The Basics

Back in the States, I always used to teach with a globe in the classroom. Sometimes, I would spin it, close my eyes, put my finger on it, and fantasize: I want to travel here! Usually, I ended up in the middle of the ocean. Now, with all the emphasis on high-tech, I no longer have a low-tech globe in the classroom.

The wonderful German teacher at our school complains, “International Schools don’t teach the basics!” How true! At her previous school, she had to pay her children to learn their times tables: one Euro per column, but for the hard columns, such as the 7s or 8s, two Euros! At those rates, I would have memorized up to 99 × 99.

I am teaching trigonometry to the Y12s, so I mentioned Aryabhata, the 6th Century mathematician. “I once met a gentleman from Bihar,” I lectured, “who wanted to argue passionately: Aryabhata was not a mathematician, he was an astronomer.”

“Back in those days,” I continued, “astronomers and mathematicians were one and the same.” I turned to the Year 12s: “You know why, right?”

They were studying a unit called Circles, but they had no clue.

“Imagine a world with no electricity, no McDonald’s, and no neon lights blasting SALE 60%. What would you see at night?”

They could not imagine a world without Golden Arches.

“OK,” I tried to bring the conversation down to their level: “Last night I was watching a quiz show on TV, you know the one where the cute kid gets help from a celebrity model? And they picked the category: First Grade Science. The child confidently and correctly answered the question: how many days does it take the Earth to spin once?”

“A year!” shouted out a Year 12 student at an international school.

Oh my goodness, I need to bring back that globe.