WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY!!!!!!
this is one of those excellent days when i feel completely competent, no, superb at my job!

check this out: i just taught a class of 14 special ed 6th graders to not only solve one-step algebra equations with addition and subtraction (ex: x-9=13, 8+x=15), but also how to solve one-step algebra equations involving multiplication or division (ex: x/9=12, 3x=36), and furthermore, i taught all of them how to self-monitor their behavior so that they are focused and on-task 100% of the time!!!! they were quiet, diligent and dedicated to understanding all of today's material. and the result? i got 100% from every single one of them on the end-of-day quiz.

i mean, really, does it get any better than this?

i feel like teacher of the year right here.

radical math

a little embarrassed i didn't think of this myself, but so glad i found it, and now, glad to share it with everyone else:

radical math.

this website compiles lessons that incorporate issues of social and economic justice into math and science curricula. for example, i found lessons i plan on using in my math class (most can even be modified for special ed!) which look at the cost of the iraq war and encourage students to develop alternative uses for the billions of federal dollars that may actually benefit their communities. another lesson i looked at invites students to analyze the budgets of smoking teens over time and encourages media literacy and healthy lifestyles.

a pretty great sunday-night find!


p.s. while tagging this post, i realized that i didn't have a "Social Justice" label! i was disappointed. well, situation rectified!

"i think we can all agree..."

...the Miami administration is not being straight with us.

as a previous post indicated, Miami University is paying its FULL-TIME employees SUB-POVERTY wages. (that is, the wages paid by MU are not sufficient to keep employees and their dependents above the federally-defined poverty line.)

furthermore, research done by social workers and non-profit organizations in Butler County indicates that 200% (twice) the federally-defined poverty line is actually the more accurate representation of financial independence in Oxford and its vicinity.

Students for Staff (the Miami University students' living wage movement) requested the 200% data after a meeting with Human Resources director Car0l Hauser indicated 32 staff members are possibly living below the poverty line, and 112 are eligible for food stamps.

the low numbers indicated to Ms. Hauser that there was no problem at Miami, and that Students for Staff (SFS) should "reconsider what [we] are supporting." (we, of course, strongly disagree...)

that was in early December. we just got the 200% data, after much persistence on the part of my friend Dylan (see email correspondence below).

-----Original Message-----
From: [my friend Dylan]
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 9:56 PM
To: [Car0l Hauser]
Subject: re: data

Dr. Hauser,

I still have not received any word on the data I requested last month. Should I make an appointment? We really want to know the 200% number. If the issue is the number of calculations you have to make let me know. As I suggested before if you want to give us a computer file we could perhaps figure it out on our own.

Thanks,

Dylan Daney


------------------- Original Message -------------------
Subject: RE: data
From: "Car0l Hauser"
Date: Thu, March 8, 2007 9:48 am
To: [my friend Dylan]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are 0 employees with no dependents who make less than 200% of the poverty level. There are 127 employees with 1 dependent who make below $26,400, 200% of the poverty level for 1 dependent.

With 2 dependents, 200% of the poverty level is $33,200. Our numbers go all the way up to 9 dependents. In that case 200% of the poverty level is $80,800. From your past work, I think we can all agree that we don't need to go beyond one dependent.

Thanks, Car0l

Car0l Hauser, SPHR
Senior Director Human Resources
15 Roudebush Hall
Miami University
Oxford OH 45056

-----------------------

Ms. Hauser suddenly seems to believe that only staff members with one dependent are relevant, refusing even to state how many workers with 2 dependents are not making sufficient wages to support their families. in our last meeting, we received data on ALL staff, regardless of the number of dependents they claimed. the current data is thus incomplete, as 32 is the total number from ALL classified staff who are possibly living in poverty, and 127 is only the total from among the workers with only one dependent. thus, there are certainly many many more workers than just the 127 they are willing to identify.

recap! ...
last meeting:

32
__________________________________
(all workers, those with 1 to 9 dependents)

recent data:

127
__________________________________
(only those workers with 1 dependent)

*note that the total numbers for those values in ()'s are totally different, with the denominator of the latter being far smaller than the first, but the numerator in the latter being larger than the first.
= the problem is MUCH larger than Miami administration are willing to explicity admit. but no less evident, based on simple math.

after all, 127 > 32 anyway you cut it.

-stephan!e