Re: Re: be the pack leader - math tangent

[Guest guest]

Excuse me? Detention because she didn't (read, couldn't be bothered to) explain

the problem in terms that they could understand. Well, F***ing just jump the

shark. And this woman is still teaching? Suddenly I understand why millions of

children are not graduating from high school.

Unbelievable. This woman has a problem and needs to be yanked. Do her

supervisors know she engages in this sort of behavior with her students? If I

were the parent of a student having problems in math and found out that the

teacher was sending my child to detention to prevent him from asking a question

in order to better understand what she was teaching, I would be all over that

school like the worst ugly on an ape.

I am gritting my teeth just thinking about it. Tell you what, I think a little

birdy needs to tell these kids to stick a digital recorder in their backpack to

get this witch on tape doing this.

Re: be the pack leader - math tangent

that is really unfortunate that your teachers made you feel that

way. that's what i was worried about this year with my kids. i was

like, " what if they don't learn anything and then they hate math

forever because i didn't do my job right. " they seem to like math,

though! i passed out an end of year survey and everyone either had a

neutral or positive attitude towards math and felt like they had

learned a lot.

there's another teacher in my grade and i had some of her kids in

remedial (they would take math everyday and then a remedial course

every other day) and the kids said that she would give them detention

when they told her they didn't understand. she was like, YOU NEED TO

PAY ATTENTION! that's really horrible. i think math is soooo

crucial to peoples' sense of accomplishment and self esteem. and it

is an equalizer, too, since there's the general attitude that boys

are better at it than girls.. one of my girls was very quiet and a

very serious student...until i gushed about her at open house. then

she revealed this really hilarious sarcastic side and would compete

with the boys in math AND in clowning around. it was pretty cool to

see.

what you're saying about your math skills makes a lot of sense to

me. as humans, we have an innate sense of algebraic reasoning. it

is extremely bizarre to see a kid in a lab class struggle with

addition and subtraction, but have no problem solving an algebraic

problem when the numbers are taken out and replaced by shapes or

symbols. this tells me that your teachers probably dropped the ball

around 4th or 5th grade and instead of helping you along in 6th, 7th,

and 8th, when math goes from concrete to abstract, they didn't take

the time to figure out what the problem was. so unacceptable.

math is impersonal, and it can definitely be used to nefarious ends,

but it can also be used for good stuff (the analytical chemists who

made welbutrin, i'm looking at you). and the thing is that at the

4th, 5th, and 6th grade levels, where kids can still wing it because

they've been taught procedures instead of what they're actually

doing, math HAS TO BE TIED TO THE CONCRETE WORLD. the numbers HAVE

to mean something, like 2 kitties or 5 apples or 8 dominoes or

whatever. i had a pretty big success with my 8th remedial students.

everyone who started the year with me passed the state standardized

test. i was afraid they wouldn't buy in, but i was like, my ONLY job

is to get you prepared for high school, so if you don't understand

something, you have to tell me and we'll work on it. will you trust

me to get you through this? and they said, um...sure... whatever. so

i was like, alright, we're going to start at the very beginning of

math. WHAT IS A NUMBER? we had a whole class on this concept, going

through the idea that a number is a symbol and represents something

in the real world. they we just investigated the base-10 system that

everyone uses. then from there, we used numberlines to investigate

adding and subtracting. from there, i defined math as lots and lots

of different ways to add numbers:

adding - combining two quantities

multiplying - repeatedly adding the same quantity

subtraction - adding a negative quantity

division - repeatedly adding a negative quantity until you get to 0

then they were like, whoah. after that, we just had to work on

fractions really. they had all kinds of math knowledge, they just

didn't know how it fit together.

OK THAT IS YOUR LESSON FOR TODAY, CLASS!

bink

>

> this is brilliant, bink:

>

> " the male reaction seems to be to compete with you based on

> skill. the female reaction seems to be to undermine you socially

> because you are a threat. "

>

> absolutely, that is my experience as well. I went through this with

a

> female 'friend' a while back and the odd thing was I didn't see it

> coming until I made her mad but the moment I did she went on

a 'seek

> and destroy' mission vs. me, that was almost frightening.

>

> Another thing that I've noticed is that some NPD males use

relational

> aggression techniques. My dad does this...sometimes I want to say

he

> is 'such a girl' because of the character assassination and all of

> that that he does. It's bizarre how 'traditionally feminine' his

> tactics are...they are typical NPD tactics but the lying and

> gatekeepering and character assassination are hallmarks of a really

> desperate person I guess. It's very strange. And I've worked with

men

> like this alot, to the point where I almost feel those traits

> shouldn't be assigned to gender, because so many of my male

coworkers

> have used relational aggression, gossip, etc to hurt women they

worked

> with, including me, that it feels like they aren't gender specific.

>

> I have heard what you are saying about the math...it's odd because

my

> verbal skills test very well on standardized tests, in the upper

range

> of scoring. This last time I had to study math for that entrance

test

> I tried to look at it as a language, because I love languages and

> would like to study linguistics one day. I still made mistake after

> mistake after mistake though...I mean in simple things like

addition

> and multiplication. I actually do better in algebra where unknown

> quanties (xy, etc) are used than with actual numbers. And it's an

> emotional thing, every time I have to deal with it I feel hate,

> loathing, disgust, coming up from the depths of my being for those

> numbers, I mean, I think they represent everything evil on this

planet

> because they are related to nothing and lead to things like poison

gas

> and atomic bombs. I think to me they represent science without a

> conscience or something. Plus I was humiliated by teachers in math

> classes growing up because I was so inept at making the problem

come

> up with the right answer, so that's probably where the resentment

> comes from. I always felt in math classes that the teachers didn't

> have time for anyone who was struggling, just for the people that

> picked it up quickly, and if you didn't you were left behind...and

I

> sensed that they couldn't 'understand' why you didn't learn it. If

you

> didn't 'get it' they looked at you as dumb, and I knew I wasn't

dumb.

>

[Guest guest]

Bink, I love hearing about your classes and students and esp learning math.

I wasn't naturally talented in math and science, but ended up going that

direction in college because 1) my dad wouldn't allow me to major in music

(which is closely related to math by the way) and I wasn't strong enough to

stand up to him and 2) my nada tried to compete with me/destroy me in the

arts and English so I went toward subjects that terrified her to make my own

place. I still am not great at math but I am fabulous at statistics, which I

absolutely love. I attribute my love of stats to having a really really

great teacher in college. You are making a difference just like that teacher

made a difference for me. Looking back, I never had a math teacher who was

exceptional or who was one of my favorites. I think kids favorite teachers

are usually the ones who work the hardest at helping them learn. Of course,

my state has a sh*tty education system anyway, but imagine how many more

choices I would have had if my great stats teacher had been my 3rd grade

elementary teacher? 3rd grade was when I lost it especially math wise, but

my dad also studied spelling with me every week and he was VERY UNKIND about

it - I hated it and ended up sobbing every time. Now that I teach kids that

age I know that it is totally unnecessary to yell at them until they are

sobbing uncontrolably. That isn't how you help someone learn. Also, isn't it

sad that my mother is an English teacher/special ed teacher and she refused

to help me with spelling.

>

> this is the problem i've been having all year. she's not doing a good

> job. the administration targets me...and by all accounts, i can now

> assess myself as having done a GOOD JOB. everything is so vague. i'm

> doing something wrong, but they want me to figure it out instead of

> TELLING me what it is. all i can figure is that i wasn't doing that

> much wrong at all and it was a totally dysfunctional situation. next

> year will be completely different. i'll be all, i'm sorry. what

> exactly is your problem? and not accept any of that vague crap.

>

> we have basically NO parental involvement at our school, which is

> unfortunate. it makes me really angry because most if not all of

> these kids are completely capable of learning math! GRRRRRR!!! and

> if you lose it in 7th grade, you've got a HUGE almost insurmountable

> problem on your hands.

>

> bink

>

>

> > >

> > > this is brilliant, bink:

> > >

> > > " the male reaction seems to be to compete with you based on

> > > skill. the female reaction seems to be to undermine you socially

> > > because you are a threat. "

> > >

> > > absolutely, that is my experience as well. I went through this with

> > a

> > > female 'friend' a while back and the odd thing was I didn't see it

> > > coming until I made her mad but the moment I did she went on

> > a 'seek

> > > and destroy' mission vs. me, that was almost frightening.

> > >

> > > Another thing that I've noticed is that some NPD males use

> > relational

> > > aggression techniques. My dad does this...sometimes I want to say

> > he

> > > is 'such a girl' because of the character assassination and all of

> > > that that he does. It's bizarre how 'traditionally feminine' his

> > > tactics are...they are typical NPD tactics but the lying and

> > > gatekeepering and character assassination are hallmarks of a really

> > > desperate person I guess. It's very strange. And I've worked with

> > men

> > > like this alot, to the point where I almost feel those traits

> > > shouldn't be assigned to gender, because so many of my male

> > coworkers

> > > have used relational aggression, gossip, etc to hurt women they

> > worked

> > > with, including me, that it feels like they aren't gender specific.

> > >

> > > I have heard what you are saying about the math...it's odd because

> > my

> > > verbal skills test very well on standardized tests, in the upper

> > range

> > > of scoring. This last time I had to study math for that entrance

> > test

> > > I tried to look at it as a language, because I love languages and

> > > would like to study linguistics one day. I still made mistake after

> > > mistake after mistake though...I mean in simple things like

> > addition

> > > and multiplication. I actually do better in algebra where unknown

> > > quanties (xy, etc) are used than with actual numbers. And it's an

> > > emotional thing, every time I have to deal with it I feel hate,

> > > loathing, disgust, coming up from the depths of my being for those

> > > numbers, I mean, I think they represent everything evil on this

> > planet

> > > because they are related to nothing and lead to things like poison

> > gas

> > > and atomic bombs. I think to me they represent science without a

> > > conscience or something. Plus I was humiliated by teachers in math

> > > classes growing up because I was so inept at making the problem

> > come

> > > up with the right answer, so that's probably where the resentment

> > > comes from. I always felt in math classes that the teachers didn't

> > > have time for anyone who was struggling, just for the people that

> > > picked it up quickly, and if you didn't you were left behind...and

> > I

> > > sensed that they couldn't 'understand' why you didn't learn it. If

> > you

> > > didn't 'get it' they looked at you as dumb, and I knew I wasn't

> > dumb.

> > >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Now that you have this year under your belt, you can handle it so that you get

ahead of the witch. As for their evaluation of you, keep pushing them to tell

you exactly what it is that you seem to be lacking in. Don't let them get away

with this passive agressive sh**. I had a supervisor that was (now I know) an

over the top Narc. He pulled this stunt on me and it ended up with me getting

laid off. Everytime I asked him what I needed to improve on he would put me off

and keep a record of it on the side. My mistake was in not pushing HR hard

enough to hold him accountable for his behavior. Ask for specific examples in

writing and let them know that if they expect your performance to improve that

this is the best way to help you do it. Don't let them roll you.

Re: be the pack leader - math tangent

this is the problem i've been having all year. she's not doing a good

job. the administration targets me...and by all accounts, i can now

assess myself as having done a GOOD JOB. everything is so vague. i'm

doing something wrong, but they want me to figure it out instead of

TELLING me what it is. all i can figure is that i wasn't doing that

much wrong at all and it was a totally dysfunctional situation. next

year will be completely different. i'll be all, i'm sorry. what

exactly is your problem? and not accept any of that vague crap.

we have basically NO parental involvement at our school, which is

unfortunate. it makes me really angry because most if not all of

these kids are completely capable of learning math! GRRRRRR!!! and

if you lose it in 7th grade, you've got a HUGE almost insurmountable

problem on your hands.

bink

> >

> > this is brilliant, bink:

> >

> > " the male reaction seems to be to compete with you based on

> > skill. the female reaction seems to be to undermine you socially

> > because you are a threat. "

> >

> > absolutely, that is my experience as well. I went through this with

> a

> > female 'friend' a while back and the odd thing was I didn't see it

> > coming until I made her mad but the moment I did she went on

> a 'seek

> > and destroy' mission vs. me, that was almost frightening.

> >

> > Another thing that I've noticed is that some NPD males use

> relational

> > aggression techniques. My dad does this...sometimes I want to say

> he

> > is 'such a girl' because of the character assassination and all of

> > that that he does. It's bizarre how 'traditionally feminine' his

> > tactics are...they are typical NPD tactics but the lying and

> > gatekeepering and character assassination are hallmarks of a really

> > desperate person I guess. It's very strange. And I've worked with

> men

> > like this alot, to the point where I almost feel those traits

> > shouldn't be assigned to gender, because so many of my male

> coworkers

> > have used relational aggression, gossip, etc to hurt women they

> worked

> > with, including me, that it feels like they aren't gender specific.

> >

> > I have heard what you are saying about the math...it's odd because

> my

> > verbal skills test very well on standardized tests, in the upper

> range

> > of scoring. This last time I had to study math for that entrance

> test

> > I tried to look at it as a language, because I love languages and

> > would like to study linguistics one day. I still made mistake after

> > mistake after mistake though...I mean in simple things like

> addition

> > and multiplication. I actually do better in algebra where unknown

> > quanties (xy, etc) are used than with actual numbers. And it's an

> > emotional thing, every time I have to deal with it I feel hate,

> > loathing, disgust, coming up from the depths of my being for those

> > numbers, I mean, I think they represent everything evil on this

> planet

> > because they are related to nothing and lead to things like poison

> gas

> > and atomic bombs. I think to me they represent science without a

> > conscience or something. Plus I was humiliated by teachers in math

> > classes growing up because I was so inept at making the problem

> come

> > up with the right answer, so that's probably where the resentment

> > comes from. I always felt in math classes that the teachers didn't

> > have time for anyone who was struggling, just for the people that

> > picked it up quickly, and if you didn't you were left behind...and

> I

> > sensed that they couldn't 'understand' why you didn't learn it. If

> you

> > didn't 'get it' they looked at you as dumb, and I knew I wasn't

> dumb.

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>