3 ms·

Not really, I got answers wrong more often than some other students, but I had a skill none of the other students had after I switched schools. The ability to t

Not really, I got answers wrong more often than some other students, but I had a skill none of the other students had after I switched schools. The ability to think about math. I've always had a cavalier attitude about the "correct" answer, being able to think in my head and come up with approximate answers is more important. I still think the teacher was wrong to mark my answers incorrectly when it was clear that I was turning my papers in minutes faster than the other students and only having a margin of error within 5%. That ability to think about problems in my head wouldn't have developed if I wasn't afraid to get an answer or two wrong in the pursuit of intuition. It's no different to me. Even in my work I'd rather get the approximation first, than shoot for precision later. I think that's an attitude that gets lost in the mix of precision first. It's certainly an attitude I took into adulthood that has been a boon to me professionally. When I'm writing software, the first step is do it, the second step is do it better and the third step is do it right. Imagine trying to write an entire software application and having it work perfectly the first time you build and execute it. If we can't achieve that kind of perfection in our work as professionals and adults why would we force it on our kids?

brightball 5y ago
Look, I get it when it comes to showing work...but teachers get you to show work in many cases so they can see if you were on the right track and identify exactly where you went wrong. When you show your work, they can give you partial credit instead of marking the entire thing incorrect if you are wrong. The other benefit of it is that it prevents people from trying to rely on calculators (if available) to ensure that the students knows how to work through the multiple steps of the problem. When it comes to math applications in life, estimates are great for forecasting, quick budgeting and several other things. Career wise though, anything to do with financials or engineering is never going to be okay with the answer in your head being in the ballpark. It's a great skill that you have, no doubt, but in order to teach and ensure the students are learning how to work through a problem the teacher needs to see the steps that they are going through to get there.
- stillbourne 5y ago
  > Career wise though, anything to do with financials or engineering is never going to be okay with the answer in your head being in the ballpark. Calculus is the art of approximation and intuition in math. Newton couldn't have destroyed the way we used to calculate pi if he hadn't extended the binomial theorem into other sets of numbers.

brightball 5y ago

Look, I get it when it comes to showing work...but teachers get you to show work in many cases so they can see if you were on the right track and identify exactly where you went wrong. When you show your work, they can give you partial credit instead of marking the entire thing incorrect if you are wrong. The other benefit of it is that it prevents people from trying to rely on calculators (if available) to ensure that the students knows how to work through the multiple steps of the problem. When it comes to math applications in life, estimates are great for forecasting, quick budgeting and several other things. Career wise though, anything to do with financials or engineering is never going to be okay with the answer in your head being in the ballpark. It's a great skill that you have, no doubt, but in order to teach and ensure the students are learning how to work through a problem the teacher needs to see the steps that they are going through to get there.

stillbourne 5y ago
> Career wise though, anything to do with financials or engineering is never going to be okay with the answer in your head being in the ballpark. Calculus is the art of approximation and intuition in math. Newton couldn't have destroyed the way we used to calculate pi if he hadn't extended the binomial theorem into other sets of numbers.