Doing the Math

by Linda D.

In junior high, my friend Jeannie was baffled when the math teacher said "show your work". Jeannie had a natural talent for math, and didn't have to work hard at the stuff we did in 8th grade. She would look at a problem and understand it in her head. No calculations needed, apparently. Some teachers suspected her of cheating. (As if she'd be foolish enough to copy a lesser person's answers). I showed her what I did, working it out on paper the way we were taught back in 3rd grade. "Oh, they want us to do it the hard way!" she said.

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Linda D. publishes excerpts from her semiautobiographical memoirs.

Word Problems

by Linda D.

In algebra class we used to get problems like this: A 15,000-gallon water tank is 1/3 full. It is leaking two gallons per hour. It can be filled at five gallons per hour. How long will it take to fill the tank? I know how to do the math. But the real solution to this problem never appears in a textbook: Repair the tank. ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
Linda D. publishes excerpts from her semiautobiographical memoirs.