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<p>If you are getting an assignment or taking a test in class, you can always ask for clarification on poorly written questions.</p>
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<p>Yeah, but even if the teacher doesn’t “get” it, there is evidence of work which could be clarified later. Generally, it’s a good idea to be able to show work.</p>
<p>I must admit that when I was very young, like 1st/2nd grade, I used to be able to solve complicated math problems immediately in my head without even being conscious of the steps. My memory is a little blurry about this, so I can’t go into detail. After I was forced to write every step down, I quickly lost this ability. Even if I did do a problem in my head, it was step-by-step rather than doing several steps instantaneously.</p>
<p>So it’s not clear whether correction is actually a good thing.</p>
<p>The clarification is usually pick the best answer… not helpful.</p>
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<p>You should at least [write</a> a note in the margin of a book saying that there is not enough space to write your marvelous proof there](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat’s_Last_Theorem]write”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat’s_Last_Theorem). Then maybe other mathematicians may notice it.</p>
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<p>It happens to me all the time that I find the one scenario where several answers are correct. Usually, if you demonstrate to the teacher that you know the material behind the question and explain <em>why</em> several answers are correct, then they will clarify. Sometimes there is an assumption you have to make to answer the question; in that case, I might say "Are we assuming x is true for this question, because otherwise, several answers are correct. </p>
<p>Very rarely will they just repeat “Pick the best answer” after I do this, although when this happens it does drive me nuts.</p>
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<p>For what it’s worth in case someone looks too closely, there is a typo in the first line. It should read:
1225 + 2*35 +1 + two zeros = 129600</p>
<ul>
<li>1225 is the square of 35</li>
<li>to get to the square of 36, add 35 (now 35x36) plus 36 (now 36x36)</li>
<li>add two zeros to arrive at the square of 360</li>
<li>to get to the square of 361, add 360 (now 360x361) plus 361 (now 361x361)</li>
<li>to get to 361x362, add 361</li>
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<p>In general, to get 33 x 33 you can use 3 baselines:
30 x 30 + 3<em>30</em>2 + 3x3 = 1089
35 x 35 - 2<em>35</em>2 + 2x2 = 1089
40 x 40 - 7<em>40</em>2 + 7x7 =1089</p>
<p>^ I would do that by saying 33 x 33 is 11 ^ 3 ^ 11 ^ 3 = 121 ^ 9
121 ^ 10 = 1210
1210 - 121 = 1089</p>
<p>But hey, that’s just me 
and I never claimed to be a highly gifted right brain thinker (which I’m certainly not)</p>
<p>^Lol, ucb, that’s actually something I work on in my “spare time” (not the exact form, but modified)</p>
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<p>There is always more than one way to solve a math problem; I think my method is certainly more useful for prime numbers like 37 x 37. In any case, a student should not be limited to being required to show “the process” that is standard in one’s textbook, whether or not the teacher is able to follow the alternative.</p>
<p>^I wouldn’t limit the kid to sowing the standard process, but they should show SOME valid process. If they’re that smart, then they can learn to express the process they used. And if they are “smarter” than the teacher and can learn nothing from her, then there is no point to being there in the first place. It’s just a waste of resources on everyone’s part.</p>
<p>I think this is primarily a problem with math. In elementary school, there are no doubt many other things that the student <em>can</em> learn from the teacher. The number of polite ways to say: My child needs more challenge in mathematics because he/she is operating above your level is 0. It’s not even a small quantity epsilon.</p>
<p>I want to reply to the first part of this thread.</p>
<p>I understand the teacher’s frustration of having grade-obsessed students, but the college application process makes them that way. A C is not a good thing to have on a high school transcript, even if it is a C from an AP class. </p>
<p>That teacher probably would be better off teaching in college. Yes, college students who are going on to medical school and law school probably still have to be grade obsessed, but I think there is more acceptance in higher ed of a student getting a C once in college. It seems to me, at least, that many colleges are trying to tame grade inflation and are trying to lower their GPAs. </p>
<p>I also don’t think transcripts are a big part of hiring decisions for most businesses.</p>
<p>If a kid gets a C while others get Bs & As, what is wrong with asking how to become one of the latter? Why be “satisfied” with Cs? Now, some kids are satisfied, and some are actually grateful to get Cs, but why not strive for more?</p>
<p>OTOH, if the entire class get a C or below, that means the teacher somehow didn’t convey the material and needs to reteach it.</p>
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Yes, but it’s entirely possible to say: My child needs more challenge in mathematics because he/she is operating above the level that is being taught in 1st grade. Most teachers would be smart enough to recognize that if it’s true.</p>
<p>I am curious whether you think that this or an analogous statement worked out for you in practice, sylvan8798? It tends to go very strongly against the egalitarian grain of many American public schools. Most likely the student would be offered the opportunity to work with other students to help them understand the 1st grade math curriculum.</p>
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<p>You have obviously never been taught a classroom full of 9th graders who think they know it all and who think they have no need to put any effort into learning the material. To always put the blame on the teacher is to not understand that sometimes the problem is the overall culture of the school.</p>
<p>We had mixed success asking for more challenging work for our kids. All teachers said they would. Almost all tried. Fewer than half understood how to do it effectively in such a way that it was expanding their knowledge and not just giving them more work to do. </p>
<p>In the end it has to be up to the parent to keep the kids doing “more” than their peers. I put more in quote because often it wasn’t actually more, it was just more time thought required for them than the easier original assignment, but still less time than many of their classmates.</p>
<p>Another note: At our high school, there is a math teacher who is known for giving low grades and for otherwise A students not being able to do very well in his class.</p>
<p>Not in the loop, I didn’t know anything about this teacher, so my child’s GPA was affected by him. I then found out that at least one other parent, having heard about him, had told the administration that her child was not to be put in this man’s class and that her son was to take the class online, with someone not at the school, which he did. </p>
<p>The mother later told me that she wasn’t going to have the teacher destroy her son’s GPA. I actually admire the mother for doing this. I just wish I had known beforehand about this teacher, whom most parents and students consider unfair.</p>
<p>I hate for high schoolers to have to be so grade conscious, but that’s the reality in which they live.</p>
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<p>The girl who was valedictorian the year after my son graduated specially arranged her schedule to avoid just such a teacher. Learning strategic planning can also be a valuable lifetime skill.</p>
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<p>This statement is suspect. The teacher is tired of students asking her how to improve their performance? My guess is that the teacher is tired of hearing this AFTER the fact. The sentence probably should have read, " She is tired of having kids come to her after every test asking what they can now do to raise their grades." A big difference IMO.</p>
<p>In my schools AP music theory class the average grade is about a B-/C but there have been very few that haven’t gotten a 5 on the exam.</p>