Numbered Cube? Seriously??

[scoutie]

Absolutely ridiculous! Whoever came up with this is an idiot

The majority of idiotic things like this in schools is because enough parents complained and probably threatened a lawsuit. Sometimes it's easier to appease the parents than fighting.

I don't see it as a defense. I have little respect for school personnel who would cave to such silly demands and complaints--doing so only increases the odds that more nuts will come around and make more sill complaints

Have you ever worked in a school? The sheer amount of threats and complaints are mind-boggling. If somebody is worried about losing their job, it's pretty simple to cave to a request like this.

But it's some "I pay your salary, and I want this travesty fixed" type of complaint that caused this.

Yep. I see it on these boards all the time. Posters are immediately encouraged to go to the superintendent, sign petitions, call for the firing of the teacher/principal etc.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Andrew Numbered Cube Clay.

"Next numbered cube the onion..."

 

[NHdisneylover]

The majority of idiotic things like this in schools is because enough parents complained and probably threatened a lawsuit. Sometimes it's easier to appease the parents than fighting.

Have you ever worked in a school? The sheer amount of threats and complaints are mind-boggling. If somebody is worried about losing their job, it's pretty simple to cave to a request like this.

Yep. I see it on these boards all the time. Posters are immediately encouraged to go to the superintendent, sign petitions, call for the firing of the teacher/principal etc.

Yes, I am a former public school teacher.
I have no respect for administrations or superintendents who will not back their staff on such issues and instead make the job of actually teaching harder by caving to such silly demands over and over again.

 

[scoutie]

I have no respect for administrations or superintendents who will not back their staff on such issues and instead make the job of actually teaching harder by caving to such silly demands over and over again.

I agree, but if you get enough parents with petitions and threats who are involving lawyers, administration doesn't have a choice.

I remember a story about a school district who had to go to a "no running rule" at recess because a child got hurt and the parents sued. It's stupid, it makes zero sense, but schools are operating on a tight budget, and they can't afford a million dollar lawsuit. Ditto for a recent rule about no hugging in the hallways (girls felt harassed).

Every school district is different. We call dice....dice, and we can run at recess.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Every school district is different. We call dice....dice, and we can run at recess.

We actually still say "under God" during the morning pledge (gasp)

 

[Piper]

That is one of the reasons I am glad I am retired! I lived through so many changes in how you could teach and the vocabulary you could use. And unfortunately, most of the changes weren't for the better!

And, yes, most of the changes were caused by parent complaints!!!

 

[Heidict]

I'm not buying it. A dice is a dice. What it does is not its name. I agree with the Orwellian commentator above.

I use a tool called a thermometer; not a temperature-reader.

I agree. It's pathetic, the way the administrators bend to some whiny bullying parent just to shut them up. They are willing to look stupid and inconvenience tons of people at the whim of a few. Political correctness is out of control these days. I shudder to think of what things are going to be like in 20 or 30 years.

 

[DEA]

I'm not buying it. A dice is a dice. What it does is not its name. I agree with the Orwellian commentator above.

I use a tool called a thermometer; not a temperature-reader.

thermo- "connected with temperature"
meter- "a device that measures"

A thermometer is both what it is and what it does.

I'd agree with the PP who uses both terms as a teacher. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to use the term "number cube" to describe a cube used to randomly generate numbers. At worst, you get the proper label for the shape being used. If you're worried about other shapes of dice, they are "number polyhedrons." Except for a d2, but I'd just call that a coin.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Okay, what's wrong with gambling? It's not illegal. Well, it is illegal for kids under a certain age, but so is driving. Do we stop calling them "cars" and refer to them as "adult motor vehicles" to keep kids from absconding with their parents' cars before they have a license?

Also, what happens when you have a 8 sided or 20 sided die? That's no cube.

I thought of this, too. Gamers against zero tolerance policies!

 

[disykat]

Defining everything by its function is cumbersome and stunts vocabulary development--I would e very annoyed to have my child in a class whose teacher did this.

Wow - seriously? I was very clear I also use the term "dice." How on earth is it stunting vocabulary to use multiple names to describe one object?

I think people are going nuts over something that isn't a problem. So what if another name is introduced to describe something? I've worked in multiple districts over my career and never been told not to use the word dice. I don't get what the big deal is if a textbook describes it as a number generator.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Wow - seriously? I was very clear I also use the term "dice." How on earth is it stunting vocabulary to use multiple names to describe one object?

I think people are going nuts over something that isn't a problem. So what if another name is introduced to describe something? I've worked in multiple districts over my career and never been told not to use the word dice. I don't get what the big deal is if a textbook describes it as a number generator.

Our teachers talk about the function of objects all the time. It's a core part of the curriculum, whether it's preschool teachers teaching about vehicles, or clothing thats appropriate for the weather, or elementary school teachers talking about generating numbers. Understanding that a six sided dice is one way to generate a number between 1 and 6, and that you can achieve the same function using six cards, or six coins, or a spinner, is an important part of the study of probability.

 

[NHdisneylover]

We actually still say "under God" during the morning pledge (gasp)

Well ADDING that in was the PC thing to do in the early 50s. Maybe you could say the places that do NOT say it did not cave to the PC police way back then?

Wow - seriously? I was very clear I also use the term "dice." How on earth is it stunting vocabulary to use multiple names to describe one object?

I think people are going nuts over something that isn't a problem. So what if another name is introduced to describe something? I've worked in multiple districts over my career and never been told not to use the word dice. I don't get what the big deal is if a textbook describes it as a number generator.

As long as the real names are used and defined, fine--but you were talking about NOT using "dice" and explaining that you would not because you call things by what they do. I think it is great to define the tools kids use. Very important. I also think they should be taught the names of the tools; the vocabulary that goes with a subject is crucial to learning the material in my opinion.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I raised my kids in Reno, NV, heck our high school had a slot tournament as a fundraiser. Poker nights were another biggie. Every school my kids attended had cards that came from the casino's and most classrooms had retired dice. Often the name of the casino was stamped on them. Heck, some of our biggest sponsors were the local casinos, they were the only businesses with lots of money to share!

People really need to get over themselves, this is yet another example of we are getting out of hand in our attempt to be politically correct.

This was a recent article about the Portland, Oregon school district. Talk about going off the deep end. Gheesh....... we really need to get a grip http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/15/Portland-Oregon-schools-spent-526-901-to-learn-that-pb-j-sandwiches-are-racist

Wow, that's a biased article. To jump from "when a teacher consistently uses examples from one culture, for example . . . " to "Pb and J sandwiches are racist" is ridiculous.

I will say that, in my experience, the vast majority of complaints we get from parents are from privileged white parents who view any kind of change in education as a threat. I would be very surprised to find out that this change, that is sometimes describing a dice by it's shape or function, was due to anything other than a desire to increase children's vocabulary and reasoning skills. Then again, I can understand why that's a threat since well educated children are more likely to question the status quo.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Wow, that's a biased article.

Of course it is. Breitbart is not a news organization, it's a conservative blog.

 

[disykat]

As long as the real names are used and defined, fine--but you were talking about NOT using "dice" and explaining that you would not because you call things by what they do. I think it is great to define the tools kids use. Very important. I also think they should be taught the names of the tools; the vocabulary that goes with a subject is crucial to learning the material in my opinion.

Not sure where you read that?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Not sure where you read that?

The OP said her kids' school does not use the term dice (not that they sometimes use it and sometimes use another term)--I thought you were explaining that it might not be related to worries about gambling but instead be a "valid" way of teaching in which the items or named for their function instead, such as you do in your classroom (though you also use the names--but the OP was clear that in her kids' school "dice" is out). Of course, number cube does not describe its function anyway--but that is another can of worms.

 

[disykat]

Part of my point is that often people jump to conclusions about why names are being used that may not be true. Unless there is a district policy in writing that "the word dice can not be used" then my guess is that people are making controversy where there is none.

It could be one teacher's preference in his/her classroom, it could have been the student's perception, who knows?

 

[timmac]

We should probably be more technical and just call them random number generating polyhedra. Then we can at least work in some math terminology.

While we are at it though, we should be careful when making references to things like dominoes, playing cards, heck maybe we shouldn't even talk about horses as such, since some kid might be tempted to race them and bet on the outcome.

Though I get (kind of) the desire to avoid promoting gambling as such, just about all of the paraphernalia used in gambling can actually be used for some quite interesting mathematics lessons, among other things.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Well ADDING that in was the PC thing to do in the early 50s. Maybe you could say the places that do NOT say it did not cave to the PC police way back then?
.

Were there places in the 50's that refused? I was always under the impression it was a pretty universal change.

 

[Schmeck]

I was trying to help DS with his math section on probability. In the examples in his math book it kept talking about "if your rolled a number cube...." I had to ask him what the heck is a number cube? I think that is so stupid they just cant call it dice. Some times I think they change stuff around just to confuse us when we try to help them-lol.

It would be called a die. They would be called dice.