And you are why I chose to say 80% rather than most or all. Everyone's brain gets wired just a bit differently, but there are some very common archetypes that I see time and again. I'm not sure if 80% not being ready is the actual number I run into, but it feels right. It's a very Truthy number.;-)
I'm glad to hear that you had at least a little bit of a good experience to balance out something that could have turned you off of math in general at that point.
But, just because you know math, doesn't mean you can teach it...
Or, more importantly, teach it well.
I do agree with your point though. If the multi-subject teachers were themselves stronger in math, there'd be less "math is hard" thoughts floating around. Hell, that exists in all levels. All I or anyone else on my staff has to do to get one Social Studies teacher to leave the teachers' lounge is to start talking about math at all. She flips out and leaves.
I have an answer for you on that, as a teacher who has been teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra to 7th and 8th graders (12 to 14 years old) for the last 6 years.
Quite simply, somewhere on the order of 80% of students are not cognitively developed for the abstract reasoning that is algebra until just after the onset of puberty. We used to have a 2-year Algebra program stretched over 7th and 8th grade, and I would see a huge jump in comprehension of algebra skills between those two years. Same kids, same teacher. The only difference was time and growth. It was like large swaths of them just flipped a switch over the summer. We are pushing topics either too early or in the wrong ways. I do my best, but I also know of many elementary (K-6) teachers that are truly math-phobic, and the kids pick up on that. Those that have had elementary teachers with less than strong math skills are quite often the ones that are most turned off from math, especially once they start hitting higher-level concepts.
Apple has had multi-button mice for a while now. It was called the Mighty Mouse, but due to copyright issues, that particular mouse is now called the Apple Mouse, and there is now a new BlueTooth mouse with multi-sense and gesture capabilities called the Magic Mouse. Multi-button mice have been standard with Macs since 2005 at least, and are also now built in to the trackpad on all MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
Plus, many Mac gamers have a secondary Windows box for games that didn't make it over. I think you'll find some strong challengers from this side of the companion cube.
I could be wrong (i.e. I haven't checked too closely), but I am pretty sure there is Intel-only software that runs on 10.4. I will have to dig a bit and see if I can find an example, but I'm fairly sure many of the recent game releases (such as WoW and Plants vs. Zombies) can run on 10.4, but still require an intel Mac. My Mini came with an Intel proc, but is currently running 10.4...
Having stayed at the Venetian the week before CES two years ago, I can say without a doubt that it is usually standard practice to hold meetings in hotel rooms. I had been upgraded to a suite there and the night before I was to check out, hotel staff were removing beds (mattresses and frames) from every room in the same wing and floor I was staying on. I can only imagine that they were going to take the bed from the room I was in as soon as I checked out.
When I used to attend CES in the late 90's through 2002, I was well aware of business meetings as well as parties being held in hotel rooms at most of the nearby hotels. I never received an invite, but the Kentia hall vendors would often have a sign saying, "Come see our presentation in room blah of the [Hilton, Venetian, Sands, etc...]."
I'm thinking this is just CES management shaking down unregistered vendors that are trying to piggyback on the show without paying a share. I could be wrong though.
Interesting... I think that just might be my first Troll mod. Offtopic I would agree with (even though it was based on the previous comment). Flamebait would be a possibility too. Didn't really think of it as a Troll though. I always thought a Troll mod point was for stuff like GNAA, goat.cx, or some other RickRoll-ish action. Yes, I know there was bile and vitriol in there, but that shouldn't make it straight up Troll. The complaints I have with TWC are quite valid given the similar complaints I hear in my admittedly small circle of friends and in my larger group of coworkers that have to deal with the local monopoly that is TWC. As U-verse rolls in, people are beginning to switch over left and right.
Not to mention, the connection back to AT&T does make it at least slightly relevant. I plan on getting some kind of bundle deal with my home phone, iPhone, U-verse, and internet, just as soon as AT&T gets their shite together and upgrades my neighborhood. The upgrades needing to be done are a valid complaint as well. The wires are so old in my area that the rubber laced with braided cotton (or some other fabric) has been falling off the lines in long strips for several years now. Fun times.
FUCK Time Warner Cable! Fuck them gently with a chainsaw. Hell, they're so bad I'm willing to switch to AT&T gets their U-Verse system into my neighborhood. Of course, that also means they have to upgrade the failing infrastructure in my neighborhood so that I won't be without phone service for 2.5 weeks and three service visits.
You know, on second thought, TWC doesn't even get the gentle treatment. Fuck them up the ass with said chainsaw. Between their craptastic service ("sunspots causing service interruptions" during a period of 0 sunspots a year or two ago right after they took over from Comcast... I call bullshit), sucktacular DVR software, and programming guides that are wildly inaccurate, I can't wait to drop them like a bad habit. The only reason I do not switch to a dish of some kind is that I do enjoy the OnDemand service, as do other people in my house.
Cartman: Damn! Shit! Respect my fuckin' authoritayyy! [shocks Saddam] Saddam Hussein: You need to watch your mouth, brat. Cartman: Dog-shit taco! Saddam Hussein: Quick Satan! Do something! Cartman: Try this on for size... Blood drenched frozen tampon popsicle! Saddam Hussein: Hey, buddy! I know I was mean before. But don't worry - I can change! Cartman: OK... not! Fuck, shit, cock, ass, titties, boner, bitch, muff, pussy, cunt, butthole, Barbra Streisand!
I, for one, welcome our new children overlords with electro shock abilities.
Last time I checked (30 seconds ago), you are allowed to bring all of those in the carryon. The TSA's 3-1-1 rule allows you to bring as many 3.4 oz. (100 ml) containers of any liquid (or toothpaste) as you can fit in a single 1 quart clear plastic bag. It's just a pain to limit to those amounts and have the bag separated from your carryon at security.
Actually, wouldn't "Lookit the funny picture" be a criticism in and of itself? The person making that statement about the image is implying that the image is not natural and deserves commenting on. The criticism on the other page is not relevant to Boing Boing's point of view.
Oh, and by the way: A large number of christians does very much affirm that the Bible is to be taken by the letter. "Bible Belt" ring any bells?
On a related note, read a bit about Seventh-day Adventists to find out about a fairly decent sized swath of literal-minded Christians. Having dated one in the past, and being Agnostic myself, finding out about their beliefs was quite interesting...
Sometimes collaboration on a project is necessary, but Macs won't be able to open MS Office files properly (I haven't tried Office Mac 08 yet, though).
I don't know what you're using for document editing, except maybe iWork, but I've never had a problem opening up Windows-created Office documents on my OSX systems (G4 and Intel-based). I've been using Office 2004 for the Mac with no problems at all. The only thing I've found that sucks in it is not being able to add animation paths in PowerPoint, but that's just a minor issue. I would assume Office 2008 would be at least as good, but then again, it is MS, so that could be a faulty assumption.;-)
"Art-oriented institution" tells me that the submitter is likely to be using OSX. Setting up a low-access guest account and setting a password on the primary account is extremely easy in that situation. Heck, you can even limit the programs that account can access. Even if it's XP or Vista, it should still be fairly easy.
I definitely agree with Biggs. Just set up a guest account already.
I'm contemptuous of tuna sandwiches. I'd prefer a nice MLT - mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe...
You might want to look further back than the `80's. Last House on the Left is a remake of Last House on the Left from 1972. Hell, the original was directed by Wes "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream" Craven. Don't forget that Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th had their heydays in the `80's as well.
You mention that playing shooters signals something "deeply wrong." Could it be that such forms of entertainment appeal to our baser instincts and have for millennia? The Romans sure seemed to enjoy watching gladiators fighting to the death. Violence and violent entertainment are nothing new. Also, as has been said before, perhaps those with violent tendencies are more drawn to violent entertainment because they are already predisposed to enjoy that type of imagery. Does that mean that everyone who enjoys such forms of entertainment is drawn to violence in the real world? I highly doubt it, and for every study that one can find to say there is a correlation between violent entertainment and actual violence, there are several others that say there is no causal link, not even on an "if there's smoke, there's fire," level. Violence is more often borne from desperation of one form or another, I'd be willing to bet.
Slashdot Mirror
And you are why I chose to say 80% rather than most or all. Everyone's brain gets wired just a bit differently, but there are some very common archetypes that I see time and again. I'm not sure if 80% not being ready is the actual number I run into, but it feels right. It's a very Truthy number. ;-)
I'm glad to hear that you had at least a little bit of a good experience to balance out something that could have turned you off of math in general at that point.
But, just because you know math, doesn't mean you can teach it...
Or, more importantly, teach it well.
I do agree with your point though. If the multi-subject teachers were themselves stronger in math, there'd be less "math is hard" thoughts floating around. Hell, that exists in all levels. All I or anyone else on my staff has to do to get one Social Studies teacher to leave the teachers' lounge is to start talking about math at all. She flips out and leaves.
A lot of math is taught too early and at a hurried pace
THIS is one of the main roots of the problem. Thank you.
I have an answer for you on that, as a teacher who has been teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra to 7th and 8th graders (12 to 14 years old) for the last 6 years.
Quite simply, somewhere on the order of 80% of students are not cognitively developed for the abstract reasoning that is algebra until just after the onset of puberty. We used to have a 2-year Algebra program stretched over 7th and 8th grade, and I would see a huge jump in comprehension of algebra skills between those two years. Same kids, same teacher. The only difference was time and growth. It was like large swaths of them just flipped a switch over the summer. We are pushing topics either too early or in the wrong ways. I do my best, but I also know of many elementary (K-6) teachers that are truly math-phobic, and the kids pick up on that. Those that have had elementary teachers with less than strong math skills are quite often the ones that are most turned off from math, especially once they start hitting higher-level concepts.
Fun times.
Yeah, about that...
Apple has had multi-button mice for a while now. It was called the Mighty Mouse, but due to copyright issues, that particular mouse is now called the Apple Mouse, and there is now a new BlueTooth mouse with multi-sense and gesture capabilities called the Magic Mouse. Multi-button mice have been standard with Macs since 2005 at least, and are also now built in to the trackpad on all MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
Plus, many Mac gamers have a secondary Windows box for games that didn't make it over. I think you'll find some strong challengers from this side of the companion cube.
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
I could be wrong (i.e. I haven't checked too closely), but I am pretty sure there is Intel-only software that runs on 10.4. I will have to dig a bit and see if I can find an example, but I'm fairly sure many of the recent game releases (such as WoW and Plants vs. Zombies) can run on 10.4, but still require an intel Mac. My Mini came with an Intel proc, but is currently running 10.4...
{checks PopCap.com for PvZ info}
Yup. 10.4.11 and Intel proc combo required. It could be done. No PowerPC support required.
More importantly, will the sharks and dolphins work together once they have frickin' laser beams?
I, for one, welcome our new technologically advanced aquatic overlords. (pssst... Head for the hills!)
Can I get a Snow Crash movie or mini-series here?
Having stayed at the Venetian the week before CES two years ago, I can say without a doubt that it is usually standard practice to hold meetings in hotel rooms. I had been upgraded to a suite there and the night before I was to check out, hotel staff were removing beds (mattresses and frames) from every room in the same wing and floor I was staying on. I can only imagine that they were going to take the bed from the room I was in as soon as I checked out.
When I used to attend CES in the late 90's through 2002, I was well aware of business meetings as well as parties being held in hotel rooms at most of the nearby hotels. I never received an invite, but the Kentia hall vendors would often have a sign saying, "Come see our presentation in room blah of the [Hilton, Venetian, Sands, etc...]."
I'm thinking this is just CES management shaking down unregistered vendors that are trying to piggyback on the show without paying a share. I could be wrong though.
Interesting... I think that just might be my first Troll mod. Offtopic I would agree with (even though it was based on the previous comment). Flamebait would be a possibility too. Didn't really think of it as a Troll though. I always thought a Troll mod point was for stuff like GNAA, goat.cx, or some other RickRoll-ish action. Yes, I know there was bile and vitriol in there, but that shouldn't make it straight up Troll. The complaints I have with TWC are quite valid given the similar complaints I hear in my admittedly small circle of friends and in my larger group of coworkers that have to deal with the local monopoly that is TWC. As U-verse rolls in, people are beginning to switch over left and right.
Not to mention, the connection back to AT&T does make it at least slightly relevant. I plan on getting some kind of bundle deal with my home phone, iPhone, U-verse, and internet, just as soon as AT&T gets their shite together and upgrades my neighborhood. The upgrades needing to be done are a valid complaint as well. The wires are so old in my area that the rubber laced with braided cotton (or some other fabric) has been falling off the lines in long strips for several years now. Fun times.
Oh well. Mods are funny around here.
FUCK Time Warner Cable! Fuck them gently with a chainsaw. Hell, they're so bad I'm willing to switch to AT&T gets their U-Verse system into my neighborhood. Of course, that also means they have to upgrade the failing infrastructure in my neighborhood so that I won't be without phone service for 2.5 weeks and three service visits.
You know, on second thought, TWC doesn't even get the gentle treatment. Fuck them up the ass with said chainsaw. Between their craptastic service ("sunspots causing service interruptions" during a period of 0 sunspots a year or two ago right after they took over from Comcast... I call bullshit), sucktacular DVR software, and programming guides that are wildly inaccurate, I can't wait to drop them like a bad habit. The only reason I do not switch to a dish of some kind is that I do enjoy the OnDemand service, as do other people in my house.
From the movie...
Cartman: Damn! Shit! Respect my fuckin' authoritayyy!
[shocks Saddam]
Saddam Hussein: You need to watch your mouth, brat.
Cartman: Dog-shit taco!
Saddam Hussein: Quick Satan! Do something!
Cartman: Try this on for size... Blood drenched frozen tampon popsicle!
Saddam Hussein: Hey, buddy! I know I was mean before. But don't worry - I can change!
Cartman: OK... not! Fuck, shit, cock, ass, titties, boner, bitch, muff, pussy, cunt, butthole, Barbra Streisand!
I, for one, welcome our new children overlords with electro shock abilities.
Last time I checked (30 seconds ago), you are allowed to bring all of those in the carryon. The TSA's 3-1-1 rule allows you to bring as many 3.4 oz. (100 ml) containers of any liquid (or toothpaste) as you can fit in a single 1 quart clear plastic bag. It's just a pain to limit to those amounts and have the bag separated from your carryon at security.
The original site that the Google translate link is directing to seems to be borked. Does anyone have any other links to throw out?
For great justice!
Actually, wouldn't "Lookit the funny picture" be a criticism in and of itself? The person making that statement about the image is implying that the image is not natural and deserves commenting on. The criticism on the other page is not relevant to Boing Boing's point of view.
Oh, and by the way: A large number of christians does very much affirm that the Bible is to be taken by the letter. "Bible Belt" ring any bells?
On a related note, read a bit about Seventh-day Adventists to find out about a fairly decent sized swath of literal-minded Christians. Having dated one in the past, and being Agnostic myself, finding out about their beliefs was quite interesting...
Sometimes collaboration on a project is necessary, but Macs won't be able to open MS Office files properly (I haven't tried Office Mac 08 yet, though).
I don't know what you're using for document editing, except maybe iWork, but I've never had a problem opening up Windows-created Office documents on my OSX systems (G4 and Intel-based). I've been using Office 2004 for the Mac with no problems at all. The only thing I've found that sucks in it is not being able to add animation paths in PowerPoint, but that's just a minor issue. I would assume Office 2008 would be at least as good, but then again, it is MS, so that could be a faulty assumption. ;-)
"Art-oriented institution" tells me that the submitter is likely to be using OSX. Setting up a low-access guest account and setting a password on the primary account is extremely easy in that situation. Heck, you can even limit the programs that account can access. Even if it's XP or Vista, it should still be fairly easy.
I definitely agree with Biggs. Just set up a guest account already.
I'm contemptuous of tuna sandwiches. I'd prefer a nice MLT - mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe...
Mmmmm...
They're so perky, I love that.
It would also be considered post-Cold War, so our Ruskie friends were cool again.
What's that I hear?
"Crab people! Crab people! Taste like crab! Talk like people!"
Anyone got some melted butter?
Yeah, but who would take him?
You might want to look further back than the `80's. Last House on the Left is a remake of Last House on the Left from 1972. Hell, the original was directed by Wes "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream" Craven. Don't forget that Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th had their heydays in the `80's as well.
You mention that playing shooters signals something "deeply wrong." Could it be that such forms of entertainment appeal to our baser instincts and have for millennia? The Romans sure seemed to enjoy watching gladiators fighting to the death. Violence and violent entertainment are nothing new. Also, as has been said before, perhaps those with violent tendencies are more drawn to violent entertainment because they are already predisposed to enjoy that type of imagery. Does that mean that everyone who enjoys such forms of entertainment is drawn to violence in the real world? I highly doubt it, and for every study that one can find to say there is a correlation between violent entertainment and actual violence, there are several others that say there is no causal link, not even on an "if there's smoke, there's fire," level. Violence is more often borne from desperation of one form or another, I'd be willing to bet.