162 Things

I need to give a shout out to the Year 9 Cores. They are a fun-loving bunch.

We have two types of mathematics classes: Extended and Core. The Extended classes are for students who are more driven, hard-working, focused and concerned about their grades; in a word: nerdier. Some of them are quite talented, too. The students in the Core classes are clever enough; they just aren’t too crazy about mathematics. They’re more interested in modern language and hip-hop, for example. Can't blame 'em 4 dat.

I have a motto with the Core classes: you must learn one thing per day! Yesterday they were meant to learn inequalities; I wanted them to learn the symbols: "<" and ">". They responded with some jokes about big fish, small fish, and alligators, which were actually pretty funny.

“OK, stop joking,” I told them, 'now, if "x – 2 < 5" what do we know about x?' Lily raised her hand.

“Yes, Lily?”

“May I digress?”

“Answer the question first!” I shouted.

“OK, x is less than 5. Now, may I digress?”

“OK, then.”

“Since six of us are leaving at the end of the year, can we have a party?”

“OK, the last week we can have a party,” I consented.

The always astute Gerhard then raised his hand: “Do we have to pay for the party, or will you pay for it?”

“Come on, young scholars!” I shouted, “you know you are supposed to learn ONE THING PER DAY. So do the next problem!”

Then Levi raised his hand: “How many days are there in the year?”

“Well," I answered, "according to Hideaki’s count, there are 18 days left.”

“But how many total?” Levi continued, “how many have we had already?”

“There are 180 total, so we have had 162 already.”

“Wow!” they exclaimed proudly, “that means we have learned 162 things already!”