Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Mr. G, you're not asleep?

So, about an hour ago, my phone rang, but I missed it. A 662 number meant a teacher or student. I called back, and it was DW. "Hey Mr. G." Hi DW "Hey, uh, hey, uh, I wanted to switch my club from, uh, modeling squad to, uh, drama" Ok "Did you turn in that paper yet?" Yes, but we can probably change it tomorrow. "Ok" Click.

What was that all about? Couldn't we have dealt with that just fine tomorrow? Kids rarely call for the reasosn they say they call, that was lisa's sage comment. Sure enough, five minutes ago, it rings again.

"Mr. G? You're not asleep?" No, DW, I'm not. "Oh, ok. How do you find the roots? Do you just make x zero and then find y?" No, you have to set y equal to zero, and then you'll get an equation with only x's in it, which you can solve with the quadratic formula or factoring, once it's in standard form. "So I got to subtract from both sides?" What's the problem? "I'm trying to do number sixteen. y = 4x^2 + 4x + 2" So, put in 0 for y. Then it's in standard form, right? "Yeah, and then I can just use the quadratic equation?" Right, but be careful, that one has complex roots. "Yeah, I see that. Alright Mr. G." Alright DW. I won't be going to bed anytime soon, so call back if you have more questions. "Alright."

1 comment:

TeacherMan said...

Addendum: This morning, 6:30 AM, and I don't want to get out of bed. My alarm again. No, it's my phone. Yes, it's MH's mother, calling about her progress report. Yes, I said 6:30 AM.