Teach For America Teachers (Manassas: buy, public schools, college)

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by jaunespinoza

Well, at JMU, you would have to take College Algebra, Calculus for Business Majors, Statistics, Quantitative Methods, Production Operations Management, Finance, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Data Processing, and Managment Information Systems Concepts. That would be 30 credit hours of Math oriented courses before you took your first Econ class. That's how.

None of those accounting classes have much or anything to do with algebra or geometry.

None of the stats/data processing, operations management, or quantitative methods have anything to do with geometry.

And surely, nothing related to public policy has anything to do with algebra, geometry, or any math really.

[movingtodcfromseattle]

Originally Posted by jaunespinoza

Well, at JMU, you would have to take College Algebra, Calculus for Business Majors, Statistics, Quantitative Methods, Production Operations Management, Finance, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Data Processing, and Managment Information Systems Concepts. That would be 30 credit hours of Math oriented courses before you took your first Econ class. That's how.

To get back to one of the earlier points, I wouldn't want Bill Gates teaching my kids math. Afterall, he's a college dropout. My husband is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Chemical Engineering and doesn't even feel that he could teach math to my kindergartners. I think the point that anyone can teach if they have a degree is a load of crap. Have you spent a whole day in an elementary classroom? I know many of our elected officials haven't. They should!

Oh and to answer Live....they would have to be certified to teach in FFX Cty. From the reading that I've done about DC (and afterall I did apply to DC Public Schools) they are simply a bureaucratic mess. I applied for a position as a math lead and was more than qualified. They sent a form letter back stating that I should apply for an instructional assistant position.

Okay - peace out on this thread....my blood is boiling.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by movingtodcfromseattle

To get back to one of the earlier points, I wouldn't want Bill Gates teaching my kids math. Afterall, he's a college dropout. My husband is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Chemical Engineering and doesn't even feel that he could teach math to my kindergartners. I think the point that anyone can teach if they have a degree is a load of crap. Have you spent a whole day in an elementary classroom? I know many of our elected officials haven't. They should!

Oh and to answer Live....they would have to be certified to teach in FFX Cty. From the reading that I've done about DC (and afterall I did apply to DC Public Schools) they are simply a bureaucratic mess. I applied for a position as a math lead and was more than qualified. They sent a form letter back stating that I should apply for an instructional assistant position.

Okay - peace out on this thread....my blood is boiling.

It's bad enough having "teachers" without teaching degrees or certifications trying to run a classroom, but to also have a recent college grad who's only teaching b/c he/she hasn't figured out yet what he/she wants to do in life or needs student loan relief...whatever.

Not surprised that TOA's focus on inner city schools b/c nobody in an affluent area would want substandard or teachers in transition.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by jaunespinoza

Phewee, something sure does stink in here. Did you shart in your pants or is there a herd of NEA pigs in the room.

Well, you know what they say about whoever smells it first.....

[rubytue]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

How is a bachelors in economics math intensive?

And here I was thinking "how is a bachelors in economics NOT math intensive?" Just ask all the business, finance, and economics majors creating things like derivatives on Wall Street. Or John Nash (A Beautiful Mind), the mathematician who won the Nobel Prize for Economics.

My undergrad was math with a education specialization (never ended up teaching, got a job offer as a programmer and the money was too good to pass up). Trust me, the math you take as a math major doesn't do a bit of good for teaching high school math (unless you get one of the few calculus classes per school). Vector Algebra, College Geometry, even Advanced Calculus have nothing to do with what you teach. I took Advanced Calc b/c I LOVED integration/differentiation/etc. It was all proofs (and I hated it). We started the first day proving 1 > 0 and it went on from there. An econ major has the added advantage of being able to explain how things can be used in life. Math majors are an odd breed who do things like prove the fundamental theorem of calculus for fun

This guy was teaching HIGH SCHOOL, so the comments on him not being able to handle elementary school kids don't really matter. Elementary school is a whole different ball game. Heck, I couldn't handle teaching a classroom of high school kids. Why? Because I was a total introverted math geek and not a people person. I'm not saying this guy was a great teacher. I don't know him from Adam. But to dismiss him ability to know algebra and geometry b/c he was an econ major - hogwash.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by rubytue

And here I was thinking "how is a bachelors in economics NOT math intensive?" Just ask all the business, finance, and economics majors creating things like derivatives on Wall Street. Or John Nash (A Beautiful Mind), the mathematician who won the Nobel Prize for Economics..

The people on Wall Street creating those models are math and computer science majors. It's the business majors who gambled away people's money using these models.

What's your point in mentioning John Nash when you say he was a mathematician? The question isn't about people with math degrees, as in the case of Nash.

[jaunespinoza]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

It's bad enough having "teachers" without teaching degrees or certifications trying to run a classroom, but to also have a recent college grad who's only teaching b/c he/she hasn't figured out yet what he/she wants to do in life or needs student loan relief...whatever.

Not surprised that TOA's focus on inner city schools b/c nobody in an affluent area would want substandard or teachers in transition.

It's ironic that virtually none of the university professors have education degrees (except for the School of Ed.). Yet, thousands upon thousands apply, and make huge sacrifices so their kids can attend these schools to learn from people without education degrees. I think I would throw the dice and let ole Mr. Gates teach my kids as opposed to a female Fred Flintstone look-a-like, with an online degree in Education from the University of Phoenix.

[rubytue]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

What's your point in mentioning John Nash when you say he was a mathematician? The question isn't about people with math degrees, as in the case of Nash.

Because the fact that he won for ECONOMICS shows just how math intensive it is

live_strong - can you explain linear regression? Can you develop a mathematical model to correlate, say, injuries to societal costs? Then turn around and take the cost of brining something to market and determine if its cost effective vs. the societal costs? That's what the economics folks I work with do on a daily basis. Its all math. Mostly complex algebra. If you can do all that and still say its not math intensive, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. I read econ reports on a regular basis, and its lots and lots of math.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by jaunespinoza

It's ironic that virtually none of the university professors have education degrees (except for the School of Ed.). Yet, thousands upon thousands apply, and make huge sacrifices so their kids can attend these schools to learn from people without education degrees. I think I would throw the dice and let ole Mr. Gates teach my kids as opposed to a female Fred Flintstone look-a-like, with an online degree in Education from the University of Phoenix.

Unless these university professors also moonlight as teachers for Teach for America, your input above is irrelevant to this thread.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by rubytue

Because the fact that he won for ECONOMICS shows just how math intensive it is

live_strong - can you explain linear regression? Can you develop a mathematical model to correlate, say, injuries to societal costs? Then turn around and take the cost of brining something to market and determine if its cost effective vs. the societal costs? That's what the economics folks I work with do on a daily basis. Its all math. Mostly complex algebra. If you can do all that and still say its not math intensive, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. I read econ reports on a regular basis, and its lots and lots of math.

He won because his degrees were in math where he developed mathematical principles that economists used. He did not have a degree in economics!!!

John F. Nash Jr. (American mathematician) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

And your example above has nothing to do with geometry, unless "injuries to societal cost" has something to do with being able to teach kids how to measure angles in a triangle or to do a geometry proof.