Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Much Sorry with Delays
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Labor Costs in U.S.
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Friday, February 21. 2025

Teaching



Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school, where she quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled:



Posted by Bird Dog at 14:25 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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Most subjects in K-12 can be learned sufficiently by listening in class. Math is more complicated and requires completing the homework and even spending more time than just completing homework. If you are lazy or unmotivated, you will not do well in math. I knew many bright good students who just didn't "get" math so they wouldn't put the effort into learning it.

In the 7th grade the most beautiful girl in the world sat next to me in Algebra class. She doted on me and I would let her copy my work and even cheat by look at my tests. Sadly she never talked to me or even looked my way after the 7th grade. She did pass Algebra.
#1 OneGuy on 2025-02-21 14:41 (Reply)
Well, she certainly used other useful skills sitting next to you in Algebra class. Thanks for the chuckle OneGuy. Helped someone at community college in Accounting the same way.
#1.1 grant1863 on 2025-02-21 16:47 (Reply)
Unfortunately, it looks like there is a large heritable component to determination as well. We like to give ourselves (or our upbringings) credit for so many things: intelligence, hard work, resilience, conscientiousness. It's because we like inspiring stories, especially about ourselves, more than we like invisible DNA.
#2 Assistant Village Idiot on 2025-02-21 19:33 (Reply)
A doctoral dissertation in the 1950s tried to predict college freshman grades from high school grade average, test scores (SAT, ACT), and a battery of psychological tests.
Test scores and high school grade averages were helpful predictors. Of all the psychological tests, the best predictor was a trait which the dissertation author called "stick-to-it-iveness." That is, the ability to persevere in spite of setbacks. That is, grit.
#3 Gringo on 2025-02-21 23:03 (Reply)

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