Below I excerpt part of a true conversation between the head math teacher and one of my Algebra students (a 14-year-old just out of junior high):
Teacher: Have you ever heard of a nauga?
Student: What?
Teacher: Well, have you heard of a cowhide?
Student: Yes, it comes from a cow.
Teacher: So you get naugahyde from naugas.
Student: I don’t get it.
Teacher: You get pigskins from pigs, cowhides from cows, naugahydes from naugas. Have you ever seen a nauga?
Student: No, I don’t watch the Discovery Channel.
Teacher: Tomorrow, if you finish early, we’ll play a game with a quarter.
Student: Is it a dumb game?
Teacher: No, you could win a quarter tomorrow.
Student: What?
Teacher: Well, have you heard of a cowhide?
Student: Yes, it comes from a cow.
Teacher: So you get naugahyde from naugas.
Student: I don’t get it.
Teacher: You get pigskins from pigs, cowhides from cows, naugahydes from naugas. Have you ever seen a nauga?
Student: No, I don’t watch the Discovery Channel.
Teacher: Tomorrow, if you finish early, we’ll play a game with a quarter.
Student: Is it a dumb game?
Teacher: No, you could win a quarter tomorrow.
Also, I recommend Lisa’s blog, particularly the one For All You Math Lovers.
…And yes, Ian is still alive and kicking. He swears he will start blogging again when we get back to Worcester; he aptly points out that nothing worth writing about has happened all summer, and when things start happening he will start writing about them. Funny how we can all separate for the summer, come back together, and within days pick up where we left off without any major explanations. Ian may have a point.
– KF –