Adding It All Up

I wanted my first blog post to be the "How Many Teachers" Joke because it points out convoluted educating can be. In the joke, a teacher wants to instruct a class on a very simple, straightforward process: changing a light bulb. But the many shifts, trends, fads, and directives handed down each school year make the most simplistic instruction a tangled, convoluted stream of effort. Frustrating, yes. Effective, no.

I was a victim of this type of governmental / societal interference back in the 1960's. Sputnik had Americans all bunched up, and there was a race between Russia and America to fling satellites up into the sky NOW! As a country, it was decided all school children needed to become scientists and mathematicians quickly - so New Math was born. Abstract, theoretical and obscure - new math challenged teachers, overwhelmed students and frustrated parents. It was my first experience in the public schools systems reactionary approach to real or imagined shortcomings. When in doubt, throw it out and bring in something shiny and new - even if it is untested, unsubstantiated and unproductive. I still am hindered by a decade of math instruction that attempted to teach axiomatic set theory to students before they had learned their multiplication tables! I swear that’s why it takes me so much time to factor tips at restaurants – really!