OT: USAMO is number one!!!

[SVCBeercats]

In case you missed it. They're No. 1: U.S. Wins Math Olympiad For First Time In 21 Years (This is about 2015 USAMO.)
If you have a deeper interest, here is a documentary below on the 2006 USAMO team and selection process. They give a bit of insight into several participants and their families. They start with approximately 250,000 high school students. Through a rigorous testing process they are whittled down to 6 contestants and 2 alternates. No participation trophies here. In the last 20 years China has finished 13 times in first place (2nd 5 times and 3rd 2 times). In the last 4 years the USA has finished numero uno 3 times (2015-16-18). This year 2018 the USA had 5 gold and 1 silver medalists. Five gold is quite spectacular considering how hard these math problem are. Absolutely amazing was James Lin with 6 of 6 perfect scores which is like Nadia Comăneci scoring 6 perfect tens only in a much harder discipline. The 2016 USAMO team was truly amazing - all 6 USA team members earned a gold medal with two scoring 6 of 6 perfect scores.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Quite interesting indeed.

 

[eebmg]

Very interesting. Still for me, the Gender discrepancy in general on a global scale is pretty depressing (90-10%) look at the clip around the 1:29:00 mark.

 

[JordyG]

When I joined the BY I was under the impression that there would be no math involved. Nevertheless after a minute I was compelled to watch the whole documentary.. A fine and occasionally moving docu. Thanks for allowing this old math challenged loser a view of the other side.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Very interesting. Still for me, the Gender discrepancy in general on a global scale is pretty depressing (90-10%) look at the clip around the 1:29:00 mark.

I did. It shows Zeb Brady doing a math problem? See 40.03. Teenage female's attitude toward math? See 40.24. Their mother clearly does not push them in any specific direction. She lets them find their way. How many friends do you know that have daughters? Did they encourage them to pursue a more male associated curriculum? Were they successful? Many moons ago I hired a young college grad from a very traditional Lebanese family who owned a restaurant in our office building. She was not at all encouraged to go to college let alone pursue a career in information technology. Yet something sparked this kid to do so. What was it? I just assumed like me it was what she wanted to do. Her family expected her to join her older brothers in the restaurant business. Why do you believe there are few women in what are traditionally viewed as male occupation? What can ignite the spark in girls and young women to pursue these careers in greater numbers? I understand managers have to be more open minded. But even then the bureaucracy can be a problem. At an aerospace company I was given an additional section to manage which had no minorities and women. So I scheduled interviews with 8 women, six of which were black. All were about to graduate with computer science degrees or information systems degrees. I received a call from human resources, a woman mind you. She sternly accused me of reverse discrimination. Knowing this could go on and on I agreed to interview 3 men. Then I hired a woman. She called me back to tell they had their eye on me. Make sense of that.

 

[SVCBeercats]

When I joined the BY I was under the impression that there would be no math involved. Nevertheless after a minute I was compelled to watch the whole documentary.. A fine and occasionally moving docu. Thanks for allowing this old math challenged loser a view of the other side.

I just realized I had linked to an incomplete version of this USAMO video. I just replaced it with the complete version.

 

[BroadwayVa]

In case you missed it. They're No. 1: U.S. Wins Math Olympiad For First Time In 21 Years (This is about 2015 USAMO.)
If you have a deeper interest, here is a documentary below on the 2006 USAMO team and selection process. They give a bit of insight into several participants and their families. They start with approximately 250,000 high school students. Through a rigorous testing process they are whittled down to 6 contestants and 2 alternates. No participation trophies here. In the last 20 years China has finished 13 times in first place (2nd 5 times and 3rd 2 times). In the last 4 years the USA has finished numero uno 3 times (2015-16-18). This year 2018 the USA had 5 gold and 1 silver medalists. Five gold is quite spectacular considering how hard these math problem are. Absolutely amazing was James Lin with 6 of 6 perfect scores which is like Nadia Comăneci scoring 6 perfect tens only in a much harder discipline. The 2016 USAMO team was truly amazing - all 6 USA team members earned a gold medal with two scoring 6 of 6 perfect scores.

@SVCBeercats ---Thanks, Congratulations to the USA team. Amazing feat. The trophy is in the win. Significantly more important than a Hockey, football, baseball, basketball NC, but with much less or any fan fare. Thanks again.

 

[BroadwayVa]

@S
Loh says it's important to teach math as more than mere memorization and formulas. He says this is one reason, perhaps, that the subject hasn't attracted as many American students as it could.

Prof Loh said:

"Ultimately, I think that as the mathematical culture starts to reach out to more people in the United States, we could quite possibly start to see more diversity. And I think that would be a fantastic outcome," he says.



"It could be that maybe the way math is sold, in some sense, is one in which it's just a bunch of formulas to memorize. I think if we are able to communicate to the greater American public that mathematics is not just about memorizing a bunch of formulas, but in fact is as creative as the humanities and arts, quite possibly you might be able to upend the culture difference."


VCBeercats---
LOH--I love. American kids are not taught HOW to think math. Some get lost in terms. As Geno has noted in basketball--fundamentals are important. Build from a strong foundation.

 

[SVCBeercats]

@S
Loh says it's important to teach math as more than mere memorization and formulas. He says this is one reason, perhaps, that the subject hasn't attracted as many American students as it could.
Prof Loh said:"Ultimately, I think that as the mathematical culture starts to reach out to more people in the United States, we could quite possibly start to see more diversity. And I think that would be a fantastic outcome," he says.
I think if we are able to communicate to the greater American public that mathematics is not just about memorizing a bunch of formulas, but in fact is as creative as the humanities and arts, quite possibly you might be able to upend the culture difference."
LOH--I love. American kids are not taught HOW to think math. Some get lost in terms. .

"American kids are not taught HOW to think math." Once I and several other computer programmers and systems designers were discussing how we designed computer programs in our heads. As I was describing how I see types of code as different geometric forms, I suddenly realized from where my thinking originated. Mr. Meese! My geometry teacher in high school who would not allow us to workout solutions on paper. We had think through the problem and then and only then write the solution on the blackboard and explain it. I can still hear him urging me to visualize the process and the solutions. When I realized this I located his house and visited him. He was retired at the time. I thanked him for teaching me to think through geometry. Upon reflection I think his wife was happier with my visit. She seem so proud of him. He taught a lot of us to think (and quite a lot of geometry). He was teaching us to think period and not just think math. Loh says it's important to teach math as more than mere memorization and formulas. I guess Mr. Meese knew this all those years ago.

The first time I walked into Oracle Corp.'s cafeteria; it was like walking into the United Nations cafeteria. Larry Ellison cared less about who or what you were as long as you could think very well. The software development staff was recruited from all of the finest computer science programs in the world. I was in sales.

I have always struggled trying to explain to Mrs. SVC and our artistic friends why a computer program like a mathematical proof can be as artistically beautiful as any work of art such as a painting or a sculpture.

 

[cohenzone]

When I joined the BY I was under the impression that there would be no math involved. Nevertheless after a minute I was compelled to watch the whole documentary.. A fine and occasionally moving docu. Thanks for allowing this old math challenged loser a view of the other side.

What is math?

Great for the kids on the team. Too bad it doesn’t translate to our school population as a whole.

 

[SVCBeercats]

What is math?
Great for the kids on the team. Too bad it doesn’t translate to our school population as a whole.

What does this mean?

 

[cohenzone]

What does this mean?

Our kids lag in math compared to many countries. That competition is for kids who are top notch.

U.S. academic achievement lags that of many other countries

 

[Bigboote]

How many friends do you know that have daughters? Did they encourage them to pursue a more male associated curriculum? Were they successful?

I work at a large research institution that's mostly physical sciences/engineering, some biosciences. So I know a lot of folks who have encouraged their daughters to go into male-dominated fields. I can think of several who are doctors or are in med school, but am straining to think of any who are in math or hard sciences. I can think of one who's in finance, which is male-dominated.

I tried to nudge my own daughter that way, and also in sports, all to no avail. I was a firm believer in nurture over nature till she was born. She popped out of the womb with a personality that's still recognizable today. When I look at her and my numerous nephews and nieces, they've all marched to their own drummers. They've had parents who pushed them to do certain things, and parents who encouraged them to pursue whatever they wanted. But in the end, they've all wound up doing something you could have predicted when they were five or ten years old.

eembg pointed out that the kids at the event are about 90% male, and it looks like that's the case for most parts of the world. When you have 90% males pretty much regardless of culture, you have to think that it's not a cultural thing. It's likely a complex origin that we don't understand.

 

[JordyG]

What is math?

Is this an existential question?

 

[JordyG]

I work at a large research institution that's mostly physical sciences/engineering, some biosciences. So I know a lot of folks who have encouraged their daughters to go into male-dominated fields. I can think of several who are doctors or are in med school, but am straining to think of any who are in math or hard sciences. I can think of one who's in finance, which is male-dominated.

I tried to nudge my own daughter that way, and also in sports, all to no avail. I was a firm believer in nurture over nature till she was born. She popped out of the womb with a personality that's still recognizable today. When I look at her and my numerous nephews and nieces, they've all marched to their own drummers. They've had parents who pushed them to do certain things, and parents who encouraged them to pursue whatever they wanted. But in the end, they've all wound up doing something you could have predicted when they were five or ten years old.

eembg pointed out that the kids at the event are about 90% male, and it looks like that's the case for most parts of the world. When you have 90% males pretty much regardless of culture, you have to think that it's not a cultural thing. It's likely a complex origin that we don't understand.

Pretty much what Jordan Peterson says.

 

[cohenzone]

Is this an existential question?

Ask my math teachers.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Our kids lag in math compared to many countries. That competition is for kids who are top notch.
U.S. academic achievement lags that of many other countries

What is the competition for the lower notch kids? Life? No matter how one feels theoretically not all students are created equal. Other countries regarding education are not all about touchy feely. See Japan. See China. Their education is not completely in the hands of the education system. Their parents get involved. Or at least someone in the family gets involved. Sometimes a kid may need Dr. Frederick Herzberg's KITA - kick in the ass. I will admit many teachers teach like Ben Stein's Mr. Cantwell in the Wonder Years. Perhaps there isn't enough effort to reach the boys in the back of the room or the girls. A good friend who quit a successful industry career to teach math made a concerted effort to reach all of his students whether they wanted to be in his class or not. He would ask what they thought they wanted to do after high school. If there some who wanted to be carpenters, then by god he dedicated a number of classes to applying math to carpentry and how it made things easier and resulted in a higher quality result. He did this for several occupations. He hooked them for the rest of the math ride he was taking them on. He did not need any bovine scatology bureaucratic standardized tests for his kids to excel. But even he admits there are students who were not mentally equipped to excel. Anything they learned was a bonus.

 

[cohenzone]

What is the competition for the lower notch kids? Life? No matter how one feels theoretically not all students are created equal. Other countries regarding education are not all about touchy feely. See Japan. See China. Their education is not completely in the hands of the education system. Their parents get involved. Or at least someone in the family gets involved. Sometimes a kid may need Dr. Frederick Herzberg's KITA - kick in the ass. I will admit many teachers teach like Ben Stein's Mr. Cantwell in the Wonder Years. Perhaps there isn't enough effort to reach the boys in the back of the room or the girls. A good friend who quit a successful industry career to teach math made a concerted effort to reach all of his students whether they wanted to be in his class or not. He would ask what they thought they wanted to do after high school. If there some who wanted to be carpenters, then by god he dedicated a number of classes to applying math to carpentry and how it made things easier and resulted in a higher quality result. He did this for several occupations. He hooked them for the rest of the math ride he was taking them on. He did not need any bovine scatology bureaucratic standardized tests for his kids to excel. But even he admits there are students who were not mentally equipped to excel. Anything they learned was a bonus.

Not sure, but I think you missed the point. Winning that competition says nothing about the overal progress in math education in the US relative to other countries. The kids in these international competitions are excellent mathematicians compared to the average student. Obviously some kids won’t be in a learned profession. Heck, I’m a lawyer and am pretty good at 1+1. Carpenters need decent math skills to live life in the US and I don’t mean calculus.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Not sure, but I think you missed the point. Winning that competition says nothing about the overal progress in math education in the US relative to other countries. The kids in these international competitions are excellent mathematicians compared to the average student. Obviously some kids won’t be in a learned profession. Heck, I’m a lawyer and am pretty good at 1+1. Carpenters need decent math skills to live life in the US and I don’t mean calculus.

Pretty sure you missed my point.

 

[cohenzone]

Pretty sure you missed my point.

Was in line for a movie (Green Book) excellent flick. How many teachers have the patience and administrative support to teach that way. I could’ve used the guy.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I work at a large research institution that's mostly physical sciences/engineering, some biosciences. So I know a lot of folks who have encouraged their daughters to go into male-dominated fields. I can think of several who are doctors or are in med school, but am straining to think of any who are in math or hard sciences. I can think of one who's in finance, which is male-dominated.

I tried to nudge my own daughter that way, and also in sports, all to no avail. I was a firm believer in nurture over nature till she was born. She popped out of the womb with a personality that's still recognizable today. When I look at her and my numerous nephews and nieces, they've all marched to their own drummers. They've had parents who pushed them to do certain things, and parents who encouraged them to pursue whatever they wanted. But in the end, they've all wound up doing something you could have predicted when they were five or ten years old.

eembg pointed out that the kids at the event are about 90% male, and it looks like that's the case for most parts of the world. When you have 90% males pretty much regardless of culture, you have to think that it's not a cultural thing. It's likely a complex origin that we don't understand.

Boy @Bigboote ---I wholeheartedly agree. Like you I have seen the personality they were born with, they are as adults.
I began college as a very challenged math student.
I had a tutor that taught me how to think in mathematical terms and although it wasn't easy I began to love math.
My children were overwhelmingly girls. I began early telling them they could do anything they wanted. One in 5th grad was adding, subtracting multiplying in different bases. She went to MIT. Another in the Medical field (science based), One Psychology
Law (Harvard). The point is you can nudge or push and they choose. It isn't Male vs Female as some tend to think. It isn't that schools push girls away from those courses. It is an individual decision, usually. Some didn't want the intense education demanded by Math/Science others just had no interest in that area.

 

[cohenzone]

Boy @Bigboote ---I wholeheartedly agree. Like you I have seen the personality they were born with, they are as adults.
I began college as a very challenged math student.
I had a tutor that taught me how to think in mathematical terms and although it wasn't easy I began to love math.
My children were overwhelmingly girls. I began early telling them they could do anything they wanted. One in 5th grad was adding, subtracting multiplying in different bases. She went to MIT. Another in the Medical field (science based), One Psychology
Law (Harvard). The point is you can nudge or push and they choose. It isn't Male vs Female as some tend to think. It isn't that schools push girls away from those courses. It is an individual decision, usually. Some didn't want the intense education demanded by Math/Science others just had no interest in that area.

Congratulations to your daughters, you should be proud. I have 3 sons and one is a scientist/college prof. The others are less math challenged than I was, but one became an attorney and the other an Emmy winning TV producer. Young women are now entering all the fields which is a good thing. The sciences are wide open to them.

One problem for a lot of modern kids isn’t so much math as it is writing ability. They spend so much time writing short hand in emails and more recently even worse, by texting, that writing is suffering. It’s a challenge for parents and teachers to overcome. And with the advent of the easy availability of electronics for kids to play games on and text, reading is slipping as a pass time which also tends to make writing skills suffer. In my previous life as an attorney I’d get an occasional letter from lawyers so poorly written that it made me wonder how they got through law school and passed a bar exam.

 

[BroadwayVa]

"American kids are not taught HOW to think math." Once I and several other computer programmers and systems designers were discussing how we designed computer programs in our heads. As I was describing how I see types of code as different geometric forms, I suddenly realized from where my thinking originated. Mr. Meese! My geometry teacher in high school who would not allow us to workout solutions on paper. We had think through the problem and then and only then write the solution on the blackboard and explain it. I can still hear him urging me to visualize the process and the solutions. When I realized this I located his house and visited him. He was retired at the time. I thanked him for teaching me to think through geometry. Upon reflection I think his wife was happier with my visit. She seem so proud of him. He taught a lot of us to think (and quite a lot of geometry). He was teaching us to think period and not just think math. Loh says it's important to teach math as more than mere memorization and formulas. I guess Mr. Meese knew this all those years ago.

The first time I walked into Oracle Corp.'s cafeteria; it was like walking into the United Nations cafeteria. Larry Ellison cared less about who or what you were as long as you could think very well. The software development staff was recruited from all of the finest computer science programs in the world. I was in sales.

I have always struggled trying to explain to Mrs. SVC and our artistic friends why a computer program like a mathematical proof can be as artistically beautiful as any work of art such as a painting or a sculpture.

Your teacher was the exception that proves the rule (my point) MOST of math is poorly taught you were lucky in finding a teacher who truly understood how to teach math.

Math must begin at an early age and taught as a FUN subject. It must be taught as the base for most things in life, ie. tie it to related subjects, events, life. Then build on that. Do you know how many people can't balance a checkbook?

Your HS math teacher was an innovator--I cheer loudly this teacher.
Way too many Boys and Girls don't understand enough math to the point of Math phobia. If you are ever fortunate to see that teacher again--give her a hug and kiss from me. She/he should be publically honored. Thank you.
I began programming at the machine level in the 60's when we required a bootstrap punched in, by finger, to allow a paper tape "program" to initiate---then with 2 dual cassettes we could evaluate the total nuclear spectrum analyzing nuclear material on a dewar with a geli detector and a pulse height analyzer. I bought a "Commodore computer to teach my girls. My son got his hands on it and that became his life.
I have been lucky enough to wander through many fields of science; more than just a few Women were and are exceptional in their fields, some how the media seems to miss the great women and their numbers in math and science--role models missed.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Congratulations to your daughters, you should be proud. I have 3 sons and one is a scientist/college prof. The others are less math challenged than I was, but one became an attorney and the other an Emmy winning TV producer. Young women are now entering all the fields which is a good thing. The sciences are wide open to them.

One problem for a lot of modern kids isn’t so much math as it is writing ability. They spend so much time writing short hand in emails and more recently even worse, by texting, that writing is suffering. It’s a challenge for parents and teachers to overcome. And with the advent of the easy availability of electronics for kids to play games on and text, reading is slipping as a pass time which also tends to make writing skills suffer. In my previous life as an attorney, I’d get an occasional letter from lawyers so poorly written that it made me wonder how they got through law school and passed a bar exam.

As a youth, I was forced to read "the classics" when my interest was science. I read anything with a scientific word in the title. In the past 30 years, I found the fun of reading beyond science (although I'm drawn that way). My spouse is a retired English Prof. and she tells me I write as though English was my 25th language
I'm not an attorney I did, however, attend a number of Contract Law classes presented at George Mason by a Federal Judge. My attorney daughter was born with a "fairness" adjudicating gene it was evident at an early age. As you pointed out personalities appear early. Speaking about your exceptional kids, kudo's to a good dad. They didn't get there without you. Your genes, your guidance, your help.

 

[BroadwayVa]

What is the competition for the lower notch kids? Life? No matter how one feels theoretically not all students are created equal. Other countries regarding education are not all about touchy feely. See Japan. See China. Their education is not completely in the hands of the education system. Their parents get involved. Or at least someone in the family gets involved. Sometimes a kid may need Dr. Frederick Herzberg's KITA - kick in the ass. I will admit many teachers teach like Ben Stein's Mr. Cantwell in the Wonder Years. Perhaps there isn't enough effort to reach the boys in the back of the room or the girls. A good friend who quit a successful industry career to teach math made a concerted effort to reach all of his students whether they wanted to be in his class or not. He would ask what they thought they wanted to do after high school. If there some who wanted to be carpenters, then by god he dedicated a number of classes to applying math to carpentry and how it made things easier and resulted in a higher quality result. He did this for several occupations. He hooked them for the rest of the math ride he was taking them on. He did not need any bovine scatology bureaucratic standardized tests for his kids to excel. But even he admits there are students who were not mentally equipped to excel. Anything they learned was a bonus.

You need to do a DNA test, from this posting it would appear I AM your clone (no not clown). I can attest that it I often appeared to be a successful teacher when I had exceptional students that required little of me. I often arranged my classrooms putting the chairs in a circular pattern allowing me to teach in a personal way to each student.

High lighted area---my belief that at an early age students must see the practical and fun use of math, then build on a foundation of no fear of math.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Our kids lag in math compared to many countries. That competition is for kids who are top notch.

U.S. academic achievement lags that of many other countries

China and Europen countries cull lower grade and isolate those with the temperament and desire to excel in math and science. If the USA tried that the cry of discrimination would be heard at both poles. We are country driven by words (not actions) of equality, fairness, discrimination so that inhibits the USA from competing equally with the world.

The numbers may be correct. But numbers don't address social issues, financial issues, even desire issues. Numbers do not lie but rarely do they tell the whole story.
If the media will not work to attract people into scientific/math fields it shall remain as it is. You may say that's a Government job: yes and no. The media has much more influence on inner city kids than the government shall ever have.
Also, remember many of the great and often used scientific discoveries were made in the USA. So while the world may be passing the USA in Academics the baton in many scientific areas belong with the USA. If it hasn't changed--the vast number of true scientist that ever lived are alive today.

 

[cohenzone]

China and Europen countries cull lower grade and isolate those with the temperament and desire to excel in math and science. If the USA tried that the cry of discrimination would be heard at both poles. We are country driven by words (not actions) of equality, fairness, discrimination so that inhibits the USA from competing equally with the world.

The numbers may be correct. But numbers don't address social issues, financial issues, even desire issues. Numbers do not lie but rarely do they tell the whole story.
If the media will not work to attract people into scientific/math fields it shall remain as it is. You may say that's a Government job: yes and no. The media has much more influence on inner city kids than the government shall ever have.
Also, remember many of the great and often used scientific discoveries were made in the USA. So while the world may be passing the USA in Academics the baton in many scientific areas belong with the USA. If it hasn't changed--the vast number of true scientist that ever lived are alive today.

I don’t think that’s the point. With such a big population, we are bound to have a great many very talented people. The education numbers really speak to the overall success for the average citizen. Where the US always stood out was in encouraging critical thinking: outside the box versus the kind of rote learning used in many countries especially Asia. I’ll bet you didn’t get in the way of your kids as they figured out the world, guiding them when needed but encouraging independent thought.

As far as what you liked reading as a kid, almost anything appropriate that might get a kid to read is fine. History, sports, fishing, science, fantasy, the back of cereal boxes but not Fruit Loops.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I don’t think that’s the point. With such a big population, we are bound to have a great many very talented people. The education numbers really speak to the overall success for the average citizen. Where the US always stood out was in encouraging critical thinking: outside the box versus the kind of rote learning used in many countries especially Asia. I’ll bet you didn’t get in the way of your kids as they figured out the world, guiding them when needed but encouraging independent thought.

As far as what you liked reading as a kid, almost anything appropriate that might get a kid to read is fine. History, sports, fishing, science, fantasy, the back of cereal boxes but not Fruit Loops.

The USA isn't the bastion of Free Thinking. I have known and had Chinese students that had no problem thinking"outside the box". One at Uconn wanted to drive a car. So he purchased a car in Manchester and got it to his dorm. He spent 3 days learning to drive in the parking lot--read the manual and drove to Manchester; took the test and drove home. He found a need, took the necessary steps to get it done, then acted on it. Not necessarily rigid thinking. He was a computer science major, couldn't, initially, understand spoken American English and rarely understood a word spoken. He read the texts because he learned to read English and whizzed through all of his courses.
The last I heard, his wife whom he met at Uconn, was teaching in Boston; he was a professor in the SUNY system.
Another purchased a DeWalt miter saw, she never saw one let along used one. She proceeded to cut and lay, from pieces, a parquet floor through 3 rooms of her home. Innovative, without fear of failure, her native intelligence served her well.
Both were academically superior. It makes a teacher look good with students like these.
(an aside, tidbit)
The male student above met my (then) 9 year old daughter and said: She's shameful. With a straight face, the wife and I accepted the comment knowing he was still learning to speak American; he meant she was bashful. To this day, now an attorney, we occasionally call her shameful and she remembers the event and gets a giggle match going.
The Australian or Canadian systems do little to inhibit Free Thinking. There could be more.

 

[SVCBeercats]

... allowing me to teach in a personal way to each student.
my belief that at an early age students must see the practical and fun use of math, then build on a foundation of no fear of math.

BINGO!!!! We have a winner! However, it is my friend who was the wunderbar 7th & 8th grade math teacher. Our education system needs fewer Mr. Cantwell's and more BroadwayVas and TWs (my friend). I sporaticaly taught peers and customers in industry and a few years at the college level as an adjunct. Not the same as having a real impact with youth. But the few times I connected it was more rewarding than successfully completing a large project or sale. Just the look in their eyes was great. I have envied teachers such as yourself. But when I talked to them ... yikes! ... the politics and interaction with the administration seemed far worse than I ever experienced in industry. I hired an employee who had BA, MSs, and two PhDs who left industry to teach full time at a very respected university. I asked why are you returning to industry. I heard you disliked corporate politics. She simply responded "It is much worse in academia." Their loss our gain. Get a group of people together and before long you will have them in competition and disagreement and lumping together into factions ... you know like the Boneyard. Just kidding!!!
Applied math: We wanted to update all of our bathrooms. We were referenced to the "best tiler in the city." Always too careful, we just had him tile the floor in a small first floor bathroom. As he began his work; I looked over the guy's shoulder to see he had sketched the entire floor on tablet with the measurements applied. He was calculating all of the angles and arcs required before touching a tile. I knew we had a winner. We had him updated all the other baths. Other tradesmen would just run their hands over his work peering at his very fine grout work. I would ask them Tradesman or craftsman? They all said "CRAFTSMAN" usually followed by artist. Someone taught our tiler the importance of math particularly in his craft. Math can be art. Thanks to teaches such as yourself.

 

[Bigboote]

Re: learning the fun of math at a young age.

When my daughter was a newborn, my wife joined a new mothers group, which morphed into a play group. When the kids were maybe 3 or 4, the mothers were sitting around watching the kids play and remarking about the natural curiosity in all the kids. My wife asked, "I wonder what the schools do to beat this out of the kids.

Fast forward a year or two. Daughter LOVED kindergarten. Early in first grade, her teacher told us that she was gifted in math and as soon as they had a gifted program, she'd be enrolled in it. Well, the gifted program never happened. And it got worse. They were given homework in first grade. One day she was given over 150 three-digit addition and subtraction problems to do in two nights. That didn't single-handedly beat her curiosity out of her, but it was symbolic of how the school tried to ruin her.

That was one of several reasons we pulled her from what's viewed as one of the best public-school systems in the country. My wife (and I just a little bit) homeschooled her, and it was a great decision. She still hates math, but she's an unbelievable writer.