The Answer is WRONG!
I happened to wander by one of the hoodlums doing his homework the other night. I wandered by because Sam was on my computer and he was handling the difficult aspect of the assignment by slamming his hands down and yelling when he got the wrong answer.
"What's up?"
"I'm trying to do my math homework," he said.
Then it hit him.
"You think you're a genius, why don't you try one?"
"First off," I said. "I don't think I'm a genius, I am a genius. Secondly, I already passed third grade."
"I'm in 7th, genius," he said.
I sat down at the computer. The word problem was dealing with percentages and I tried to read it as he danced in a circle next to me talking about the Bills.
"Dude!"
"Shhhh," he said. "The genius is concentrating."
I hate word problems. I always think of the guy on the bus and three people getting off and what's the bus driver's name, but I broke it down simply. I typed an answer in the box, but left a zero off before hitting the button.
"No!!!" Sam yelled.
The screen flashed.
Sorry! The Answer is WRONG, flashed back at me.
"Well that's kind of rude," I said.
Sam laughed.
"You have to show your work, and you missed a zero. Maybe you're not a genius."
"Obviously we both know that is WRONG," I said. But the screen changed again and we were back at the word problem.
Easy enough. I'd add a zero.
But the clever bastards had changed the problem.
I had to start over.
For the next five minutes we showed our work together. Just the genius and the 7th grader (Really? When did that happen?) doing our work.
After a couple of tries we got an EXCELLENT!
"Still a genius," I said.
"Took you longer then it might've taken a genius," he answered.
Truth be told, the whole thing sort of annoyed me. We used to do our work with a number two pencil and a pad.
(And why if everyone uses that brand of pencil is it still #2?).
We weren't timed. We didn't have to submit our answers over a line. We got a ruler to the head when we were wrong and somehow that was better then seeing WRONG on a screen.
"We have more to do," Sam said.
"I don't," I answered. "I already passed third grade and Judge Judy is on."
"Genius!" he laughed. "The genius watches J.J."
"All genuises do," I said.
I hate word problems.
"What's up?"
"I'm trying to do my math homework," he said.
Then it hit him.
"You think you're a genius, why don't you try one?"
"First off," I said. "I don't think I'm a genius, I am a genius. Secondly, I already passed third grade."
"I'm in 7th, genius," he said.
I sat down at the computer. The word problem was dealing with percentages and I tried to read it as he danced in a circle next to me talking about the Bills.
"Dude!"
"Shhhh," he said. "The genius is concentrating."
I hate word problems. I always think of the guy on the bus and three people getting off and what's the bus driver's name, but I broke it down simply. I typed an answer in the box, but left a zero off before hitting the button.
"No!!!" Sam yelled.
The screen flashed.
Sorry! The Answer is WRONG, flashed back at me.
"Well that's kind of rude," I said.
Sam laughed.
"You have to show your work, and you missed a zero. Maybe you're not a genius."
"Obviously we both know that is WRONG," I said. But the screen changed again and we were back at the word problem.
Easy enough. I'd add a zero.
But the clever bastards had changed the problem.
I had to start over.
For the next five minutes we showed our work together. Just the genius and the 7th grader (Really? When did that happen?) doing our work.
After a couple of tries we got an EXCELLENT!
"Still a genius," I said.
"Took you longer then it might've taken a genius," he answered.
Truth be told, the whole thing sort of annoyed me. We used to do our work with a number two pencil and a pad.
(And why if everyone uses that brand of pencil is it still #2?).
We weren't timed. We didn't have to submit our answers over a line. We got a ruler to the head when we were wrong and somehow that was better then seeing WRONG on a screen.
"We have more to do," Sam said.
"I don't," I answered. "I already passed third grade and Judge Judy is on."
"Genius!" he laughed. "The genius watches J.J."
"All genuises do," I said.
I hate word problems.
Comments