Comments on: The New York Times Doesn’t Know Any Math Teachers

By: Bowen Kerins

Bowen Kerins — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:21:10 +0000

OMG NEW DATA

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/01/06/the-interview-online-sales-totals/21354589/

$31 million on 4.3 million sales, $5.99 to rent, $14.99 to buy.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 20:47:19 +0000

Hi Dan, I loved this article and all the comments below it. One comment mentioned your TEDxNYED talk, so I just watched that too. Loved it! I used to teach high school math (mostly Geometry and Algebra 2) and you are so on-target about how to adjust the problem to encourage patient problem solving, deeper understanding, and better student engagement! Keep up the great work! :)

Your TED talk video link if others want to find it quickly: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover?language=en#t-681342

By: Joshua

Joshua — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:47:32 +0000

To the earlier ideas about making this a focus of a math exploration, I’m on the fence about whether this is an interesting question. I mean, frankly, I don’t really care how many rentals vs sales they had and I’m the kind of person who solves systems of equations for fun, so will kids?

On the other hand, a discussion about whether it is better to rent or buy movies? That sounds interesting and could probably incorporate many of the same concepts from algebra.

By: Stacie

Stacie — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 01:48:08 +0000

Dan, I love your thoughts on making math more relevant to students in your TED talk. My past students have never taken ownership in the cost of online piracy. I took your post a step further in http://systry.com/how-much-does-piracy-cost/.

By: @jouborg

@jouborg — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:47:13 +0000

Detailed steps using pen and paper using simultaneous equations: https://twitter.com/jouborg/status/549963741249286145

By: Stas

Stas — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 06:33:03 +0000

Concretely, each dollar away from "roughly $15 million" changes x and y by 1/9 (in the opposite directions); each transaction away from "about two million" changes x by 5/3 and y by 2/3 (also in the opposite directions). Here is how to find it with Wolfram Alpha.

By: Stas

Stas — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 05:57:39 +0000

For more, advanced/curious readers, this is the reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_stability#Stability_in_numerical_linear_algebra

By: James Cleveland

James Cleveland — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 05:50:31 +0000

Since many people tweeted about how those numbers are rough and can’t make an exact answer, maybe a graph more like this one is more illuminating:

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/niy8kpeuow

By: Stas

Stas — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 04:59:13 +0000

@Dan, they've also recently shut down their chess column that was run for 50 years. So, their shift in values is clear. But considering that newspapers are almost dead nowadays, not a big deal. There are enough intelligent blog writers and twitter users to read :-).

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 04:33:21 +0000

@Stas, I tweeted your connection to the Algebra op-ed. Went pretty far.