Coffee and grub

[Russ T Chambers]

Rant Part II

When I was in eighth grade, I took Algebra from the Wicked Witch of the East. Her male relatives were my "teachers" of Analytic Geometry, Complex Variables, Linear Algebra, and Calculus III.

These are people for whom Math is easy. They love Math, it comes naturally to them. They don't see it as a tool, they love Math for the sake of its being Math.

The solutions to most math problems follows a single, step by step path, often rearranging the numbers, applying different techniques, until the answer is found.

Problem----> Technique A---->technique B----> Technique C-----> Technique D----->  on and on, to Technique W-----> Answer.

The average student needs to see the flow from A to B to C to D to E to F, the entire progression until the answer is found. They need to understand the mechanics of how math works. Once they understand it, they can practice and use it. Once they grasp the mechanics of each step, then they can possibly combine the steps, and make the path to the solution shorter. But they need to know how it works, first.

The problem with the Math lovers as Math Teachers is when they step up to the chalkboard and write:

Problem
Technique C
Technique Q
Answer.

The Student, baffled, wants to know how the teacher got from C to Q and from Q to the answer.

The Math lover replies, often with a derisive, snide, or condescending tone: "It's Obvious!"
Or:

"It's in your book!"
Or
"It's intuitive!"

Well, it may well be, for those who adore math. But it isn't for everyone else, and that doesn't make them stupid. But they are treated like they are, indeed, stupid, because their teachers cannot fathom that not everyone takes to math like a fish to water. The concept is foreign to them, so they continue to teach in the same manner and by doing so, alienate generation after generation of students and create more and more "math-phobes" who would rather put a stick in their eye than approach Algebra as an adult.

But those same "stupid" kids often excel at "practical mathematics" because the same concepts of Algebra are taught to them not by lovers of math, but by practitioners of some other, often technical subject, who often understand the value and intrinsic worth of applied math. They teach math as the tool it is meant to be.

Math lovers should be locked up in some university structure with other math lovers and *maybe* be allowed to teach neo-phyte mathophiles or stuck in a room to theorize about the nature of numbers. They should be allowed minimal contact with other humans, and be prohibited from entering a classroom of people under the age of 25.  They aren't teaching Algebra, they are creating fear, mental blocks, and math anxiety. They are hurting far more people than they are helping. 


I have no desire to smack Del with Elle, his comment about the Wicked Witch tells me he had a teacher like mine . But there are many times I wish I could have had Elle in that 8th grade classroom. It took me close to ten years to be able to approach Math with a learning mind after that one year with that woman.

End Rant II

AnnieLee

Annie I wasn't goin' to quote this whole rant, but it sounded too familiar.   
Change the teacher to the student, and it was my algebra class.  For some reason I could go from A to five steps down, then to the answer, but the teacher wanted the reason for each step.     Mine always was "It's intuitively obvious!"  (And to me it was!) 
Her name was Mrs. Colt  (maybe that got me into cowboy guns).   
While she wanted the steps in order, she never marked me wrong for being intuitively obvious!

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Russ T, my son is much the same way. Math comes easily to him when he puts his mind to it. But when he skips several steps, then has an error someplace, the teacher doesn't have the interim steps to look at to see where he went astray. Since she can't read minds, all she can do is mark the answer as wrong and he gets no partial credit for showing the work.

My Linear Algebra teacher gave no partial credit, even if you showed the work. If your logic and steps were faultless, but you wrote a + instead of a -, or mismarked a decimal place in the final answer, you got zero credit. If you had the right answer, but had a "typo" or a logical fault in the steps, you got a big fat ZERO. The tests were worth 10 points. Each problem was worth one point. So if you got one wrong, you were already borderline B. The teacher was a "guest lecturer" from France. I called him several names, none of which I can repeat here. On the last day of class, after the exam and as the students were leaving, a friend of mine stood on his desk and called the teacher a name that Al Swearingen from Deadwood uses often. He shouted it. I felt like applauding.

AnnieLee

[Old Top]

Miss Annie,

All through school I avoided math like the plague (ask curly),  so never got a good grounding in algebra.  So of course I got into the electrical field where eveything is expressed with algebra.  Did a lot of midnight oil during apprenticeship school.

Old Top

[Delmonico]

Delmonico comes roarin' up to the campfire in his rusty Olds that's been old enough to vote fer several years.   He needs a cup of coffee cause the durn extra blanket under the horses tail blew out his mouth in the March wind that has been up to 40 mph and has gusted to 60 mph.  Heck when Delmonico went on his erronds there was about an 18 inch surf on a 5 acre pond near his home.

Rather than drive to a real hardware store he went to the Big rude one that was close and upon leavin' the fancy open by it self door didn't open enough to let a man with a hat out and the door fool was more worried about takin' the cart than fixin' the door.  But a 13D adjustment fixed the problem, cause Delmonico figgered if they didn't care, he didn't either so he kicked their damned door open enough not to bend the brim on his beaver.

While leavin' though he saw a large dark colored bird with a white neck and head soarin' over the near-by crick. 

Mean while back to the kitchen, got a turkey roasten, deer meat cookin' fer tacos, sourdough rye bread risin' and some of Delmonico's ain't fer wimps pepper sauce is doin' it's thing.

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Was the bird a loon? I understand the loons have been active lately.


Meanwhile, I am tracking the progress of Leigh across the country. She should be in Bob Mernickle's shop any moment. I'd like to see their faces when they open the box and see the cover letter.



AnnieLee

[Silver Creek Slim]

Del,
Did ya have a stampede string on, or ya tie yer banana  'round yer hat and chin? 

Slim

[Russ T Chambers]

Del
Your wind sounds like our normal summer afternoon breeze here in Northern Nevada Territory.     Samuel Clemens' referred to our winds as the Washoe Zephyr.    Most small airports around here use loggin' chains for windsocks during the Summer.        It's okay to take off and land if the chain is standin' straight out, but you should stay on the ground if'n it's whippin around and snappin' links of the end.      Remember Mark T. slept here.   

[Delmonico]

Slim I just wore my hat as usual, just poked it down a bit more than usual.  A beaver made ta fit a man's head is a fine thing.  Funny walkin' 'cross the parkin' lot watchin' the fellas with their plastic strap in back baseball hats holdin' them on and my 4X6 with the flat brim just settin' up there with no problem.

It's been too calm here latley, as Russ T. a bit of wind ain't nothin' new.  Seen a lot of 75 mph types, thats hard on semi's sometimes.   I was tryin' to drive into 100+ straight winds one time, the little V6 couldn't do it so we went into a store till it blowed by.  That one did some weird things and no it wern't a tor-nader, somethin' called a Delrico, where 3 Super Cell storms merge and don't kill each other like normal, but gets rather mean, it moved accross the state real fast.

[Four-Eyed Buck]

That's a derecchio, Del. Them things is nasty. We went through one a few years back when I still worked at our industrial Park Building( Ah, what a nice place it was). Got to blowin' so bad, I could see the roof ripplin'. It was one of those steel corregated covered by that asphalt stone stone stuff. Scarey it was. Blew out a window on the mezzanine floor and took the cover off a ventilator that was about 3ft. in diameter and 2 ft. tall. That sucker went about 200 ft. away from the building! Rained so hard ya couldn't see the cars in the lot.a dark bird over the creek with a white neck and head sorta sounds more like an Eagle or osprey.........Buck

[Trinity]

As I step to the fire I'd like a cup of coffee!  Hey, I bought some ground turkey last month with a sell by date of Feb. 13 and froze it as soon as I came home.  Well I moved it from the freezer to the fridge sometime last week, it'll still be ok to eat, right?  It turned grey but didn't stink, so I cooked it up tonight.  The taste and texture wasn't really that great, but it filled the belly. 

My rule has always been if it doesn't stink and move on it's own after it's dead, then it's ok to eat.  I never took the flavor factor into account, though.

Well, If you don't hear from me for a few days, this might be the reason.

[Delmonico]

Trinity, ground turkey ain't fit to eat no matter how fresh it is.  

And yes Buck after I kicked Menards door open I saw a Bald Iggle, sometimes I see golden Iggles closer to home, they hang around the BNSF diesel shops about a half mile south of me and catch their pigions er peigins, piegions ok flying rats. 

Hey are you close to Hinkley Ohio and if so have the buzzards came back yet?  We have Turkey Vultures that come back every sping and nest in the old rich secion of town, this is where all the banker, lawyers and such built their big 20-30 room mansions in the early 20th century.  A fella told me since they started nestin' in that part of town a few years ago, he now belives in ren-carnation.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I didn't know there was a Menard's in Newbrassssssssssssssssssky.  The HQ is in Eau Claire, WI. I go past it on my way to my brother's place in MN.

Slim

[Delmonico]

Well when you go by next time, stop and tell them I kicked their door open so I could get through without bendin' my hat.  

[Four-Eyed Buck]

Wel, at least I was right about something. I believe the buzzards  showed up about a week ago, Del. That's about 70 miles from here, going north. I saw one a few years back while coming back from my favorite gun shop out in the country south of here. UUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGgly, course he was doin' his job as a sanitary engineer. Lately we've been gettin' raided by deer and four-legged bandits, poor birds are lucky there's anything left in the feeder. That one raccoon is really big. The squirrels are looking well fed as well...............Buck

[Trinity]

Trinity, ground turkey ain't fit to eat no matter how fresh it is.  

I 'spected you to say something like that, Del. 

Folks, I'm proud to announce that my iron stomach has won out against marginal meat yet again!!!!!! 

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Good! When you disappear like that after eating questionable, gray food, I get worried!



<Smacks Trinity with her hat, several times>


AnnieLee

[Trinity]

"Ouch" 

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Aw, dang, I made him cry.

<Hugs Trinity>

Now tell us all was well, that you were off at the Raid on Andersonville or something like that, and worrying was silly?




AnnieLee

[Trinity]

Wail... Actually, Mah sister done got married an' Ah was at her funer... er  wedding an had some partying to do afterwards to do. 

(I'm glad I didn't get sick because my sister would never have forgiven me!)

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Aye, upchucking on the maid of honor, while a great story to pass down the generations, would have overshadowed your sister's day. I'm just glad all is well.



AnnieLee