4 ms·

> you as an adult get asked to “stop helping them get ahead of the class” Whether by parental training or self study, some teachers treat it almost as a crime

by JJMcJ 3y ago

> you as an adult get asked to “stop helping them get ahead of the class” Whether by parental training or self study, some teachers treat it almost as a crime to understand the material before the class starts. In college you can sometimes talk your way out of the Intro To XYZ classes and go directly to the upper level stuff. I had friends who did that, so taking senior/graduate seminars in history instead of sleeping through U. S. History 101, where you could get a B if you remembered Washington was president before Lincoln.

emidln 3y ago
>> you as an adult get asked to “stop helping them get ahead of the class” > Whether by parental training or self study, some teachers treat it almost as a crime to understand the material before the class starts. I remember a 7th grade math teacher confiscating my workbook when she found out I had done the entire workbook in the first week. I never really understood why. I spent most of that year telling the teacher she already had my homework and refused to do it again on principle. I ended up taking a 0 on every homework assignment and had a C in the class instead of an A+. Fuck that teacher. > In college you can sometimes talk your way out of the Intro To XYZ classes and go directly to the upper level stuff. I did this for first year history, computer science, and calc classes. Highly recommend giving it a try.
- JJMcJ 3y ago
  The famous story of young C. F. Gauss adding 1 + 2 + . . . + 100 by noting the familiar formula. Brought it up to his teacher. Lucky for him the teacher recognized this was no ordinary pupil and contacted the Duke of Brunswick, who paid for his university education later. Today, he'd be lucky not to end up handcuffed in a squad car. That's another reason to pay 50K for a private school for your kids if you can afford it. Also, for getting into upper division classes, I wish I'd had the sense to do it, looking back.
  - IIsi50MHz 3y ago
    Whereas I, not understanding the high school textbook or teacher explanations on some problem, but having reversed a procedure from the problems which had answers in the back of the book, was told one day: - It probably doesn't work for all problems in the set (but was given two chances to prove it from the unassigned problems and some the teacher made up on the spot). - Okay, but you can only use it on homework and still have to write every step; can't use it on quizes, tests, or extra credit because it takes up too much space and takes too long to grade. - If I could find a math symbol for the key operation within one day, I could use it ONE take-home extra credit that had been due that day. The key operation? For all positive N, f(N) = N+N-1...until N=zero. I couldn't find the requested symbo l. When I took my first uni maths class, I asked my prof. He answered and wrote it before I even finished describing: "Oh, sigma."
- jimbob45 3y ago
  I ended up taking a 0 on every homework assignment and had a C in the class instead of an A+. Fuck that teacher. I'm curious why/if your parents didn't step in to correct the injustice.
  - jghn 3y ago
    I did something similar and caught flak for being dumb enough to intentionally get a bad grade
    - IIsi50MHz 3y ago
      I would have done the same. The teacher being WrongTM does not mean I should have to redo all the coursework to get the already earned grade for It. In the described situation I know I would have been able to recruit support from multiple people to get the teacher to behave correctly. Fortunately, no teacher in my life would have been able to defend refusing to give credit for work done within the written academic standards. Although, I did once transfer into a school whose headmaster refused to accept transcripts from another school. He claimed I couldn't have begun grammar school when I did, because my birthday was after his school's deadline (despite him acknowledging the other school's later deadline!), which to him meant that I 'must' have started a year later and therefore 'must' either go back one form or if we didn't like that, have my entire transcript rejected and repeat all forms. (Madness!)
  - poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
    [flagged]
- rgrieselhuber 3y ago
  Good read on this topic: https://www.amazon.com/Underground-History-American-Education-Investigation/dp/0998919101/ https://www.amazon.com/Underground-History-American-Educatio...
poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
[flagged]
- downWidOutaFite 3y ago
  > retesting as POC/marginalized Sorry but it feels like you're making up stuff to be racist about
  - bluepod4 3y ago
    Correct.
  - atlas_hugged 3y ago
    His other comments are the same. I see more and more of these racists coming into HN. They’re not being kicked out so maybe HN will eventually become “nazi bar.” It used to be nice here.
    - poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
      94% of asians, 73% of whites, and 37% of blacks pass the "063 Mathematics" subject matter test. That's an absolute # of 24 blacks passing, yet every year the state's new black math teachers count is 100+. https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/annual/2022resultsbycategory.html?section=ByEthnicity https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/annual/2022resultsbycategory.h...
  - poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
    Racist to point out the lower standards for blacks? Here's literally the alternative/inclusive testing pilot for new Massachusetts public school teachers. https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/alt-assess/default.html https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/alt-assess/default.html Cambridge, MA just literally got rid of Algebra in middle school so the black kids wouldn't feel bad about themselves. Diversity is a strength.
msla 3y ago
> In college you can sometimes talk your way out of the Intro To XYZ classes and go directly to the upper level stuff. There's a formalized way to do this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Level_Examination_Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Level_Examination_Prog... > The College Level Examination Program is a group of standardized tests created and administered by the College Board.[3] These tests assess college-level knowledge in thirty-six subject areas and provide a mechanism for earning college credits without taking college courses. They are administered at more than 1,700 sites (colleges, universities, and military installations) across the United States. There are about 2,900 colleges which grant CLEP credit.[4] Each institution awards credit to students who meet the college's minimum qualifying score for that exam, which is typically 50 to 60 out of a possible 80, but varies by site and exam.[5] These tests are useful for individuals who have obtained knowledge outside the classroom, such as through independent study, homeschooling, job experience, or cultural interaction; and for students schooled outside the United States.[6] They provide an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in specific subject areas and bypass undergraduate coursework. Many take CLEP exams because of their convenience and lower cost (price varies by institution, though typically $89) compared to a semester of coursework for comparable credit.
- JJMcJ 3y ago
  CLEP is great! But it allows you to skip requirements. My friend in the 400 level seminars was frighteningly ambitious and very very fast learner. I think he would have had a nervous breakdown sitting through History 101, Biology 101, etc etc.
mcguire 3y ago
My high school math ended with algebra. I placed out of geometry and trig and went into calculus my first semester in college. I was not prepared. Do not recommend.
- wbradley 3y ago
  I ended up going the opposite direction. My 11th grade trigonometry teacher forced me to repeat trig despite my having gotten a B. I was angry at the time! She did me a favor because by the time I got to Calculus in University it was very intuitive and I didn’t have much of a problem with it.
- IIsi50MHz 3y ago
  I had something similar at uni. Guidance plan had me goto Calculus without doing Trig, despite not having studied Trig in years. I had to withdraw from Calc twice.

by JJMcJ 3y ago

emidln 3y ago

>> you as an adult get asked to “stop helping them get ahead of the class” > Whether by parental training or self study, some teachers treat it almost as a crime to understand the material before the class starts. I remember a 7th grade math teacher confiscating my workbook when she found out I had done the entire workbook in the first week. I never really understood why. I spent most of that year telling the teacher she already had my homework and refused to do it again on principle. I ended up taking a 0 on every homework assignment and had a C in the class instead of an A+. Fuck that teacher. > In college you can sometimes talk your way out of the Intro To XYZ classes and go directly to the upper level stuff. I did this for first year history, computer science, and calc classes. Highly recommend giving it a try.

JJMcJ 3y ago
The famous story of young C. F. Gauss adding 1 + 2 + . . . + 100 by noting the familiar formula. Brought it up to his teacher. Lucky for him the teacher recognized this was no ordinary pupil and contacted the Duke of Brunswick, who paid for his university education later. Today, he'd be lucky not to end up handcuffed in a squad car. That's another reason to pay 50K for a private school for your kids if you can afford it. Also, for getting into upper division classes, I wish I'd had the sense to do it, looking back.
- IIsi50MHz 3y ago
  Whereas I, not understanding the high school textbook or teacher explanations on some problem, but having reversed a procedure from the problems which had answers in the back of the book, was told one day: - It probably doesn't work for all problems in the set (but was given two chances to prove it from the unassigned problems and some the teacher made up on the spot). - Okay, but you can only use it on homework and still have to write every step; can't use it on quizes, tests, or extra credit because it takes up too much space and takes too long to grade. - If I could find a math symbol for the key operation within one day, I could use it ONE take-home extra credit that had been due that day. The key operation? For all positive N, f(N) = N+N-1...until N=zero. I couldn't find the requested symbo l. When I took my first uni maths class, I asked my prof. He answered and wrote it before I even finished describing: "Oh, sigma."
jimbob45 3y ago
I ended up taking a 0 on every homework assignment and had a C in the class instead of an A+. Fuck that teacher. I'm curious why/if your parents didn't step in to correct the injustice.
- jghn 3y ago
  I did something similar and caught flak for being dumb enough to intentionally get a bad grade
  - IIsi50MHz 3y ago
    I would have done the same. The teacher being WrongTM does not mean I should have to redo all the coursework to get the already earned grade for It. In the described situation I know I would have been able to recruit support from multiple people to get the teacher to behave correctly. Fortunately, no teacher in my life would have been able to defend refusing to give credit for work done within the written academic standards. Although, I did once transfer into a school whose headmaster refused to accept transcripts from another school. He claimed I couldn't have begun grammar school when I did, because my birthday was after his school's deadline (despite him acknowledging the other school's later deadline!), which to him meant that I 'must' have started a year later and therefore 'must' either go back one form or if we didn't like that, have my entire transcript rejected and repeat all forms. (Madness!)
- poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
  [flagged]
rgrieselhuber 3y ago
Good read on this topic: https://www.amazon.com/Underground-History-American-Education-Investigation/dp/0998919101/ https://www.amazon.com/Underground-History-American-Educatio...

poorbutdebtfree 3y ago

[flagged]

downWidOutaFite 3y ago
> retesting as POC/marginalized Sorry but it feels like you're making up stuff to be racist about
- bluepod4 3y ago
  Correct.
- atlas_hugged 3y ago
  His other comments are the same. I see more and more of these racists coming into HN. They’re not being kicked out so maybe HN will eventually become “nazi bar.” It used to be nice here.
  - poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
    94% of asians, 73% of whites, and 37% of blacks pass the "063 Mathematics" subject matter test. That's an absolute # of 24 blacks passing, yet every year the state's new black math teachers count is 100+. https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/annual/2022resultsbycategory.html?section=ByEthnicity https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/annual/2022resultsbycategory.h...
- poorbutdebtfree 3y ago
  Racist to point out the lower standards for blacks? Here's literally the alternative/inclusive testing pilot for new Massachusetts public school teachers. https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/alt-assess/default.html https://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/alt-assess/default.html Cambridge, MA just literally got rid of Algebra in middle school so the black kids wouldn't feel bad about themselves. Diversity is a strength.

msla 3y ago

> In college you can sometimes talk your way out of the Intro To XYZ classes and go directly to the upper level stuff. There's a formalized way to do this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Level_Examination_Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Level_Examination_Prog... > The College Level Examination Program is a group of standardized tests created and administered by the College Board.[3] These tests assess college-level knowledge in thirty-six subject areas and provide a mechanism for earning college credits without taking college courses. They are administered at more than 1,700 sites (colleges, universities, and military installations) across the United States. There are about 2,900 colleges which grant CLEP credit.[4] Each institution awards credit to students who meet the college's minimum qualifying score for that exam, which is typically 50 to 60 out of a possible 80, but varies by site and exam.[5] These tests are useful for individuals who have obtained knowledge outside the classroom, such as through independent study, homeschooling, job experience, or cultural interaction; and for students schooled outside the United States.[6] They provide an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in specific subject areas and bypass undergraduate coursework. Many take CLEP exams because of their convenience and lower cost (price varies by institution, though typically $89) compared to a semester of coursework for comparable credit.

JJMcJ 3y ago
CLEP is great! But it allows you to skip requirements. My friend in the 400 level seminars was frighteningly ambitious and very very fast learner. I think he would have had a nervous breakdown sitting through History 101, Biology 101, etc etc.

mcguire 3y ago

My high school math ended with algebra. I placed out of geometry and trig and went into calculus my first semester in college. I was not prepared. Do not recommend.

wbradley 3y ago
I ended up going the opposite direction. My 11th grade trigonometry teacher forced me to repeat trig despite my having gotten a B. I was angry at the time! She did me a favor because by the time I got to Calculus in University it was very intuitive and I didn’t have much of a problem with it.
IIsi50MHz 3y ago
I had something similar at uni. Guidance plan had me goto Calculus without doing Trig, despite not having studied Trig in years. I had to withdraw from Calc twice.