PERSPECTIVE
CAN I OPT OUT OF MATH? The preparatory course for the ACT test is well underway for high school juniors and studious sophomores at Harrisburg High School. Most learners say it’s the time constraints of the test that make it so difficult, implying the ability to read fast and still comprehend is what it takes to get a good score. I tend to disagree. I Jane Klemme think what is required for a good score on the ACT exam is an opt out. Apparently, there is a writing component of the test that is 100 percent optional. I like the idea of optionality; however, I’d take the opt-out in math. Early in my education, numbers were kind to me. In first grade I counted nearly everything I came in contact with. To this day, I continue to count train cars at railroad crossings and sheep during times of insomnia. I was born with 10 fingers and 10 toes, which makes adding and take-aways a breeze. However, for numbers over 20, I often need to count on my friends. Multiplication and division are where my mathematical foundation seems the least robust. In third grade I stayed in for recess one morning because my answers to the multiplication problems on the flower-shaped petals didn’t match the ones in the answer key. I wasn’t bothered by this situation. It was a cold day in February, so who cares about recess? I mentioned the reasons for my indoor recess to Mom at supper that night. She was less than impressed. “You GOTTA learn those multiplication tables, Janey,” she told me. “Make them second nature. Study them until you can multiply in your sleep.” I considered everything she told me, but I had important stuff to remember – like my address and phone number, in case I ever got lost at the mall or in a good story. I really do love stories. If I cleaned out a space in my brain for numbers, what wonderful events in my history would I lose forever? Math in junior high school I found absolutely appalling. It was the first time I had seen equations written with the usual amount of numbers standing tall and proud next to a turncoat letter. The letters that I had always loved were now hanging out in math class. Apparently, my objective was to solve for “x” by getting “x” alone on one side of the equation and everything else on the other. Certainly, the solution was simple enough, if the “x” would have moved to the other side of the equation because I had asked it nicely to do so. There is no doubt that “x” has some difficulty following directions so until it finally makes the decision to opt-out of math along with me; it’s hugely unlikely we will ever be friends.
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