Sunday, January 30, 2011

No Calculator Needed

Despite the many snow days we've been having, midterm exams have come and gone! I found myself having a bit of a pity party after grading some of them. I know the failures do not indicate a direct failure on my part, but I still can't seem to shake that it does. Many were good, and I need to focus on those. It's the failures that make me consider how much is my fault and how much is the student's fault.
Sometimes I feel that I care so much more then the student does. It's hard to understand those that lack initiative to do anything. Why are you here? What are your goals? Is there a reason that  you sit in that seat and blatantly refuse to even lift a pencil? I don't even care if you like math, it's not about that. I care that you are learning general problem solving skills, communication skills, reading skills, and life skills.
If you show up to your job late every day, or walk out every time you have an issue, or decide to not do any work, or threaten to slap your boss, or use the excuse that you were never taught that ( which you 99% of the time were).....do you keep your job? Are you going to be able to support yourself, your family, your "cool" lifestyle? When you get a bad tip from a disgruntled patron will you even know?  When the power goes out and you're ringing out a customer, will you be able to figure out how much change they are owed? When a recipe calls for 1/3 cup of something and you're doubling it, what do you do? When your 5 year old comes home with addition problem homework, will you need a calculator to help them?


Blackberry Custard Pie
Oven 350

1 (9 inch) pie shell, unbaked

2-3 cups blackberries (or any berry)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar



Place berries into the pie shell.















Beat the eggs, then add the sour cream, sugar, flour and vanilla.






















Pour over the berries.

Combine the butter, sugar, and the flour to make a crumble topping. Sprinkle crumble onto the top of the pie.

Bake for 50-55 minutes.

No comments: