Author Topic: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke  (Read 5300 times)

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Offline Sectionhand

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #20 on: May 16, 2012, 02:56:47 PM »

More and more I am convinced that America's problems are that it is no longer a frontier society.

I think you're right.

American society was certainly more literate in 1776 than it is today .

charlesoakwood

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #21 on: May 16, 2012, 05:35:00 PM »

My grandfather finished the third grade. I witnessed a speed math contest
between him and my father.  Gramps doing computations in his head and
my father with a slide rule.  Pop was so embarrassed.


Offline LadyVirginia

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #22 on: May 16, 2012, 08:23:02 PM »

My grandfather finished the third grade. I witnessed a speed math contest
between him and my father.  Gramps doing computations in his head and
my father with a slide rule.  Pop was so embarrassed.



Slide rule....

My dad gave me his but he never explained how to use it.

To this day I do most math in my head.  My kids like to tell the story of how I didn't let them use a calculator for high school math until they took the ACT.
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Offline Libertas

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #23 on: May 17, 2012, 07:28:50 AM »
Apparently we all come from good stock!   ::thumbsup::

I remember struggling with multiplication, division and fractions...I lost most of my summer after 3rd grade being drilled by my grandmother with math exercises and being tested with flash-cards and spot tests...I wasn't allowed to leave the house until I made satisfactory progress each day.  Since she taught all grades in a one-room schoolhouse in SW MN, she knew how to teach!

To this day I do most math in my head and when I need help I rarely bust out the calculator.  I do use Excel a lot at work, but volume data-crunching and tabulation hard to avoid for an accountant!  But being able to do math in your head does make it easier to catch formula errors!

 ::thumbsup::
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline LadyVirginia

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #24 on: May 17, 2012, 09:32:49 AM »
Apparently we all come from good stock!   ::thumbsup::


My kids have known since they were little that I wasn't letting them go out into the world unless they could do math and grammar.  I wasn't going to unleash any more incompetents onto the world!  Some of my children like math; some don't.  To the ones who don't I tell them I don't care because they are capable of learning it and it doesn't turn on whether you like it. (The ones who don't like math actually tried tears on me telling me it was too hard.  Didn't work, of course.)  

We talk a lot about how some people have to work harder to get to the same place others cruise to.  That's life.  (I once had a boss everyone else feared --except me-- because he was known as such an expert in his field--he told me he wasn't that smart he just worked harder than everyone else and his friends that had always relied on natural talent hadn't gotten as far as he had.  My kids have heard that story a number of times! lol)
« Last Edit: May 17, 2012, 12:34:58 PM by LadyVirginia »
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Online benb61

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #25 on: May 17, 2012, 09:40:38 AM »
And I thought I was weird for randomly selecting a number and calculating the square root in my head.  Which is something I do on a regular basis, for fun.
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Offline LadyVirginia

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Re: Another example of why standardized tests are a joke
« Reply #26 on: May 17, 2012, 12:45:44 PM »
And I thought I was weird for randomly selecting a number and calculating the square root in my head.  Which is something I do on a regular basis, for fun.


 ::cool::

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."