I was working in an 8th grade Algebra class today, giving an example on the board. The problem was something like:
If I purchase an item for $95 and have to pay 7½% sales tax, what is my total cost?
My point is not that a problem like this shouldn't be in an 8th grade Algebra class. I don't remember when I learned to solve these, but I'm pretty sure it was in elementary school math. My point is that when I wrote:
xxxxx$95.00
xxxx __.075
on the board, someone raised her hand and asked "Where did you get the ".075" from? I thought everyone past 5th grade knew how to change percent to decimals.
They would learn if they actually had parents who cared about their grades.
I just found out this week that they only expect kindergarteners to be able to count from 1-30 at the end of the first third of the year. My 5yo gets bored around 500 or so just because it's mindless repetition...my 3yo can count to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s.
Low expectations will doom us all...
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For six bucks I could have been insignificant on a popular forum. ---
My wife and I were having lunch at a family-style restaurant awhile back. Our waitress was a middle-aged lady who was quite a character. She greeted us like long-lost friends and you could hear her laughing all across the restaurant. Anyway, I noticed all the other waitresses (3 or 4 in their late teens-early twenties) always seemed to be conferring with our waitress. I asked her about it and she told me their cash register was broken and she was the only one there who knew how to calculate the sales tax, even with a calculator available! Sad indeed.
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Confusion is my default setting... Harry 9/19/09
You've got a nice set, Lorax...Joann 6/27/11
I was working in an 8th grade Algebra class today, giving an example on the board. The problem was something like:
If I purchase an item for $95 and have to pay 7½% sales tax, what is my total cost?
My point is not that a problem like this shouldn't be in an 8th grade Algebra class. I don't remember when I learned to solve these, but I'm pretty sure it was in elementary school math. My point is that when I wrote:
xxxxx$95.00
xxxx __.075
on the board, someone raised her hand and asked "Where did you get the ".075" from? I thought everyone past 5th grade knew how to change percent to decimals.
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I bet some poor third world country kid can do it, are system is going to pot. Should pass out pencils and paper and say tough do it in your head not on a calc.
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An empty coffee cup is just wrong.
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"I just find it amazing there are so many legal experts, and experts in just about every other field, all found a single forum to exchange their views."
-- Ernest T. 9/28/09
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"I just find it amazing there are so many legal experts, and experts in just about every other field, all found a single forum to exchange their views."
-- Ernest T. 9/28/09
I despair...
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