According to a radio game show I listened to in the car on Saturday, worms know how to use calculus. Huh. The answer had something to do about worms knowing derivatives. Is that a joke? I don't get it. Somebody clue me in. But then, I don't get calculus, either. When I got home, I asked that Spouse o' Mine to explain calculus to me. (In hopes that I would "get" the punchline to the above anecdote.) He proceeded very patiently to explain something about a bike going down the road at 20 mph, y=20x, something about m, and when I tried to ascertain if that meant mass, he first rolled his eyes and then smirked. I don't know what that was about. And there was something about the curve on the y and x axis being the derivative, so I can only assume that this is where the worms come in. Am I right? Help me, you all.
I think it's one of those imponderables. And maybe I'm dumber than worms.
I will say, I am not a statistician any more than I am a calculator, (calculus? calculator? calculatition?), but recently I have heard statistics which say American students (i.e., kids) are woefully behind their academic counterparts in other areas of the world. I hear this, but I am wondering about the validity of the study(ies). Were all the kids in the USA tested? And were all the kids in China tested? Were all the kids in Singapore tested? What about South Korea? Did all the kids take "the test"? Were any kids in any of the populations not permitted to take said test(s)? Are all kids in all countries tested mainstreamed, so that all mentally/physically/emotionally handicapped students in all countries tested? Or do any countries "opt" these students out? Did any of the statistics take into consideration the fact that many students in the USA are ESL students: "English as a Second Language" kids? I suspect there are not that many "CSL" or "KSL" in the mix here. Did the statisticians and test-makers take this into account?
I want some answers!
After cello lesson today (which went very well, I am pleased to report! My vibrato is coming along, ever-so-slowly), I went to the local market and purchased a local (i.e., Kansan) Christmas tree. It sits outside our front door as I write. It is beginning to feel a bit like Christmas.
After unloading the tree and feeding numerous famished (so they told me) animals, I came indoors to get the human dinner started: baked chicken and a slew of vegetables. That Spouse o' Mine arrived shortly thereafter, and announced that he, too, was famished, and proceeded to fix himself a broiled sandwich and chips and who-know-what else. That's o.k., I suppose. I told him I would pack the chicken and vegetables for lunch for him tomorrow. (It would help, though, if he would eat more during the day than coffee and a bowl of cereal; seriously?!?)
Tomorrow holds more cold weather and maybe a chance of overnight company. That will be nice!
2 comments:
About education: for one, I know in China and Korea, kids spend ALL their time in school. Their parents are very hard on them about it. I've asked students at work about how much time they spend doing school work and how much time they spend for free-time activities back home, and hear mostly the same. They go to school from very early in the morning until past dinner time. Then they also go to school on the weekends-- Saturday all day, and Sunday for half a day. This is just high school! And sports are built in to their schedules. They get one hour for that three times a week usually. At the end of high school is a very difficult test that takes a lot of preparation, so most students are worried about that. On the other hand, they say when they get to college, it's easy and they don't have to work nearly as hard.
In the U.S. I think there is a problem with No Child Left Behind. Kids are just taught based on what the standards for testing are because schools are so focused on not losing funding, and those tests are only reading and math! A lot of schools focus on those two subjects and spend maybe 20 minutes on science. Another complaint I hear about is that parents at home are not as involved with their childrens' homework.
I think I believe the statistics, although I still don't know what methods they used to compare.
Post a Comment