<div dir="ltr">The method described is to do algebra in reverse.<div><br></div><div>Say you had 1+2-3 = x. The normal method is to do that left to right:<br>1+2-3 = x</div><div>3-3 = x</div><div>0 = x</div><div><br></div><div>The method here does it right to left:<br>1+2-3 = x</div><div>1+2 = x+3</div><div>1 = x+3-2</div><div>1 = x+1</div><div>0 = x+1-1</div><div>0 = x</div><div><br></div><div>It is more tedious than the first method - for people who can do the first method. The daughter described in this story had difficulty doing the first method but was able to easily do the second method.</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 12:16 PM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)">He did mention that most of his children were disabled, but just how he didn't say. Doing things backwards can work for some dyslexics. (DAM - Mothers against dyslexia) But what does this have to do with algebra? Spike is puzzled as well. bil w</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 2:00 PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">The person is describing an alternate method of handling a sum that that person's daughter was better able to understand.<div><br></div><div>While the existence of people who can handle a sum backward but not forward is questionable, the underlying message is true enough: there are many ways of solving the same problem, so if a student doesn't understand one method, having the student try other methods might be useful.</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 11:26 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Can anyone figure out what this guy is saying? bill w</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">my daughter.</span></p><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">She was excluded from school, long story, and having home tutoring. Said tutor was trying to teach my daughter all about algebra. For 7 months, I watched the tutor struggle to make sense enough for my daughter to grasp the concept.</span></p><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">I got a bit worried when the tutor started yelling at my daughter. So, I asked if I could try. She let me have a go, as she smugly stepped aside and said that if she couldn't, with her specialist knowledge, I sure as hell couldn't do any better, but as time was wasting, go ahead.</span></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none"><b>First thing I said to my daughter was…. Do the sum backwards. If it shows plus, you minus, and if it shows division, you multiply. So, start with what you know, and work backwards.</b></span></p><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">Daughter got it in an instant!! Tutor tests her with more complex equations, daughter got it right! Tutor spen over an hour testing her, and finally had to agree that my rather daft method, although it went against all her teaching, actually worked!!</span></p><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">Tutor asked me how I knew this. Just told her that that is how I do it? She asked if she could use it to teach others. I said of course she could, I don't own the method!!</span></p><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">We later had a chat and I said that because 7 of my 8 kids had disabilities and additional needs, I had had to be creative about how each child learned. And that if they aren't learning, I'm not teaching them right. She thanked me and actually became a much nicer tutor after that. I guess I opened her eyes a little.</span></p><p style="font-size:15px;margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;color:rgb(40,40,41);font-family:-apple-system,sytem-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr"><span style="background:none">There are no bad students, only bad teachers!!</span></p></div></div>
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