Re: [seul-edu] Math teachers...

[Chris Hobbs <chobbs@silvervalley.k12.ca.us>]

Douglas Loss wrote:

> Not to be mean-spirited or anything, but don't your math
> teachers teach any math to these kids?  I mean, This is all life
> skills stuff that requires little more than basic arithmetic.
> No trig, no algebra, no calculus?  I suppose you could teach
> some basic statistics with some of those things, but they don't
> appear to be designed for it.

One of my techs and I had the same discussion after I got the list. They
do teach Algebra, Calc, Geometry and Trig, but apparently have not
invested any money in software for it - IMHO this is actually good,
because if it exists for Linux, we can show them some things they may
not have seen before in any form.

So, hoping that Doug and I aren't the only ones reading the list :), is
anyone familiar enough with this type of software to make
recommendations that will knock their collective socks off?

PS. Does anyone else see value in a "life simulator" for use in a life
skills course such as I described earlier? I've been thinking about it
all day, and am envisioning a web based product that would allow
students to live a virtual life, maybe a week or a month to a real day,
and encourage them to keep a journal or some other deliverable to turn
in to their teacher.

-- 
Chris Hobbs       Silver Valley Unified School District
Head geek:              Technology Services Coordinator
webmaster:    http://www.silvervalley.k12.ca.us/chobbs/
postmaster:               chobbs@silvervalley.k12.ca.us
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