When Will I Ever Use This In "Real-Life".....

 The most common question I think many teachers receive is "When will I ever use this in real life???" I get this question from students, from my own kids, my wife (when have I ever used...)

First, I always find it funny that math is generally the main target for this question. The one subject that arguably is needed for any profession.  So let's look at math skills and where they are used in real life.

"When will I ever need to know that a^2 + b^2 = c^2?" 

Let's look at the skills needed to solve this problem:

1) Following Steps in Order.

In order to solve this problem you have to follow steps in the correct order. Assuming you are solving for a leg, you need to square then subtract then take the square root. If you are solving for the hypotenuse you need to square then add then take the square root. If you don't follow the steps in order, you end up with an incorrect answer. 

Now, reflect on the times in your profession or in your life you had to follow steps in the correct order to complete a task. Recently I was tasked with putting together a squat rack with a lat pull-down attachment. There were over 20 steps and hundreds of different pieces of hardware. Following the steps in the correct order was key to putting it together. 

2) Attention to Detail

Looking at the Pythagorean problem, you need to know if you are solving for a leg or a hypotenuse. You need to label your values correctly and put them in the correct part of the equation. You have to notice if you are adding or subtracting a constant.  25 + 36 = c^2  is a different problem than 25 + b^2 = 36. Students get training on noticing small details and the importance of those details. How many times have you heard someone say, "I only forgot the negative sign, why did it get marked wrong?" That one symbol is the difference between MAKING $40 and LOSING $40.  

Obviously when putting together the squat rack, this skill was vital. There were bolts of different sizes, including a 72mm bolt and a 76 mm bolt. These are almost identical in size, but different enough that putting the wrong one in the wrong place would make the equipment non-functional. 

3) Building Social Skills (especially to ask for help!) 

The math classroom is the prime place for students to practice social skills and language to ask for help - not only from an adult but also from peers. Students solving for the missing value of a right triangle can check in with each other, practicing good social questions such as, "What did you get for the answer - I got 15."  They can work on respectful dialogue when answers do not match "Oh, I got 9." From there they can use respectful, responsive language to determine who made a mistake. 

This language is a skill and needs to be taught. Students do not inherently know how to handle conflict, especially if they are the one that made an error. 

You can bet I was asking for help when I needed to attach the two vertical sides of the cage.

4) Using Resources

Sometimes you don't have the answer in your brain. Sometimes you need to use a resources. In the math classroom this can be a tool card, a notebook, a digital reference... each classroom has their own system. I can't think of a single profession where this skill isn't valued. Doctors have scores of medical text, mechanics have diagrams and reference cards for various vehicles. No profession requires you to know all of the answers to all of the questions off the top of your head. In teaching, like other professions, our greatest resource is each other - getting ideas on how to help students from other teachers that have had similar situations is vital, which connects right back to having the social skills to talk to others.

So many skills in one skill!

This is just a small selection of thoughts that came to mind as I have thought about this question. I've left off other skills such as patience and perseverance.  Math is more than a list of algorithms. The math classroom should be a fluid, open classroom with dialogue and discourse. Students should be engaged in discussion and asked to defend their answers. Incorrect answers and appropriate-levels of struggle should occur. Those skills translate to the real world in many important ways. 

#FunWithMath - Part 2, Minimum wage vs. Housing

  There has been lots of talk about raising the minimum wage to $15.  I have done a number of calculations about this - not to prove or disprove any one side, but just to show the math behind the numbers.  This will be a multi-part series with the end-goal of education - There will be math... and math always evokes emotion.  I'm curious what questions come up. Please let me know.

This week's blog focuses on housing.  Since both rent and housing prices vary so much nationwide, there is not a general 'national average', so instead I'll focus on a few regions of the country along with the minimum wage in that region.  For instance, federal minimum wage is $7.50, but Ohio has a state minimum wage of $8.55 per hour.

According to many sources, an individual should not spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.  How does that math translate to minimum wage?  

Someone living in Ohio making minimum wage would earn about $1348 per month for 40 hours per week. This is after about 9% withholding for taxes and social security (Here is a calculator, though I used excel so numbers may not match exactly.) If we take 30% of $1348, we get about $400 per month for rent and utilities.  According to RentCafe, this price point doesn't exist, and only 20% of apartments will come in under $700 per month.  At $700, someone would be spending over 50% of their income on rent, or nearly twice the recommended amount.

These numbers held pretty true in other locations I tested.  In Rochester, NY the average price of an apartment was about $1090 per month. With minimum wage in New York at $12.50 per hour, someone would spend 55% of their post-tax income on housing.  One of the worst ratios I found was Jackson, Mississippi.  Minimum wage in Mississippi is $7.25 and the average apartment cost $835 which meant someone working minimum wage for 40 hours a week would spend 73% of their post-tax income on rent. It also means that if two people shared a one-bedroom apartment, they'd still spend nearly 40% of their combined income on rent. And that is assuming both can find jobs that provide a guaranteed 40-hours per week..

Projected yearly earnings for $15 minimum wage

Yes, boroughs of New York were worse, with someone from Brooklyn spending over 100% of their $15 per hour income on rent for a 650 square foot apartment, while someone in the Bronx would spend 70% for a similarly sized apartment. 

What is notable is that even if minimum wage was set to $15 per hour tomorrow (clearly not a plan) these ratios are still relatively high.  Someone would earn $2231 per month (post tax) working at a $15 minimum wage. The percentage spent on rent in Rochester, Columbus, and Jackson after the wage hike would be 33% for Columbus, 37% for Jackson, and 48% for Rochester.  

Again - will increasing the minimum raise solve these issues?  I don't know. I'm not a finance expert nor do I pretend to be one.  I can only speak in the here and now which tells me that living expenses far exceed what someone earning minimum wage could afford.

#FunWithMath part one - Minimum Wage Vs. College Tuition

 There has been lots of talk about raising the minimum wage to $15.  I have done a number of calculations about this - not to prove or disprove any one side, but just to show the math behind the numbers.  This will be a multi-part series with the end-goal of education - There will be math and math always evokes emotion.  I'm curious what questions come up. Please let me know .

My son is about to graduate college. He is at a two-year private trade school. I knew the cost of secondary education had gone up since I last attended, but it wasn't until I did the math that I realized how much it went up.  What baffled me was the rate that it went up when compared to the federal minimum wage.  Here is a chart of what I mean:

Let me interpret some of this for you.  The first three columns are data sets - year, the federal minimum wage, and the average cost of a 4-year public college per year.  I used values published by USA Today, but also found comparable numbers on other sites. 

That fourth column is the eye-opening one for me. That is how many hours a student would have to work to pay off a yearly tuition bill.  It is then broken into that student working either 40 or 50 weeks of the year. 

What this means: Back in 1980 a college student would have had to work 20 hours per week for 40 weeks to pay off their college tuition bill.  By 1990 it was 33 hours. By the year 2000 it was 41 hours.  Today it is 77 hours.... yes...  a student would have to work 77 hours PER WEEK for 40 weeks, or 62 hours PER WEEK for 50 weeks, to pay off their college tuition that year.  This would be on top of going to college classes, completing homework and labs, and other educational duties. 

What happens if we increase minimum wage to $15 per hour? The numbers of hours needed to work drops to 30 hours per week if the student works 50 weeks a year, putting us back to Generation X levels of the mid-1990s, but nowhere near the numbers for the Baby Boomer years.  For that to happen, minimum wage would have to be around $25 per hour. 

2020a with a $15 minimum wage, and 2020b with a $25 minimum wage

'A' gets the numbers back to 1993 levels while 'B' gets to the 70s.

It is physically impossible for college-aged students to pay for tuition with just "a good ole hard work ethic."  There are not enough hours in a year to do it.  This is a reason student loan debt is as high as it is.  Right now citizens in the US have $1,570,000,000,000 (that's trillion) in student loan debt, about $35,000 per borrower. And remember, this doesn't include anything other than tuition: books, meals, dorms, other fees - none of those are included in these calculations.  

I'm not saying raising the minimum wage would solve any of these problems - but clearly this is not a sustainable model for higher education in the country. 

2021 One Word

 With 2020 coming to an end, lots of emotions come flooding to my mind, body, and soul.  It was a wild year for everyone with events and outcomes nobody could have predicted. My world, along with so many other people, was turned upside down and inside out. 

So as I was reflecting on my 2021 word, one came to mind rather quickly. 

Recenter (should I hyphenate that? Maybe? It is my word, so I'm going with it 😋)

I need to recenter my world.  Last year norms were shifted, relationships were impacted, digital time exploded exponentially... I, like so many others, was trying to reinvent normal without knowing what normal was. It led me to having more anxious days and nights, lower self-esteem and self-confidence, and an overall feeling of helplessness.

That isn't who I am.  So in 2021 I will recenter my world.

Professionally

As an educator I have never felt more lost, scattered, and yet supported than this year. I'm blessed to be part of a wonderful professional community, both in my school placement as well as in the twitterverse. 

My goal here is to recenter my support to others. I'm the math department chair / coach at my school. Over break I created some ideas to share with my colleagues and will offer them weekly as ways for students to do quick (5 to 10 minute) reviews of previously learned concepts so students continue to feel successful with current and previously presented material.  

As many of you know I have a first-year co-teacher this year. It has been a wonderful experience. I really enjoy the mentor role and also get excited to learn from her as well. I'm truly looking forward to the second half of the year and hope to continue to guide and push her in her rookie year!

I also know I need to blog more. I pressure myself into a blog-post-a-week schedule.  This, I've learned, is not reasonable and leads me to feeling helpless about being successful. Once-a-month, however, is well within reason. One lesson, one activity, one experience that I had as a teacher that I can share with the world. And have the courage to know that it may help another educator... 

Personally

I spent lots of time running. LOTS of time - more miles in 2020 than ever before. 2020 was supposed to be a banner year for me for events. I was scheduled to run my first 50 mile / 50k event(81 miles total) and my first 100 miler.  Unfortunately both events were cancelled... no. not cancelled. postponed. They are both scheduled to happen this year. However I fell off the training plans when I learned they were not going to occur. 

This year I am training for those two events even if the actual events do not occur. In June I'll run my 50/50. In October I'll go for my first 100 miler. 

Mentally / Emotionally

I know this is where I struggled most in 2020. I also know there are things I can do to recenter. I set a goal to read 30 books this year. Last year I read about that many, but most were during the lock down when I was literally not able to do much else. I also read a number of books that were re-reads for me. I'm going to dedicate time most evenings to getting off the screens, away from the apps, and getting back into a book. 

I have a couple of books lined up, but if you have any good book recommendations, please comment them below!

I've also set a goal to create a couple of playlists on spotify to help me when I'm having those tough mental moments. Music truly helps my emotional balance, and the right songs can help sway me back to my center.  

I'd also love to get into yoga, meditation, or other mindfulness activities. I've never been successful with these in the past, so if you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

As we all embark on 2021, I want to wish all of you a healthy, happy, and safe new year.  Look for the blessings where they are, find hope and joy in each day, and please reach out if you need anything!