I was thinking you could play "Are you smarter than a first grader?" with the students. It might give them a little humility. Merry Christmas to you and all the Unknown Readers out there!
I don't know if I'm smarter than a typical first grader, but my seven-year old daughter seems to run mental rings around me. But then again, so does my wife, so it may be a gender thing...
Great idea, U.P.! Are you smarter than a first grader? That's one creative way to reduce the number of term papers and exams you have to grade. Hmm...
Oh, I'm not talking about using the sophisticated Time Value functions on their calculator - they can't calculate the percentage return on a stock bought at $50 and sold at $54 without using their electronic crutches.
The Unknown Daughter, however, can add two two-digit numbers in her head (even if she has to carry the ones). And she's in first grade.
I should bring her in my classes and have a match game between her and them. Anybody that can't beat the first grader at mental math has to drop.
Heck, a lot of my students have no idea how to use their calculators. I put in the syllabus in bold, italics, all caps and double-underlined that it's the student's responsibility to learn how to use the calculator. If I had a nickel for every student who tossed the manual after buying the calculator, I could probably buy a case of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.
The Unknown Son might have more math sense than some of our students. Even after his spill recently.
Commenting by HaloScan
