Tonight, being a little bored, I decided to do something I've been told a dozen times not to do. I started grading my dad's third graders' tests. These happened to be math tests, and for math tests, I have to admit they were pretty interesting. Austin's is a case in point.
Excerpt:
15. Look at the Litter Sizes table. Figure out the mean (average) number of puppies. Use your calculator to help you.
Dog's Name__________________Number of Puppies
Fifi..........................................6
Spot........................................3
Duchess.................................5
Honey....................................5
Rover.....................................7
Daisy......................................4
The mean number of puppies is ________.
Austin wrote 55.
After observing that "8" was also a common respsonse, I asked Dad how he managed to get such a stupid class.
"Are you a bad teacher, or are they bad learners?"
He said it was a little bit of both.
"Will it be better next year?" I asked hopefully. "Probably not," he said.
"Isn't that a little disheartening?"
"Disheartening! Of course it's disheartening! It's terrible!"
"But there's nothing you can do about it?"
"They're third graders," he said.
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1 comment:
I am proud to say I got a correct answer (at least I think...) without using a calculator! But then again, I am probably twice the age of a third grader. I find it rather entertaining... but I am also curious, how does one get an answer like 55 or 8? If I were to guess, I would at least add up the numbers or do something mathematical. I don't know about math, but in 3rd grade, I remember myself as a writer... "And the dog was very very very very very very very good." It hasn't improved much... :P
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