Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

Wow! Just as I got my numbers down pat they start throwing letters at me. How long till I can get out of the forth grade?

dbfalconer Loc: Salida CO

My inability to do/understand math makes me feel stupid. Teachers don’t seem to understand that Math is a foreign language to many of us! It sure would have helped to have some practical applications and real-world use examples in my math classes. Your students are lucky to have you.

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

I started out in the fall of '69 to become an engineer until the news was full of all the engineers that had lost their jobs. So I switched to what I said I would never do, education. Industrial Arts (now Technology Ed) Education. For 33 years I taught Mechanical Drawing/ Drafting, Machine Drawing, Welding Drafting, Sheet Metal Layout, Architecture, and CAD. Everything I taught had a purpose. When we started Geometric Constructions, that first bisecting a line was used to construct exactly 90°. Accurately set the scales on their drafting machine, construct pentagrams and hexagons, and use those to solve other problems. I lost count of the students that ask me, "Isn't this what we learned in Math and Science class?" After a short pause, I always said, "Yes." To which they always replied, "Well now I understand it!"

It's amazing how connecting something as abstract as Algebra to a real world situation increases a student's retention. Why so many Math and Science teachers do not understand this is beyond me.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

My sentiments exactly!!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind