best teacher I ever had in math gave me incentives to do well and he was the only math teacher I ever remember paying attention to. It was 6th grade math and he told me that if I had the highest score in all his classes on a test I wouldn't have to do homework until the next test. Anyone who beat me on a test got a no homework pass. I got the highest grade on all but one test where some kid beat my 99 with a 100. Was pretty elite as I only had homework about 10 days all year.

Sure, there's definitely a need for some level of conceptual presentation and to have worked problems available. Just that (and obviously I think we agree here) the ratio of "time spent actively reading and working problems" to "sitting and passively listening" should be far, far, higher.

(also agree with huge value of seeing tough problems tackled correctly.)

I told my Algebra 2 teacher that I learned best by simply seeing problems done correctly over and over again, so he gave me his answer book with step by step solutions for all my homework. Funny thing was it did teach me pretty damn well.

yeah, watching tough problems being tackled correctly is how to best learn in my experience too. After I try them myself, tho.

But easier problems should be doable right after viewing the lesson.

My freshman year of high school I simultaneously took Algebra 2 and Pre-Calc/Trig because lol school district wouldn't let me just test out of Algebra 2. I was one of maybe 3-4 freshmen in a class of 30-35.

At the end of the year our teacher had to miss 3 weeks with surgery. We got a sub that was utterly useless and had at best a basic understanding of algebra, certainly no understanding of quadratic equation, finding multiple roots, etc.

For the last 2 weeks while our teacher was out, 14 year old Zimmer was his class's Algebra 2 teacher. I did way better than the sub and prob better than our regular teacher too.

My 4th grade teachers name was Mr. Fourth. True story.

Time to replace csb with cdl

I for one sucked at math in high school. I blame crappy teaching techniques tho.

I got a good grade in calc 3 last year in a v tough class full of UBC comp sci and engi majors. (read: class was 90% asian dudes)

I'm no math genius compared to 2p2 but in the real world common people think I am. I found I understood math best when I was forced to teach someone else, and I enjoyed doing that. I remember in Geometry the kids all around me would ask me how to do the problems after the teacher just taught us and I'd put it into better words for them. Then they'd go "how in the world do you know this so well?" and I'd feel embarassed while on the inside thinking "God damn you guys are really dumb. This isn't hard."

lol, so Missouri is going to try selling lottery tickets directly at the pump. And we still can't online poker. This country is a joke sometimes.

Yeah, on another note why would Louisiana allow sports betting when you can just buy SAINTS LOTTO TICKETS $100,000 GRAND PRIZE!!!!1111

govt wants peons gambling away money to govt rather than 2p2ers.

This is changing very, very rapidly in the sciences at least. Then again science is more conducive to experimenting, exploring, problem solving, blah blah blah than say history

since I started teaching financial literacy last year, I've been hammering kids with the opposite, that they absolutely shouldn't go to college (especially the fall after graduating) unless they 100% know what they want to do for the next probably 50 years. and even then they should work for a year to either have cash for the first semester, or to use that time to learn about the real world.

the kids I teach read and write a lot of the time at like, the 5th-6th grade level as juniors and are snap-saying 'college' when you ask them what they're gonna do after HS.

society has beat it in their heads that that's the only acceptable answer.

when we go over how expensive college is, how long loans take to pay back and how they ALWAYS have to be paid back, even if (when) they drop out.

I try to make it a little more acceptable to say 'I'm just gonna work and then maybe go to trade school in a year or two'.

when you put it like, look, if it takes you 5-6 years to graduate, you're $60,000 in debt and starting at the bottom of the ladder, how long does it take you to pass the guy who worked for 6 years, ISNT in debt and likely got a handful of raises in that time? when you're 40? maybe?

to the top 10% yeah, college is feasible. to the rest, they feel looked down on if they say anything but 'college'. then a year later they dropped out and are deferring $12,000 for 5 years.

I realize the discussion probably advanced past this quote but yeah..

The Chinese are completely destroying us in schooling. It won't be long if we don't change our system.

I watched some TED talks on teaching, and I think it was Bill Gates who basically said they were number 1 in math/science because of schools in Beijing. It's because teachers get a ton of feedback and learn how to teach from teachers who are known to be really good at what they do.

And unions are a plague to society; they completely have run their course.

I recently graduated. sometimes I looked at the ditsy chicks majoring in psychology or sociology and wondered if they know what they're doing was a total waste of resources and time.

I wonder if the share of people majoring in (non-social) sciences or engineering has gone up or down over the past 25 years. I'd bet down because the share of people going to college has increased while the share of people capable of making it through an engineering program is about the same.

Thing is, a chicks earning power is normally not a deal breaker. Throw many of them into engineering and they never would have made it. The social butterflys would be miserable in many of the rigorous programs.

To follow up on Wipers post:

I'm doing a similar thing to one of my little cousins (hes 18 or 19 now). He took a year off after high school and wants to get into a University, like all of his other cousins and friends. Truth is, he's not going to excel. I know it, his parents know it, everyone knows it - but I just can't tell him "school is not for you", especially when his parents are saying the opposite.

Instead, what I'm doing is encouraging him to get in the work field and get some certifications (in night school) while working (which usually take ~6 months to complete). Investments/mutual funds/securities/financial advising/real estate etc. I can snap get him an entry level job at a bank, but I need to wait for him to actually want to work. (he's still in the full party, weed, hopes and dreams of going to university phase).

Also, by getting in the work field early, you can figure out what you're good at and what you're not good (and more importantly, what you enjoy and what you don't enjoy)...then, later branch off from there.

everybody conflates college with high social status. that's why all parents want their kids to goto college even if they aren't cut out for it.

The best thing about college is how a rich girl will spend 100K getting a sociology degree, paid for by her rich dad, so that she can meet a guy, get married, and never use it.

Raises demand for everyone else but adds no value to society. Rich dad doesn't care because 100K to him is nothing and he gets to tell the people at the club that his baby is edumacated. Girl doesn't care because she gets to party for 4 years and get drunk and laid for free.

UIEGA passes because nobody wants it on their record they voted no to protecting ports from terrorism

we won't have full tilt money for another 3 years even though it's been fully repaid to everyone else in the world because GUBMENT

online poker in california is subject to the whims of indian tribes

that conniving ****face scumbag harry reid has been the only chance at a federal bill every 2 years for the last decade

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

lotto tickets definitely the hypocrisy that pisses me off more than anything. people who can barely afford ramen with regularity dumping a hundred dollars to buy powerball tickets and you have the audacity to tell me online poker is amoral

For profit colleges are more to blame than everything else combined for the student loan debt that exists and the myth that college is the best idea for everyone.

I went to 3 colleges in 3 years. I am at least 30k in debt. I currently have no degree and am not really close to one. If I could do it all over I would have done two years of CC then reassess my situation. I'm in trouble.

are you good at math?
if so, become an engineer or comp sci major.
if only mediocre, become an accountant.
if terrible, pick a trade.