Wednesday, February 9, 2011

I'll keep my calculator handy, thanks!

Today, things are going my way! I passed my test for the navy. It's been awhile since I've posted. (I know, I know!) I've been busy trying to find X. Anyways, this test consisted of three parts: mechanical comprehension, paragraph comprehension and mathematical concepts. The first two, I'm golden on! I can pull big words out of nowhere and use them correctly. And who doesn't know how a pulley system and levers works. Clearly, these two sections use common sense. Math, however...what the hell is half of the stuff I saw on the test today?

I'm an avid shopper, so percents and interest equations don't intimidate me. I also can add and subtract money with no hesitation, but please explain to me...what the hell is a factorial? And how is it going to help me in life?

Or my favorite word problems go something like this--Two trains are coming from opposites directions, one is going 45 miles per hour the other 60, at what point will they crash? Well, my answer would be, "Why can't each train have its own track."

And why do I need to know what angle X is if Y is 60 degrees? Really? In the real, if I needed to know an angle measurement, I think we have some kind of tool that tells us the answer in like two second. Its called a protractor.

Oh and what about questions like this, "There are twelve m&m's in a bag. 4 green, 2 blue and 6 brown. What is the probability that you will pick a brown one?" I was under the impression that they all tasted the same. So, who cares?

These days the whole world does everything with technology, computers and calculators. I can go online and type something into an formula without ever lifting a pen. If I had it my way, fractions wouldn't exist. Honestly, I think I could survive without them. For all the math teachers out there, I extol you! Thank you so much for all of your hard work and energy. But you need to know, that children are getting left behind. Not everyone gets it! And some of us graduate college, content with circling X on the page when asked to find it.

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