> > > You're in California right? A backward state by most accounts. >
I'd be offended but everything I've experienced here on the San Francisco peninsula supports your claim. We have a huge STEM and Maker movement but the "M" is only making the odd polyhedron (yes, Kirby they're odd, except for the even ones) or eating pie once a year. My friend's Catholic school is very open to STEM stuff but perhaps only because it's an elementary school. Once the Peninsula kid is in high school the worrying begins and anything that's not on the SATs is seen as suspect. I'm not exaggerating. Another friend of mine was a math teacher, and a fairly traditional, non-techy one at a Catholic high school nearby until this year. He had the audacity to use "non-mathematical language" (he made some joke about "parent" and "child" functions) and he brought in a meat grinder to help the students visualize function input and output. (I play it safe and only draw function machines on the whiteboard.) He lost his job in the middle of the school year, and a student at that school confirmed to me that teachers who explain things in a different way get fired. I jokingly emailed his ex-supervisor and asked about the job. She wrote back with a description that included words like "innovative" and she looked at my webpage (all Python and 3D graphics...) and thinks I should apply for the position! For all she knows, I could be Harry Freaking Potter and cover everything from the Babylonians up to Emmy Noether and still fit in my silly techy stuff. Living in Silicon Valley I thought we'd have a more progressive math curriculum but the techy stuff is only for after-school clubs and summer tech camps. It makes sense, since Americans think we do everything the right way, and especially in such a rich area as Silicon Valley, we're damn near perfect so why change anything? Maybe folks in the Central Valley or beyond are more open minded. Peter Farrell
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