which often still  means kids can't count money), and too many teachers aren't capable of teaching the necessary curriculum anyway.

Simply put, schools are a mess, good teachers aren't very common, especially in schools that score low academically.  Parental support is lacking, and the government, who could do something about some of this with our tax dollars, doesn't really care.... or they would do something

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 9:30:42 PM   
juliaoceania


Posts: 21383
Joined: 4/19/2006
From: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Status: offline 		Funny, my son's math isn't dumbed down like this, and we live in California (scratches head)

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 9:31:55 PM   
litleone8620


Posts: 3669
Joined: 6/12/2006
Status: offline 		Good teachers are hard to find. It's the fact that I've had teachers who don't care about their job. How can a student care about what they're learning if the teacher doesn't care?

Add that to the credit system (at my high school, anyway). To graduate, a student needed 21 credits all together: 3 math, and english credits, which equaled three years in each; 8 PE credits, which was all 4 years of high school, every semester; 2 lab science credits, which were Enviromental Science, Chemistry, and Physics; and 2 credits of history, and that included Econ and Government, which were elctives you can only take as a senior; the rest were electives.

The fact that you could pretty much screw around your senior year and still graduate is really messed up. That and the attendance rules aren't enforced.  You had people not showing up 4 days out of 5 and still graduating.





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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 9:53:14 PM   
Kedikat


Posts: 680
Joined: 4/20/2006
Status: offline 		I take this particular opinion with consideration of the protonic hydrogen whatsit post you also made.

You are living in a house with a lot of glass. Careful........

Stick with your mastery of basic math.

A more cruel , blunt post than I usually make.....

< Message edited by Kedikat -- 7/9/2006 9:54:48 PM >

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 9:57:46 PM   
Kedikat


Posts: 680
Joined: 4/20/2006
Status: offline 		By the way.....

To all those who might chime in with agreement of the sorry state of education, particularly those with children.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT !



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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 9:58:46 PM   
Kedikat


Posts: 680
Joined: 4/20/2006
Status: offline 		Hmmmm pissy mood I'm in...

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:02:03 PM   
IrishMist


Posts: 7480
Joined: 11/17/2005
Status: offline
quote:

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT !

Quite frankly, I put mine in a private school that has an excellent educational curriculum. And yes, I pay a pretty penny for it too.

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:05:00 PM   
Kedikat


Posts: 680
Joined: 4/20/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: IrishMist

quote:

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT !

Quite frankly, I put mine in a private school that has an excellent educational curriculum. And yes, I pay a pretty penny for it too.


Well that is an option. And individual effort. But sad to resort to.

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:19:21 PM   
sexypet


Posts: 225
Joined: 1/1/2004
Status: offline 		i was in high school in the 1980's and they must have been using 1950's methods, because my homework was just like that! lol.

As far as the BK girl goes, i have that occurence every day i go shopping.  Today i bought a clam chowder and a small coke at Kream N' Kone, a sort of seafood fast food place here on Cape Cod.  The original girl serving me decided gossiping with another co-worker was more important and let another girl finish my order.  She looked at my tray, rang the soda and told me it was $1.88 total.  It's in season here.  No way it was $1.88.  $1.88 was just the soda.   I just looked at her for a minute and handed her my $2.  I guess the chowder was free.  It was good, too.

i grow weary of correcting all the mistakes i see at registers every day here.

In my old town in CT, i hear we have whole high school classes being taught in Spanish.  I wouldn't object if the parents were paying taxes and had car insurance and the car was actually registered.  i've had numerous friends all suffering from hit and runs from all the illegals residing there.  Versus here, where we need help so bad we offer a paid for travel work program for Bulgarians to come work the retail jobs no one here wants....lol.

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:35:42 PM   
MistressLorelei


Posts: 997
Joined: 11/7/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Kedikat

By the way.....

To all those who might chime in with agreement of the sorry state of education, particularly those with children.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT !



I am educating my daughter myself.   I would rather not work 3 jobs (and never see her) to afford the one private school I would even consider putting my daughter in. 

Aside from writing a lot of letters,and supporting and working for the Democratic Party, I have also done extensive work for organizations in educating mothers of pre-school-aged children, and home educators. 


< Message edited by MistressLorelei -- 7/9/2006 10:38:15 PM >

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:46:06 PM   
mstrj69


Posts: 295
Joined: 5/27/2004
Status: offline 		Oersinnally, I do not think it is just the teachers that are a problem.  I was taught in the 50's and 60's but I was taught by my teachers and my parents.  My parents even helped explain how I could use those math skills when I got older.  Throwing dollars at a school system might keep a teacher a little longer but until the parents join with the teachers, learn it themselves and teach their children as well as the teachers, we will keep getting worse and worse.  My parents had me ahead of most of the rest of the students by concentrating and making sure my homework was done.

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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:48:17 PM   
fullofgrace


Posts: 395
Joined: 3/24/2006
From: fl, usa
Status: offline 		i mostly taught myself. i just learned how to read and i didn't stop reading, and i didn't take the somewhat substandard secondary education at face value; i used the resources i had and made it up as i went along, pretty much. and it's gotten me this far, and i've been doing okay, so...i'll probably continue with that method and teach it to my kids if i ever have any :)


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RE: Basic Math = A Sad Comentary - 7/9/2006 10:51:15 PM   
Kedikat


Posts: 680
Joined: 4/20/2006
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: MistressLorelei

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kedikat

By the way.....

To all those who might chime in with agreement of the sorry state of education, particularly those with children.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT !



Awesome. I have no kids, but of course pay all the taxes. Wish the majority would get more involved. But then again......the majority........Hmmmmmmm

I am educating my daughter myself.   I would rather not work 3 jobs (and never see her) to afford the one private school I would even consider putting my daughter in. 

Aside from writing a lot of letters,and supporting and working for the Democratic Party, I have also done extensive work for organizations in educating mothers of pre-school-aged children, and home educators. 


(in reply to MistressLorelei)
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