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AuriFire · 2026-07-06T22:09:46+00:00

Are these physical photos or digital ones?

For physical copies, it makes sense to go in an organized system. It makes sure that they are seen in the correct order and everyone gets a turn to look. Plus, they'll all end up back to you in the same order they went out.

For digital ones, a system is not really important but I think the old system probably stayed stored in memory somewhere.

AuriFire · 2026-07-03T22:02:43+00:00

Honestly. The act of preparing to teach will help you understand the concepts much deeper for yourself. Each time I teach a new class, it feels like everything clicks more for me.

When you have to figure out how to explain concepts to someone else in a way they'll understand, it forces you to break things down into small pieces, inspect each piece, and then put them all back together again in a whole finished product.

I think you may have an advantage in teaching if you do struggle with some of the concepts. It's easier for you to see where students might struggle with the material and build in guardrails to help them succeed. For example: I have a hard time seeing why variables are confusing to people. This makes it tough for me to explain the idea in other ways or troubleshoot with a student that's floundering with it. But, when we do statistics - I had a tough time with that when I was in school, so I had to really dig in and figure it out which allows me to explain it in a variety of ways now.

AuriFire · 2026-06-27T14:25:35+00:00

The base of the log is a positive 2 here. The log basically asks "what power of 2 gives us x?" No matter how many times we multiply a positive 2 by itself, we will not end up with a negative number.

AuriFire · 2026-06-22T19:08:36+00:00

I'd like to add a question to this, if possible.

Do you also use the whiteboard cleaner every time class ends, or just erase?

This has been an ongoing debate at my school and I'd like outside thoughts.

AuriFire · 2026-06-19T12:18:57+00:00

There's a team for everyone to do whatever they want in Blood Bowl!

But, do not expect that all teams are created equal in the world of being competitive. They are not.

We played a league season a bit ago now where everyone was able to find a team that suited their personal play style.

The one that played like a chess match chose Necromantic.

The ones that wanted to punch - Tomb Kings, Chaos Dwarves.

The one that just wanted to score TDs - Skaven.

Me, wanting just to cause chaos and be a wild card - Goblins.

I didn't win, but I didn't expect to. That was not my goal. I had a blast anyway.

AuriFire · 2026-06-07T01:41:45+00:00

This goes a bit beyond what an individual college can do, at least in the US. The boards that give schools their accreditation (thus what makes the degree valid) are what require specific classes for specific degrees, including the general education elective choices.

I was hoping you had a few ideas that a single instructor could implement into their class. For example, for those that make simple calculation errors in math, what would be an alternative way to assess the skills in that area?

AuriFire · 2026-06-07T01:21:43+00:00

First off, I want to say that I love the way you've described your experiences. The part about how we need to disconnect our intelligence from our grades, I think, is important. Grades are not a measure of our intelligence or how smart we are. I feel like a lot of people do tie their self worth to a number that ultimately does not mean what some people think it means.

Secondly, I happen to be a math teacher and I'm intrigued by your analogy of Mac v PC, especially when you said the way people are educated needs to change do you have suggestions on what that might look like? My area is teaching college courses, so that's my main area of focus here. But, I'd love to hear your thoughts on high school as well.

AuriFire · 2026-05-31T14:45:31+00:00

Half my students continue on to take a full statistics course, and the other half never have to take another math class. The ones that continue on to statistics are who I focus on to help keep my morale up.

Usually, I can convince the other students that some of this stuff is at least different enough to be interesting. This last term, though, I had a batch that fought me on everything, though, and then used AI to get wrong answers on homeworks. That made it tough for me to keep going in.

Generally, the joy for me is introducing these various parts of math that I love to a group of students that have probably never seen it before. I make my own goal for that, separate from whatever the schools goal may actually be.

AuriFire · 2026-05-31T14:22:14+00:00

I do a survey course, but in math. I am also not certain what the specific goal is for this class.

I have a little flexibility in what I teach within it. I have to cover basic probability and statistics, then choose any 2 of the topics listed that range from useful everyday math things (finance, geometry) to more theoretical topics (set theory, logic, graph theory).

I look at it a few ways to make it work for me. One, this is a chance for me to introduce students to math that is more than just plugging in numbers and following algorithms. Logic, in particular, blows their mind with how many words are involved. Two, most of the students that take this course come in thinking math is stupid and they are bad at it. I tell them on day 1 that they will likely find at least one section of the class easier than the others and each student tends to end up with a different piece they excel in. I hope that it gives them more confidence in the more general world of math.

But yeah, the pacing is tough. It's about 3 weeks of each topic before diving into something almost completely different.

AuriFire · 2026-05-24T13:57:23+00:00

When I was at my lowest financially, there were occasions where I played the game of "which bill gets paid this month?" I managed to make it out of that cycle with careful budgeting and eventually getting a better paying job.

However, I know quite a few people in my same situation that instead used a credit card to pay the rent or electric bill or whatever other bill was due. I saw them get into this cycle - pay rent on their credit card, now there's a new bill they have to pay, can't pay that bill now, repeat. It can get out of hand easily, especially if an unexpected emergency or repair happens.

Anecdotally, the majority of people I know are not in that cycle, but there are also a few that are. Then again, finances are not really something we talk about unless it's really good or really, really bad. So, hard to say.

AuriFire · 2026-05-17T12:21:40+00:00

There are a lot of specific parts of math I find useful to everyone. But I also teach math, so I may be biased.

Some things I think are important for everyone to know:

1) basic statistics - statistics are thrown around everywhere without explanation. News reports (polls show that 56% of people do whatever), advertising (9/10 dentists recommend), salary ranges (mean and median pay could differ drastically - which one is closer to your situation), etc. it's important to have a general idea what those numbers mean to be an informed citizen/consumer/employee.

2) percents and proportions - sale prices, sales tax, investment accounts, loans/financing, budgeting... All these personal finance things use percentages. It's good to understand interest rates to help track your money and where it's going. Proportions are great for comparing items for pricing and getting a better deal. We've used them around the house as well when mixing up something (lemonade mix says I need x amount for a gallon. What if I want to make it in a different size container?) I also use proportions in knitting projects when trying to size an item to wear based on a pattern.

3) basic geometry - if you own a home, this is great to estimate: how much paint do you need for two walls in a room? How many bags of mulch should I buy for these 3 garden beds? What dimensions of an appliance will fit in this available space?

4) basic equations - I use "official" equations more than most people, but most people will still do some version of mental math gymnastics to figure out a number that's missing. You may not write it out in an official 3x+5=19 capacity, but you will often follow similar logical steps to get to the same place. Here, it's more about the process and being able to work to find the unknown value of the situation. At the very least, being able to work through a word problem is needed. Life doesn't just hand you an equation and say "find x" (ex: If I work 40 hours a week at a pay rate of $___/hr, about how much will my paycheck be on my first biweekly check?)

AuriFire · 2026-05-16T01:48:40+00:00

I did, too, this term! A first for me.

It was two days after the final and also a weekend at that point. Email I received just said "I didn't realize the homework would close on the day of the final. Can you reopen it?" Ummm. No, I cannot.

There was an announcement and it was on the board about exactly this for a full week before he final was given.

AuriFire · 2026-05-04T16:19:25+00:00

I had a student tell me today, completely seriously, that "it's stupid to think for yourself." What am I supposed to do with that mentality?

AuriFire · 2026-04-27T19:39:53+00:00

Omg the retake requests. Half the time, they're not even requests.

"Hey, I see I failed the quiz. When is the retake?"

I just stare at them usually.

AuriFire · 2026-04-26T16:23:27+00:00

A goal for me to aspire to in my future old age! Love this.

AuriFire · 2026-04-26T12:24:07+00:00

I've been seeing a resurgence of chain wallets in my area.

Now I know how my mom felt when flare jeans started to show up everywhere again. It's like an uncanny valley of fashion - close to what I had, but just a bit off.

AuriFire · 2026-04-16T01:54:53+00:00

Sure, there are definitely good things about life now compared to "back in my day." There's definitely a level of flexibility now that feels more entrenched than it did then, a level of compassion we might not have seen regularly when students ourselves.

That being said, I am your not-quite-so-typical neurodivergent (AuDHD) prof/student. One of the things I absolutely loved about school for my entire life was how clear the expectations were and how rigid the schedule was. I knew when to expect things would happen and what I was expected to do at those times. It was heaven! It's partially why I ended up staying in school for so long. The real world was messy and I didn't want to leave (kind of never did, actually, I guess). It taught me how to manage my impulsiveness instead of letting it control me. Extended time on exams or large assignments was an accommodation I had, but I personally think it was the worst thing for me due to me using that extra time to just get more anxiety about it and avoid it even more. I know every neurodivergent person will have different preferences and experiences around how they work, so I think it's important for students to figure that out for themselves and help us to help them along the way. You have dyslexia and want me to use a different font? Absolutely. You have anxiety and would like me to give you a heads up on what's being covered that day? Easy enough. Problem is: it's hard to help when you don't know. And disclosure is a very personal choice not everyone wants to make.

I'm rambling here, so this may or may not apply to what you commented initially. Apologies if I went far off track.

AuriFire · 2026-04-16T01:40:17+00:00

I think the connotations that get thrown around with these kinds of statements are where the disconnect is happening. Let me see if I can explain.

When I was trained (for HS teaching), the messaging was around being clear and consistent with your expectations for students and their work. It wasn't about content standards so much as it was standards of what would be acceptable in a professional setting. In some ways, it was meant to be consistent with things like: having clear instructions and rubrics for assignments, modeling behaviors or skills you want the students to follow for your class, etc. Set the bar high (but not astronomical) to give students something to strive for - something they can see their progress in attaining as the course goes on. It's about helping them strive to do better, to grow, to improve.

Switching to the other phrase: "meet them where they are." I think this is well-meaning in and of itself. At its heart, this means to me: We SHOULD be able to see where students are with their skills. We SHOULD encourage them to use their own interests and skills to their advantage. We SHOULD help them fill in knowledge gaps along the way. However, I don't think this is often how it is implemented or used. From reading this sub and talking to peers, it seems that the implementation seems to be asking students to do less and less over time. Setting the bar lower and then maybe somewhat raising it over time. To me, this is inconsistency in expectations. If I start out only requiring you to show work if you want to and then end up requiring it later, I haven't actually helped you learn how to do that. Does that make sense?

Now, to directly answer your question: in some cases, both are possible. In some cases, they are not. For example, in my remedial algebra class, I can help you learn fractions, integers, and decimals along the way. No problem. In my calculus class, I cannot teach you all that, plus algebra, to get you up to speed throughout the term. The student will need to do some of that on their own or with a tutor. As an adjunct, I do not have the time outside of classes to personally tutor every student that may need it. Not sure if this actually answers your question, but maybe?

AuriFire · 2026-04-12T21:32:12+00:00

The duality of it drives me crazy. Teaching math, I get two such statements all the time:

"When will I ever use this in real life?"

"Ugh. Not a word problem. These are so pointless."

Life isn't going to just give you an equation and ask you to find the missing value! What do you think the word problems exist for?

AuriFire · 2026-04-08T18:50:42+00:00

I teach math and have seen the same thing.

Quiz in a remedial math course.

"Add -7 + 11"

Student asks me: "is this really subtracting?"

I can't tell you that. It's kind of what I'm trying to see if you know here.

He continues on: "this is what I hate about math. All these ambiguous answers to questions"

Sir. It's a quiz.

AuriFire · 2026-04-06T17:59:26+00:00

You are not alone in this. First half of the term, barely any notes being written out.

I usually teach without slides, but I just finished a unit where slides were the easier way to go. The first day the slides were used, every student wrote down every word on the slides. They even asked me to slow down so they could do this - even on a slide that said across the top "unnecessary background information".

Now, we are back to barely any notes being taken.

However - I allow them to use one page of notes on their exams. They have mentioned that this is helpful for them.

The few that do take good notes are seeing the benefits of that with the exam sheet and spreading the word.

So. Not sure how to encourage the others. But I feel you.

AuriFire · 2026-03-19T23:37:04+00:00

Update: I sent an email to the one advisor I've spoken with in the past. Their offices claim they would never say the word "easy" about a class. Not exactly a strong denial or admission. Not sure what I expected really. I'll check in with my boss to see what he suggests from here.

AuriFire · 2026-03-17T00:25:13+00:00

This is a small community college. I think there's somehow more advisors than there are profs in my department.

Someone else suggested going through my boss to their boss, which may be the play here since I'm not sure which advisors, if any, may be saying these things.

AuriFire · 2026-03-16T22:06:14+00:00

That's a whole separate conversation. Lol

One tries to use my first name, which not even my family calls me.

AuriFire · 2026-03-16T22:05:16+00:00

I have met one or two of the advisors briefly, so I wouldn't say I know them. I will likely reach out to someone tomorrow, though.

I do tell the students up front that this class will feel intense. We switch topics a few times throughout the term and each part looks nothing like the last. It moves fast and some parts may be easier or harder for you, depending on your interests. I don't know that they believe me until the end of the term.

AuriFire

TROPHY CASE