That’s odd
“All prime numbers are odd…”
“No, Mr. 2718…”
“No..?”
“No. Two is even, and it’s prime.”
“Are there any other even primes?”
“No. Two is the only one.”
“That’s odd!”
Thanks to J. Matthews, who told it to me, and to the thousands of teachers across this land who’ve kept this one alive, and to the hundreds of thousands of students who have groaned just painfully enough to encourage us to keep telling this one.
Teacher Pot Luck (Halloween edition) looming
Teacher Potluck will be appearing in this space… in 2 days. Submissions will be accepted up until midnight, October 30. Remember, this is the Halloween edition. (and 4th, for those of you who count). It’s also the first edition outside of Ms. Whatsit’s fine blog.
So be a champ, send me a recipe or a dish, or whatever. Pot luck and all, you know.
Send them to jd2718(at)gmail(dot)com.
Where there are teachers, there is food!
New York sample algebra questions
The New York State Integrated Algebra Test Sampler is on line here. The sample exam is the first link.
Take a look. I don’t know that I’ve seen a better example of “a mile wide and an inch deep” before. Yeccch.
I can’t think of a better argument for national curricula than the garbage that individual states produce. Once upon a time NY State’s math exams were top notch. But once upon a time smoke stacks belched prosperity and mercury was fun to play with…
(The South Platte is also a mile wide and an inch deep. For a recreational stream, that’s a good thing. For a math curriculum? Nope.)
And the answer is…
Can you come up with a question?
(JBL has me busy on those bitstring, er, run permutation questions…. it could be a bit before I can really concentrate on a post)
Technorati glitch?
I don’t get it. My previous post is entitled “What does ‘pensionable’ mean?” But it’s showing up in Technorati as “How Safe is Your Pension?” (Link is not static, but for the next few days it may be there.)
That’s not what I wrote. That’s not what I would write. I have contacted Technorati. I have no idea what went wrong.
What does “pensionable” mean?
In a recent victory, TRS and the City agreed that coverages will be pensionable. And a nice bit of frosting, older coverages will be retroactively pensionable.
What’s that mean?
Pensionable means that the money earned in that activity (in this case, class coverage) is used as part of the calculation in determining your pension.
New teachers, beware! Doing a coverage today will not affect your pension, it will just make you tired in return for a few bucks.
Only the last year or the last three years of service go into calculating your pension. If you do a coverage today, and you are not almost ready to retire, it will have no bearing on your pension. If your principal gives you a coverage and speaks soothingly about pensionability, he’s intentionally misleading you (don’t confront, but make a note, and point it out at the next chapter meeting).
(more below the fold –>) Read more…
After the conferences
I was looking forward to parent teacher conferences. They went well. I met 39 of 44 freshmen parents. I got to say nice things about kids, which parents like, but they were true (see this post). I’ll make a few adjustments to seating and homework checking for a few kids, which will likely help them out a bit. I’ll make generic announcements about Math Team (although I politely refused to single any kid out for this attention. Even great math students have the right, I think, to decide if they want to do extra or not).
(photo below, not me)
I was able to couch negatives in terms of positive suggestions. When I asked parents to help out (by checking for signatures – not actually looking at the homework – I’ve made it easier), they readily agreed. Recommendations for tutoring were also well-received. And I only heard a few excuses made for a child’s work (or lack), and even there, I think the message got through.
(more below the fold –>) Read more…
October 27 rally (tomorrow)
I’m glad my union, the United Federation of Teachers, endorsed this. I hope you make it.
From Oct27.org’s New York page: On Oct. 27, the people will be heard around the country to say, “This war has got to end and it has got to end now!”
Rally at 12 noon
Assemble on Broadway, south of 23rd Street (use 23rd St. subway not the F)
March at 1:00 p.m.
2 Minutes of Silence to Honor those who have died – 2:45 p.m.
Peace and Justice Fair in Foley Square (end of the march) – 2:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Fred put up this video. (He’s walking, not marching. hm) I decided to try it, too.
Puzzle: Probability. Bitstrings.
Here’s one I haven’t answered: Given a random bitstring of length n, what is the probability that the longest string of 1’s is the same length as the longest string of 0s?
11111001000100101011111011011000001
Let’s explain a bit (ha ha). A bitstring is a “word” made up of 1s and 0s. The bitstrings of length 2 are: 00, 01, 10, and 11. The bitstrings of length 3 are: 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111. In general, there are 
- So, when n = 2 we have 4 bitstrings, and 2 of them (01 and 10) have longest strings of 0s and 1s of equal length. (probability is 2/4)
- When n = 3 we have 8 bitstrings, and 2 of them (010 and 101) have longest strings of 0s and 1s of equal length. (probability is 2/8)
- When n = 4, we have 16 bitstrings, and of them (0011, 0101, 1010, and 1100) have longest strings of equal length. (4/16)
And after that, it looks like it gets complicated. Can you answer for the next few numbers? Can you generalize for n? And do the answers for even n‘s and odd n’s behave differently?
I like conferences
No, not most of them. Not stupid PD stuff. Not normal, run of the mill time wasters.
I like tonight’s conferences. I like parent teacher conferences.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t love the long night. And with lots of parents showing up, it can be exhausting.
But the positive, early contact with parents is worth it. Let me add, I teach mostly freshmen, so these are kids still adjusting to high school, to a new environment, to new friends, and to new (and I believe much higher) academic expectations. Tonight I will get a lot of parents on board. I will tell them what I see in their kids (fresh eyes, I have lots of good stuff to share), and share advice on how we can improve achievement. We will agree that we are all on one side. And we will agree on some things we might ask the student to do. I will move a few seats. Privately suggest tutoring… I will have a little to do list, and many of the parents will as well.
And we will see, in many cases, positive results from these conferences for months to come.
Plus, I just like meeting these people. It’s a small school, we will know each other for the next four years.
There’s always one or two awkward ones, but they are far outweighed by the good ones.
(ps, if you are a parent of a child at my school, and you’ve discovered this blog, then of course I liked meeting you the best and your child is the nicest/most intelligent)
I was wrong on pension yesterday
Yesterday I asked if 25/55 was agreed to in 2005. I thought the answer was yes. I was wrong. The answer is, no.
Although in 2005 Leo Casey wrote:
WHAT DID WE GAIN? … An agreement from New York City to seek a change in state pension law would allow all UFT members to retire without penalty at age 55 with a minimum of 25 years of service.
… this was not really true.
The actual contract said something quite different (from Memo of Agreement, scroll down for item 6):
- A Labor-Management Pension Committee will be established to investigate legislation allowing all current and future members of the TRS Tier II, III and IV to retire without a reduction of benefits due to early retirement upon age 55 with at least 25 years of service, as well as other relevant pension issues.
- The Committee will analyze the actual costs and additional contribution rates required to provide this benefit (including any additional health insurance benefit costs) without any cost to the City.
- Upon mutual acceptance of the Committee’s recommendations, including plan design and costs, the parties agree to jointly support the legislation necessary to implement the benefit changes.
Had I reread the contract, had I gone to the source, I would have understood that 25/55 was not agreed to in 2005. Instead, we agreed to set up a joint labor management committee to study 25/55 and make recommendations, and if they were accepted, to jointly recommend them to Albany.
I left my previous post, with a flag directing readers here.
Proof in Algebra I?
Do you teach proof in Algebra I?
I do. All the tools are there for some basic stuff. We start with = as an equivalence relation (reflexive, symmetric, transitive). We (real) are closed for + and x, (though we only rest on this implicitly).
For addition we have an identity and inverses (opposites), for multiplication we have an identity and inverses (reciprocals) except for 0, and we have a special multiplication property for 0. We have an associative property for +, and for x, too. We have a commutative property for +, and for x, too. We have a distributive property of x over +.
We define subtraction as the addition of the opposite, division as multiplication by the reciprocal. We obtain equal quantities when we add or multiply equal quantities by equal quantities. I use substitution – I think we can prove that it is ok… not sure though.
(more, and a sample, below the fold —>) Read more…
Small Talk: NYC small schools come up short
Mike Klonsky of Small Talk analyzes the latest pro-Gates/New York City small school study. Klonsky likes small schools (thus the name of his blog), and the study, by Policy Studies Associates (generally pro-Gates) is quite positive.
But Klonsky reads closely, and finds something wrong. One example: the study finds that the small schools have a higher graduation rate than the large schools. However, that 78% is nowhere near the 90-100% that small schools tend to manage elsewhere…
This is a detailed serious post. Take your time reading it.
25/55, agreed to in 2005?
[Major Edit]
Most of what I wrote below was inaccurate. I have posted a correction here.
In one of the stranger twists I’ve seen, NYC Ed points out that the DoE had already agreed to support 25/55 (not 25/57!) way back two years ago. Look at the third indented paragraph and what follows under the “WHAT DID WE GAIN” heading, here.
So if they already agreed, why didn’t we cry foul when they introduced linkage to merit pay? Or did we, the UFT, introduce the link between pension reform and merit pay?
Those are two questions I’d like to see answered.
I missed the pay cut
- x: You missed it. You wrote about the pension agreement, but missed it.
- jd2718: I skipped the merit pay issue. I will get to it. I am being careful.
- x: No, you missed the pension issue. 55/27, not 55/25 for new teachers…
- jd2718: OK, but I thought I said that…
the UFT negotiated a cut in take home pay for the teachers who get hired next year
- x: Wait, there’s more. You missed the cut in take-home pay.
- jd2718: 1.85% for those who opt in, on top of the 3% for the first ten years. Oh, I get it, 1.85% for all new hires. But that goes to the pension.
- x: The pension that most of them never see. How many make it to 5 years? How many get close to 25?
- jd2718: Oh.
- x: You should write about how the UFT just negotiated a cut in take home pay for all of our new teachers that get hired next year!
So that’s what I am doing. Writing about the deal. It’s in the works. Randi even got a plebescite-approval of her president’s report at the DA (maybe to head off any organized objections before they arise).
So me writing won’t fix anything. But here goes: We just negotiated a pay cut for next year’s teachers, with full knowledge that most will not benefit from it.
Ouch. Who’s out there looking out for next year’s teachers? Who’s looking out for the future of the profession?
Hairy Potter
My favorite school trip of each year is the freshman trip to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. This year my group included kids who play with words. They spotted this “hairy potter,” named him, and snapped the photo.
In related news, Rowling outed Dumbledore.
[inspired by Ms. Frizzle’s Innocents Abroad – otherwise I would have written dry union stuff]
Carnival of Math 19 – spammy edition
It’s the “spam edition.” Spam edition?
MarkCC says: “… I haven’t been following the Carnival of Math much … I completely forgot that I was hosting it again until I started receiving submissions .. .Much to my disappointment, it appears that spam has managed to invade even the carnivals. Close to half of the submissions… “
So? We end up with a short carnival with a bizarre theme. But, the range is great – from long division to research level stuff, and a bit in the middle. Don’t miss part 2 of Dave Marain’s interview with Alec Klein about specialized high schools.
UFT, DOE, joint committees, and merit pay
No. No merit pay yet. Soon.
The UFT has a history of trying to encourage labor management collaboration, including at the school level. We participate in joint committees, where possible. I’ve never known us to turn one down. I believe that our leaders have a philosophical/ideological commitment to this sort of collaboration.
Our leaders have a responsibility to know the difference between what’s written on paper and what happens in our schools.
Way down at the school level, this work includes (my experience) School Safety Committee, School Leadership Team, C-30 (to select new administrators), SBO hiring committees (old), principal’s hiring committee (current). I’m certainly leaving stuff out…
Where we have strong chapters, these things, more or less, function. But how many principals signed off on the safety plan last year and indicated the chapter leader had signed, when the chapter leader had not even seen it? How many SBO Committees were just rubberstamps? What committee can you sit on with your rating officer, and really fairly participate? How many of us are so completely unimpressed by authority that we can say no to our supervisor? And the schools effected by this agreement will tend to be schools with weak chapters…
Collaboration can work, but very carefully, and very carefully controlled. In the UFT context, it can only occur where we have strong chapters. Without discussing the merit pay agreement, giving a joint collaboration committee at the school level power over distributing compensation at this time is a grave error. Our leaders have a responsibility to know the difference between what’s written on paper and what happens in our schools.
Puzzle: last one left over
I found this on a list-serve (AMTNYS) (guy named Knox posted it):
The digits from 0 - 9 are separated into 3 groups: A (0, 1, 2, 3); B (4, 5, 6); C (7, 8, 9). Digits are selected at random (no repeats) until the numbers from an entire group are chosen. What is the probability that group "A" will be selected?
25-55… and merit pay
The October 17, 2007 United Federation of Teachers was dominated by discussion of these two issues.
I can’t say that I fully understand 25-55, but in return for making pension contributions, teachers will be able to retire at age 55 after 25 years of service. Current teachers will have the option of paying in, or not (if not they would need to be older, and have more years. Is it 30-62 or 30-65?) It sounded like all new hires would pay in.
This really isn’t more money, since we would be paying in, but more choice and flexibility. (It also, and someone correct me, it also would be a windfall for someone, since all those 3-years-and-out teachers would be paying extra money in, and would be abandoning their contributions).
So the City and the UFT yesterday agreed to present a 25-55 agreement to Albany. All for the good… except the deal got tied to merit pay. More about that, tomorrow.
Grades due
Six times a year I submit grades. Tomorrow will be the first time, this year.
Why so frequently? Growing up, we had 4 report cards each year. That’s one about every 9 weeks. But with 6 a year, that’s one every 6 weeks. I find myself squeezing in extra tests, so that I can have two to average. And constantly filling in grade reports (glad we got rid of the scan sheets).
Why 6? In New York City, most of us time our first report to be close to parent teacher conferences. The parents come in with the first report card, and we talk. Could we do it otherwise? Sure. Do regulations require 6 report cards per year? I am pretty sure they don’t.
We’ve grumbled quietly about the frequency of the marking periods for year. This year, I think we’ll try to talk seriously in our school about some options… Maybe there are some disadvantages, but right about now, going for 4 longer marking periods sounds pretty sensible to me.
Local Environment
I committed weeks ago to blogging on the environment today, but so far, zippo.
I notice that Fred Klonsky wrote early – he treats the war as an environmental issue. Nice one. He’s right.
And I am writing late. School is on my mind.
I want to write about schools full of asbestos.
About abatement,
about releasing fibers into the air.
I want to write about schools in old factories,
Most of the toxic chemicals gone –
But a little bit left.
I want to write about stress
induced by overcrowding –
3500 students in space for 2000.
I want to write about “rubber rooms”
detention centers
with bad air and exposed wiring.
I understand that other parts of the environment are flashier.
I understand why people might look at the picture of a walrus and not a teacher,
or a receding glacier, not an exposed pipe.
But for NYC teachers, the environment we work in is a problem, too. 
69 – 7
That’s the margin I lost by tonight for UFT High School Vice President. Of course, it was really just New Action against Unity. When they announced the vote I don’t think I actually got mentioned. Oh well.
Was it a 90.8% victory? I think a 58 62 vote victory sounds closer. (or a bit less like a landslide)
Afterwards Leo came and chatted with me and my DR. I disagree, sometimes sharply, with what Leo says and writes, but it’s not personal. Plus, today he came to talk about Edwize (more teacher voice?) and listened to some discussion of lousy small schools. I think he’s planning a visit.
Earlier at the Exec Board Randi gave a detailed explanation of why we work to reform, and not dump, NCLB. I’m still not buying, but given the time she devoted, I must not be the only one.
Edwize and teacher voice. Boo.
Leo Casey will likely become UFT HS VP tomorrow. One of his stock phrases, often found on Edwize, the UFT blog that is associated as much with his voice as it is with the union’s, is, in fact “Teacher Voice.” Ironic, then, that we find an awkward discussion of “teacher voice on Edwize.”
Edwize has been running clips of public education-related stories from the major and minor NY dailies. I complained once that there were too many Post and Sun clips for anyone who wanted to hold down their breakfast.
What does “Teacher Voice” mean in the context of Edwize?
This weekend I saw several stories that our members in the affected schools would have something to say about. But ‘our’ blog doesn’t include teacher voice in these stories, just Postvoice, Newsvoice, Timesvoice, Sunvoice… So I suggested: When there is a hot issue about a school, why don’t we call the Chapter Leader and get teacher voice too?
There was only one commenter who agreed that teacher voice should extend to Edwize, but 3 more who seemed to disagree. Ouch. I must not have made my point well. So I wrote to clarify. But, this teacher’s voice? Moderated!
(For the record, they’ll see it’s me, and they will release the comment. But for a blog that’s letting spam through every day to moderate me?) Roll eyes and move on. The big issue is getting Edwize to call Chapter Leaders for quotes.
JD2718 