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School Stuff You Still Use
Tonight, I had to log onto a career resource and resume template website. I made an account my freshman year of high school; the teacher warned us to create a username and password we could remember because we would be using this website for a long time. The student teacher mentioned he was using it.
I was skeptical. There are many things teachers will tell you will be long-term things that you will use later in your education, or perhaps into your career. As it turned out, a few of these predictions were right, and many were wrong. Not that I think the teachers were universally wrong: Some students probably did go on to use those things, but not me.
I now have three mental lists.
- Things teachers told me I would use that I have yet to use
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- My trigonometry reference table. I understand that anybody who went on into calculus classes used this. I went into statistics classes and did not.
- My “prime after prime” prime number reference sheet from seventh or eighth grade. I was told to hang onto it but lost it within a year. I never needed a prime number reference sheet after eighth grade.
- The “Hand over hand” steering technique that they tried to teach me in driver’s ed. (Maybe I do use this sometimes, but I never think about the way I steer…I just drive!)
- MLA stuff. This one isn’t exactly true, because I did continue to use it during my first few semesters of college. However, upon getting into my major, I switched to APA, which I like better. When you are writing quickly, it’s so much easier to remember that Allen (2013) said something, rather than remember that this thing was said by Allen on page 11. I thought it was odd that they did not endeavor to teach us both systems in high school. English class focused on MLA, which made sense, but so did all the other teachers, with the exception of one science teacher my freshman year who requested APA formatting.
- Factoring and the quadratic equation. Again, people who had to take more than two math courses in college probably use this. I do not.
- Strategies to say “no” to drugs. I do not believe I have ever been offered drugs. Where are all these people that were supposed to be offering kids drugs all the time?
2. Things teachers told me I would use that I did use
- The aforementioned resume formatting site
- Library research skills, especially the online databases
- Typing (Although I didn’t learn it when I took the class, I just kind of picked up on it later, and my form is terrible.)
- Writing a business letter. (And a resume!)
- The metric system. I don’t remember if I was explicitly told “You will use this” or not, but every science class uses it, and it’s just good to be familiar with the system. I know I have needed to convert metric units a lot more than I have needed to convert customary units.
- A number of writing strategies. Tenth and eleventh grade were especially productive years because I was required to write a rough draft in 40 minutes.
3. Things nobody expected me to use that I used anyway
- Chemistry splash goggles. I bought a pair for a class and keep them around now in case I need to deal with cleaning chemicals that sting my eyes or such things.
- Standardized test skills. Dealing with computer screens or bubble sheets for a long time is a skill, as is the particular style of question that shows up on the tests.
I got a math book in college where it was misbound with the cover on upside down. So I would turn it so the cover was right and the text upside down and backwards and read it that way. The fun part would be when someone asked me a question or looked over my shoulder.
You calling me old? 👴
I usually go with 3.14 “and so on.”
Spoken like a real slide-rule user. :-)
A little scanty.
“Close enough for government work?”
aka:
Measure it with a micrometer.
Mark it with a grease pencil.
Cut it with an axe.
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
LOL.
It works fine when you’re figuring out the amount of concrete in a 42″ diameter by 15 foot deep hole.
Yeah, but you still write down volume to 2 decimals. Because.
The Brit version, I presume.
Actually, I round off to the nearest cubic yard.
I hope you mean round UP. Because you probably can’t add more later, if it’s not enough.
We have 15% waste built in, so I’m OK rounding down. Besides, the superintendents figure the quantities themselves, so they don’t use my figures.
Close enough for rock and roll. Too much paperwork in government work.
About 5-⅓ yards.
That seems more functional and technically correct, but… maybe it’s just me.
Never had a real job, eh? 😁
No, when I’m off duty I pretend everything to 2 additional significant digits just because — I get 20.004 mpg — just to be “accurate”. When I’m at work, I am required to deal with thousands of a thing and precision is a requirement.
That extra 21.12 feet per gallon is important! It’s the difference between getting into the garage, or stopping on the driveway! Or in the street!
Yeah. I play that game. I’m a loose cannon.
Wait..is that why I always have so much trouble with significant digits? Because it’s a system designed for slide rules, not calculators? (I had to use significant digits in a couple chem classes)
I suppose that might be where it started, but it applies in other places too. Any time you’re doing calculations with a certain amount of precision on the input, whether by hand or using a calculator or computer, it’s probably not valid to assume more precision on the result than you started with.
No, it’s a system for determining how accurate you can really measure and calculate things. The modern computer lies with its precision.
You’re not allowing for waste. A little over 6 yards.
What with my math and chemistry TAs in college plus a couple of professors, I learned to understand technical and scientific English spoken with heavy Japanese, Chinese, Spanish (from Mexican to Peruvian,) Indian, Greek, Russian, German, Farsi, Arabic, and one or two other accents I don’t recall offhand. Texan, too.
Plus my Chinese roommates who tried to teach me to swear in Cantonese; all were multigenerational ABC but one of the rural kids spoke as if, as the city kid put it, he was fresh off the boat.
Most of them were fluent English speakers with accents, but I had a Russian class in which the professor’s fifth language was English (first was Lithuanian, second was Russian) and when she couldn’t get the word, spoke German to a Swiss student and between them they would figure it out.
Yeah, I saw the 15% comment later.
It gets worse: for concrete poured against earth, it’s 15% waste, for slabs on grade, 7% waste, for concrete in forms, 5% waste, for slabs on metal deck, 20% waste (to allow for the deflection of the joists under the weight of the concrete).
I prefer to buy my gasoline in cold weather when it’s denser. You get more miles for your money that way.
At least in some places with significant swings of temperatures, stations have to use pumps that adjust for temperature.