Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Strange Math


Freshman and sophomore math (what used to be called algebra and geometry).

I've subbed for Ms. J several times. She always leaves the "same" assignment. She gives them a practice worksheet (or packet) on whatever topic they're currently studying.

I've never had an issue with this before. But on this day...

I passed out the assignment to period one. The stack I had left seemed a little light. So, I counted.

I had sixteen packets. By the roll sheet, I saw there were twenty-one students in period two. That was going to be a problem.

Luckily, Ms. J had left me someone to contact for issues. Ms. R had first period prep, so once I got a hold of her, she made me more copies.

Period two arrived. I passed out the assignment.

And, I swear, I had the same number of assignments left over as Ms. R had made for me.

Now, that can't be right. I know this. I had one absence, so I would have been short four packets. And I'm sure Ms. R made more than five copies. But I had, like, eight left over.

The math is somehow wrong here, and I can't figure out how.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Liz - quietly forget maths! But occasionally these things happen ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gah. It's always so confusing when it happens like that. It breaks my brain when I try to think about that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was very confusing. (And it tells you how my week went that this story made the blog cut.)

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. YES!!! Very true. I'll take left overs over not enough any day.

      Delete
  4. Uh-oh. The math teacher can't count.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did some from 1st period slip them back on the desk unworked? It's usually the unknown factor that messes up the math ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Were they stuck together?

    betty

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.