You Ever Notice...and What's the Deal...

[D'Snowth]

and in eighth grade your peers aren't exactly going to help you out because school is still a competition then.

We didn't have that problem when I was in Grade 8, however, we got in trouble for helping each other out, because our teacher took it as an indication that we were copying off of each other. I had that happen once when one of my classmates and I were trying to figure out certain problems on our lesson, and as I recalled, the teacher failed both of us because he thought we were copying off each other.

 

[fuzzygobo]

If I ever got a tattoo, I would be tempted to burn MATH IS TOUGH into my skin. Aced every other subject, bombed math.
It's useful to have a basic understanding of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, fractions, percentages, etc. But in 30+ years, having a wide range of jobs, my knowledge (or actually lack of knowledge) of algebra never came up.
All the years playing in bands, the guitarist about to take a solo, never once did we have to stop the show so he can "solve for X".

 

[D'Snowth]

Math was always the one subject I pretty much failed at too. Well, I guess I can't really say "fail," exactly, but I barely passed by, because I knew if I ever got a D or U on my report card, I was in big trouble, so I'd have to push myself beyond my limitations to try to stay above D in math, which was almost impossible. Heck, I remember in Grade 8, I had to memorize the grading scale, because even though our teacher would routine share our current class GPAs with us, he would only do so by the number, and never the corresponding letter that went with it, so as I said, I ended up memorizing the grading scale, so that way I would know how well or poorly I was doing.

I don't know if the grade scale has changed since I was in school (but apparently, our was different from my parents' generations), but I still remember it to this day:
- 93-100 = A
- 85-92 = B
- 77-84 = C
- 70-76 = D
- 0-69 = U

We didn't have Fs when I was in school. Then again, I remember in elementary school, we also had addition grades, such as E (exellent) and S (satisfactory).

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

UGH, I hate how difficult math is. And the worst part is, most of the math you learn later on is completely useless. As Fuzzygobo said, I don't need to know what X equals if I wanna be a plumber, an actor, be in the music business or really any job I can think of. Nor should I ever need to use it in my day to day life. Heck, even accountants only use the basic math and occasionally a very basic level algebra. So there's really no reason for math to continually get harder and harder.

 

[Drtooth]

You do kinda need certain types of math, even algebra. Algebra is something that pop up in taxes. Anything more advanced is for those who are planning to go into scientific careers. That said, you can say that about everything they teach you in school and the fact they teach to standardized tests just proves that public education keeps bumbling over the same exact format that never really worked.

Heard some idiotic promo for some talk radio dips*** complaining about how one school in the area on a trial basis mind you, is getting rid of homework. Also mind you, ignoring the fact they're giving an extra hour of school as the trade off. No one in the history of ever liked homework. Homework is an excuse to pass off teaching responsibilities to the kids. How can the day be filled with pointless busy work if so much has to be supplemented at home? Though I want to make it appoint that actual studying and practice beyond the class room is important and I've no problem with reading assignments. That can be done without shoving a long worksheet into a kid's bag and telling them to fill the thing up.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Math was always the one subject I pretty much failed at too. Well, I guess I can't really say "fail," exactly, but I barely passed by, because I knew if I ever got a D or U on my report card, I was in big trouble, so I'd have to push myself beyond my limitations to try to stay above D in math, which was almost impossible. Heck, I remember in Grade 8, I had to memorize the grading scale, because even though our teacher would routine share our current class GPAs with us, he would only do so by the number, and never the corresponding letter that went with it, so as I said, I ended up memorizing the grading scale, so that way I would know how well or poorly I was doing.

I don't know if the grade scale has changed since I was in school (but apparently, our was different from my parents' generations), but I still remember it to this day:
- 93-100 = A
- 85-92 = B
- 77-84 = C
- 70-76 = D
- 0-69 = U

We didn't have Fs when I was in school. Then again, I remember in elementary school, we also had addition grades, such as E (exellent) and S (satisfactory).

I didn't know they changed the grade scale since MY day (back in those dank pre-Technicolor days). But the old standard might have given you a little more slack:

A= 90-100
B= 80-89
C= 70-79
D= 64-69
F= below 64

Getting my algebra tests back, I used to feel like Bart Simpson. Even with study aids, tutors, staying after for extra help (and I wasn't the only one), I'd still be getting F's.
Even as my teacher, the ever-patient Mrs. Freund consoled me, "But at least it's a HIGH F"!

 

[charlietheowl]

We didn't have that problem when I was in Grade 8, however, we got in trouble for helping each other out, because our teacher took it as an indication that we were copying off of each other. I had that happen once when one of my classmates and I were trying to figure out certain problems on our lesson, and as I recalled, the teacher failed both of us because he thought we were copying off each other.

We never copied in class, but even in places where we could work together, like study hall or after-school, there was a sense of doing your own stuff and letting everyone else stay out to dry. I think a lot of it was that my middle school had a particularly nasty group of teachers, that encouraged competition and did things like reading test grades out loud to the entire class when handing them back. Luckily by the time we got to high school the caliber of teacher improved greatly.

UGH, I hate how difficult math is. And the worst part is, most of the math you learn later on is completely useless. As Fuzzygobo said, I don't need to know what X equals if I wanna be a plumber, an actor, be in the music business or really any job I can think of. Nor should I ever need to use it in my day to day life. Heck, even accountants only use the basic math and occasionally a very basic level algebra. So there's really no reason for math to continually get harder and harder.

I've had to use algebra concepts in my job, knowing how to set up equations and compare different price points. I buy stuff like nails and screws and have to figure out if it's worth it to buy 10 boxes at x or 20 boxes at y when we sell 5 a month, that sort of thing. So the concepts are important, but I don't think it gets taught that way, so it's easy for people (not trying to pick on you or anything) not to realize it's useful. If you're not shown how something has practical uses, you're not going to think it has practical uses.

 

[Drtooth]

I've had to use algebra concepts in my job, knowing how to set up equations and compare different price points. I buy stuff like nails and screws and have to figure out if it's worth it to buy 10 boxes at x or 20 boxes at y when we sell 5 a month, that sort of thing. So the concepts are important, but I don't think it gets taught that way, so it's easy for people (not trying to pick on you or anything) not to realize it's useful. If you're not shown how something has practical uses, you're not going to think it has practical uses.

That's the problem right there. Education needs context. How come everything but school taught me that math was important in everyday career fields? The educational system turns things into mindless busy work that bores and annoys students into hating doing any work. And yes, it prepared them for a lifetime of mediocrity in the field of the business world of punch clock drudgery because it's either that or homelessness. But it doesn't get them invigorated.

It's like... we have a certain group of people that were failed an education (or just didn't care or bothered to do the work) in history, and without context or depth. People with an F in third grade American history that base their own beliefs system on shallow points without any perspective. And we get "The Boston Tea party was because Taxes" instead of a more in-depth reason we didn't want to be a colony anymore.

Most of the stuff we learn in school actually is important, it's just taught idiotically. In History, memorizing dates is more important than getting context. In Math it's more about doing number stuff than how it applies. And in reading, it's more important to remember inane details that may be symbolic of nothing than getting the big picture.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Someone young enough to know...do they still teach geography or is that too ancient?
Sometimes grade school was boring (at best) to me, but I loved looking at maps, atlases, globes, exploring rivers and mountain ranges, depths of the ocean, city populations, I ate this stuff up.
It did open up my mind to wondering what it's like living in foreign countries. Some kid my age living in Brussels, or Tokyo or Singapore- what is their day like?
No teacher encouraged me to read maps, I was curious to find out on my own.
So besides teaching geography, do teachers even encourage you to satisfy your own curiosity?

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, by the time I graduated (nine years ago), yeah, they were still teaching geography. Of course, it seemed like as soon as I graduated, then they started making so many changes, so who knows? Like, for instance, when I was in school, a second language was a requirement only for high school, but after I graduated, they started including second languages in elementary school, which . . . ugh . . . would have been a lot more beneficial for me.