In fact, if I were a Principal Mason — in addition to the principal Mason, which is true in my own life, at least — I would definitely do this, now that I have seen this excellent idea.
(Tip of the cap to Helen Brown Nazzaro)
11 hours ago
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Principal Mason Says: The Homework Sword Fight is On!
I have nothing to do with this idea (despite the principal's awesome name), but I am totally on board with this!
In fact, if I were a Principal Mason — in addition to the principal Mason, which is true in my own life, at least — I would definitely do this, now that I have seen this excellent idea.
(Tip of the cap to Helen Brown Nazzaro)
In fact, if I were a Principal Mason — in addition to the principal Mason, which is true in my own life, at least — I would definitely do this, now that I have seen this excellent idea.
(Tip of the cap to Helen Brown Nazzaro)
Friday, June 16, 2017
How Do People from Different Cultures Draw Circles?
Here is a really interesting article about how people from different cultures draw circles.
I was once — well, at least once — told in elementary school that I was drawing circles the wrong way (because I was using the wrong sense around the clock). I think I responded with the definition of a circle and that the definition doesn't depend on the sense in which one draws it, and I think my teacher did not appreciate that.
On a similar note, in high school, I once lost 50% of the point total on an answer for misspelling ellipse (by using one 'l' instead of two), which was the correct answer. I called bullshit (on the grounds that it was my mathematics knowledge that was being tested), but unfortunately I lost.
More closely related to the article, one thing I noticed in the UK is that the most common way to write an 'x' there is with two arcs, so that they won't always cross if one writes quickly. In contrast, I write two attempts at lines that explicitly cross. (I haven't checked if this is US versus UK convention.)
And, indeed, most Americans drew their circles counterclockwise in this data set, and I draw mine clockwise.
(Tip of the cap to Improbable Research for their Facebook post.)
Update: Here is a lovely quote from the article: In a 1977 paper Theodore Blau, then-president of the American Psychological Association and creator of the torque test, argued that drawing clockwise circles was a sign of learning and behavioral aberrance.
I was once — well, at least once — told in elementary school that I was drawing circles the wrong way (because I was using the wrong sense around the clock). I think I responded with the definition of a circle and that the definition doesn't depend on the sense in which one draws it, and I think my teacher did not appreciate that.
On a similar note, in high school, I once lost 50% of the point total on an answer for misspelling ellipse (by using one 'l' instead of two), which was the correct answer. I called bullshit (on the grounds that it was my mathematics knowledge that was being tested), but unfortunately I lost.
More closely related to the article, one thing I noticed in the UK is that the most common way to write an 'x' there is with two arcs, so that they won't always cross if one writes quickly. In contrast, I write two attempts at lines that explicitly cross. (I haven't checked if this is US versus UK convention.)
And, indeed, most Americans drew their circles counterclockwise in this data set, and I draw mine clockwise.
(Tip of the cap to Improbable Research for their Facebook post.)
Update: Here is a lovely quote from the article: In a 1977 paper Theodore Blau, then-president of the American Psychological Association and creator of the torque test, argued that drawing clockwise circles was a sign of learning and behavioral aberrance.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Some Awesome Detention Notes
A few of the detention notes compiled here are spectacular --- like the one with a reason that was first listed as 'flying' but was then switched to 'leaping w/ intent to fly'.
The one from 1994 is depressing. Apparently, one should just accept what others say without questioning. (I remember getting into some trouble with teachers in first grade when the answer to subtraction problems like '3 - 5' was officially that there was no answer because one wasn't allowed to do it, but I would insist rather emphatically* that it was '-2'.)
* I.e., I haven't changed.
(Tip of the cap to Maria Satterwhite and George Takei.)
Monday, December 19, 2011
New Mnemonics
XKCD has come up with some awesome new mnemonics! They will surely make school much more fun for the modern kids! Yet another big win from xkcd!
A big opportunity was missed, though: the planet one really should have included a joke about Pluto.
A big opportunity was missed, though: the planet one really should have included a joke about Pluto.
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