34^2+1 = 17*89

Most Dearest Friend ObsessiveMathsFreak,

I actually appreciate the salutations and valedictions. Sometimes they even help me identify Nigerian spam.

Sincerely,
Your friend,
mctk

PS I just thought of something to say, but unfortunately I've already typed out the message, so I'll just have to write it out here at the end.

F***.

No, no you don't. Ever heard of a credit report? We've never had control over our information.

Anyways, the ability to keep in touch with important people in my life, for me, is worth the risk of whatever doomsday privacy issue others see. So what, some sketchy advertisers get some info on me? Uuuh, I have multiple websites, registered with my name and address. I have no doubt that my grocery shopping is closely tracked based on my credit card number. I'm sure that my contact info has been sold between companies hundreds of times. My phone company knows who I talk to and for how long. My insurance company knows my driving record. My fingerprints are on file in Oregon.

I happen to like the fact that I am able to call up and old friend and meet him for drinks while driving through town on a road trip, thanks to facebook. That's worth it, in my opinion.

Well, there's your problem!

I'm guessing you haven't worked in a public school? Two years ago I got my classroom assignment 3 days before students showed up. My co-worker had 1 day. Instead of curriculum planning, we spent the time running around the halls trying to find desks for students, the teacher's manuals for our books, get appropriate keys, etc.

Oh, and we also had a part time counselor in charge of 300+ students' schedules at our school and another 300+ at our neighbor school. A student shows up who hasn't registered? The secretary will put her in some temporary classes until a week later when the counselor can actually review her transcript and place her accordingly.

No one is sitting around that week. There's a thousand jobs that need to be done, but the districts keep cutting support staff and putting it on the shoulders of teachers and counselors. I wouldn't be quick to blame anyone in that school building.

Quoting Fight Club as an argument for the existence of more Wal-Mart like companies is like using Office Space as an argument for TPS reports. It's like using Lebowski as an argument for holding a 9-5 job. It's like using Alien as an argument for the frailty of women. It's like using Predator as an argument for the wussiness of United States governors. It's like using American Beauty as an argument for filming plastic bags in the wind. It's like using Ninja Turtles as an argument *against* nuclear experimentation. It's like using Ravenous as an argument for the impact of good soundtracks. It's like using web standards as an argument for using IE6.

I don't think the penguin is AT&T's power animal.

You.

In.

Sensitive.

Clod!

Oh, nevermind.

Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods?!

No, no, no. You misunderstand. You know all of those half-finished hobby projects you have laying around? MonoDevelop actually gets them done! It's incredible! My productivity is through the roof!

At the library, no less!

Insightful? Really? Usually for satire, you use the Funny mod. Either myself or the mods are misunderstanding, but I'll respond anyways because this commonly heard quote has *layers* of stupidity. First, the simplest. If everyone was smart, *no one* would work at McDonald's because everyone would realize what shit food it is and stop eating there.

Is this actually an argument for the promotion of ignorance? No, it's not. It's a way for us to confirm our belief in the American Meritocracy. I don't want to work at McDonald's, that's why I did my homework. Everyone had an equal chance in school. It's what we tell ourselves to help us sleep at night while others starve to death, a shame on our abundant society if ever there was one. But not everyone has an equal chance in school. The inequities are everywhere and in plain sight. If you go to visit schools in China, you will have an escort choose which schools to see. In the US, you can get a visitor pass from any school, any day of the week. You can visit the affluent, suburbian school and the rundown, ghetto school in the same day, with no special permission. At least the Chinese recognize the injustices as shameful and try to hide them. We, however, are shameless. To discuss a solution is to abandon our illusion. And, hey, somebody's gotta clean the toilets, am I right? Eh?

Finally, the comment betrays the truth of the education system. It's an economic sorting engine. It's a drawn-out college entrance exam. The truth is, we need factory workers. Why do you think we cram active children into seats in small, almost windowless rooms and drown them in rote, mindless exercises? We could ask why dropout rates are so high. We could ask why there are disparities in grades between economic and cultural groups. We could really question the goals of this machine we've built. We could ask you what you could possibly have against a smarter, more informed populace. But, hey, somebody's gotta wash the dishes, am I right? Eh?

You get a C+. Your comment is insightful and original, at that. You have a clear title indicating the content to be found within and you have neither spelling mistakes nor grammatical errors. What's more, by refusing to make a categorical statement, you are promoting discussion. It is clear that your comment is an opportunity for others, perhaps more experience in the field, to chime in. So why the C+?

You should know better than to start a new thread this far down. Find some random troll up at the top of the page and respond to it. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S GOATSE! Within minutes, others will be vigorously arguing the importance of search up above. They will be the ones scoring karma and street cred. You, my friend, have missed out on your big chance. The cars, the girls, the glamor. I'm afraid history will remember you thusly: an also ran. The internet is a vicious place, Mr. caywen. C+.

Furthermore, ask any Calc I or Calc II student (even many math majors!) to prove that ln x is the (rather, an) anti-derivative of 1/x and you'll find that just about none of them can. They simply memorized it. They do just fine on tests and no one complains.

The problem is, at the lower levels math education heavily favors the "how" question. The "why" is something the teacher/professor explains, but doesn't test. If "how" is what you're focused on, these CAS's are a major detriment to your class. If, however, you focus on the "why", you find that in many cases, CAS's can help students develop an intuitive understanding of the nature of some problems.

For example, give a student some differential equations, a bifurcation diagram, and a solution plot with sliders for initial conditions and let them play with it. A few minutes, a few examples and they will have a memorable, intuitive idea of what we mean when we say, "Small changes in initial conditions can lead to drastically different solutions." Educators need to harness the power of these systems. They can aid learning, if used correctly.

I think you, and everyone else ragging on the Teachers' unions are missing a key point. If contracts are negotiated on a per-hire basis, then you have essentially handed full control of the curriculum over to the bureaucracy. "Teach to the test" will finally become an explicit order. Pressure to focus and make "adequate yearly gains" on these soul-crushing, curiosity-killing multiple choice tests will overwhelm.

And, sure, that's fine. If I don't like the contract, I don't sign it. But every student at that school will be affected by the wording and mandates of that contract. Who's place is it to protest?

Parents. But, alas, parents are rarely well organized - especially in poor, transient populations. So it falls to teachers. When the politicians and bureaucrats try to push more fill-in-the-bubble-and-be-thusly-measured education down the throats of students, someone has to stand up and protest. Who better than the people who have spent years studying and experiencing the practice of education? This is what the union is for.

That being said, yes, teachers should be fired. Lots of them. And the main impediment in the way is the union. But this is not the *only* thing the union does. And to be honest, I'm also not a big fan of the union. But I don't think that dissolving the union is the first step. I think that comes later, after much more pressing reforms.