Got sent a deal for teaching physics with Forza motorsport..

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:50 pm

So M$ is working with a company called Young Minds Inspired to sell more Forza games. I've got an activity packet that includes all sorts of activities based on in-game scenarios that kids will watch (they send a CD-rom with the video so you can play in on the cpu - or you can have the kids try it in game.) The activities are pretty good though, deriving experssions for the maximum speed of a car without slipping on a banked curve of a given radius - then again on unbanked. There are lots of basic kinematics, etc. It also comes with a nice big poster including all of the detailed equations used.

I feel robbed, though. I was way ahead of the curve here. I was using video I made with Vice City 3 years ago to demonstrate all sorts of shit (collisions, conservation of momentum, etc.) Should have sold my idea to M$.

I also got about 30 coupons for 5 bucks off Forza at best buy. Heh.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:51 pm

I'm supposed to distribute the coupons "to help the students bring the learning home."

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:53 pm

For fucks sakes tnf, "cpu" means central processing unit, its not the same thing as PC.

Post by **Foo** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:00 pm

tnf wrote:I'm supposed to distribute the coupons "to help the students bring the learning home."

Fucking hell, that's horiffic.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:01 pm

ToxicBug wrote:For fucks sakes tnf, "cpu" means central processing unit, its not the same thing as PC.

do you think?

But I still use it as an abbreviation for computer, and will continue to do so. Now get back to your struggles with basic physics and bother me no more.

Post by **phantasmagoria** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:04 pm

i'd love to have been taught mechanical maths by you, rather than professor dull, who completely put me off the whole subject

.

Post by **Foo** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:04 pm

Despite being a massive cock, Toxic has a point in this instance.

You're a teacher, and you're knowingly teaching an error purely for your own convenience. Pretty slack.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:09 pm

Do as I say, not as I do. That's lesson 1.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:10 pm

Now, back to playing dvd's on my CPU.

And please, let's not derail this thread into a debate about cpu vs. computer. We've had it before.

Post by **Foo** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:11 pm

But that's something you say.

Anyways, I'll drop it. It's irrelevent to the main point... hideous corporate invasion of schooling dependant on the (perhaps mostly true) assumption that teachers are gullible fools who can be manipulated to exploit their pupils by proxy.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:15 pm

I think that educational animation videos are more useful in chemistry than in physics. In chemistry you can't see what's going on at the microscopic level, but its important in order to understand equilibrium. In physics you easily can picture a car going around a banked curve and just draw a circle to get the equation with which you will find the max speed it can do without drifting off. Elastic collisions can be demonstrated with different sorts of balls.

I wonder if its possible to calculate the maximum speed that a car can do while drifting around a curve though.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:16 pm

I never taught it. But I will teach the correct thing - "KIDS - DON'T USE ERRONEOUS SHORTCUTS AND ABBREVIATIONS IN ORDER TO SAVE TIME OR BE LAZY. AND DON'T DO DRUGS."

Remember, that is what I've just SAID, not what I DO. Now, do as I've said, not as I have done and as I still do.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:20 pm

ToxicBug wrote:I think that educational animation videos are more useful in chemistry than in physics. In chemistry you can't see what's going on at the microscopic level, but its important in order to understand equilibrium. In physics you easily can picture a car going around a banked curve and just draw a circle to get the equation with which you will find the max speed it can do without drifting off. Elastic collisions can be demonstrated with different sorts of balls.

I wonder if its possible to calculate the maximum speed that a car can do while drifting around a curve though.

Yea, but the diagrams for chemistry are fairly easy to draw for something like equilibrium. The motions of the molecules and atoms involved are fairly straightforward in those cases.

Animations always help, though, regardless of the subject.
I've used video games in a number of ways - when you take a concept that can be relatively dry (conservation of momentum) and discuss it by showing a guy on a motorcycle in vice city crash into a fence at 120 mph and then go flying off the bike...and ask why the bike stopped and the guy kept going, it draws kids in. Many times students never develop a 'correct' understanding of very basic concepts like this because teachers assume it is so 'common sense' that they brush over it. When you can use a tool like a video game, everyone is attentive, even for those easy concepts that they often tune out or take for granted and then mess up later on.

Post by **Foo** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:26 pm

tnf wrote:Now, do as I've said, not as I have done and as I still do.

I always found a problem with this. If your (the general your, nothing personal) advice is so great that I should listen to you, why aren't you following it yourself?

..and to that end, I came to the conclusion that anyone who said do as I say not as I do wasn't someone worth paying much attention to overall.

Not to be a cunt, but it'd seem fair to think many of your students will reach this same conclusion. The days of classroom repetition/verbatim are gone, and 'do as I say not as I do' seems one of the statements that naturally died with it.

Post by **dzjepp** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:26 pm

You just wanna excuse to play videogames at work. :icon31:

Post by **Geebs** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:29 pm

Foo wrote:The days of classroom repetition/verbatim are gone, and 'do as I say not as I do' seems one of the statements that naturally died with it.

Hmm. Treating teenagers like adults is just giving them a license to behave like retards.

Post by **Foo** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:33 pm

Not at all. it's just that some WILL invitably behave in that manner, and it stands out like a gigantic sore thumb and masks over the beneficial side of it.

Besides, there's treating teenagers like adults and still being able to control a class, and being a strict teacher who has to rely on archaic methods to control their class, becuase they don't have the skill/mentality/experience to control their class. Teaching isn't easy, and I have full understanding for those who do 'cop out' and resort to the old rod and cane shit, but it's not the best way.

On a side note, there's still 'Do as I do now, not as I did in the past' which is perfectly valid, as otherwise that would mean ex smokers wouldn't be able to impart the wisdom of never beginning, and so on.

Post by **Iccy (temp)** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:36 pm

tnf wrote:Do as I say, not as I do. That's lesson 1.

Yes folks, this about sums up everything thats wrong with america. Weird how you hit it so precisly on accident tnf.

Seriously bud, not trying to make you look bad, but im just wondering, as the shaper of the future leaders of the world and this country, considering its state, wo uldnt you want to be on the ball with everything possible ?

Again, its not a CPU/PC question, more of a philosophical inquirey.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:37 pm

Foo wrote:
tnf wrote:Now, do as I've said, not as I have done and as I still do.
I always found a problem with this. If your (the general your, nothing personal) advice is so great that I should listen to you, why aren't you following it yourself?

..and to that end, I came to the conclusion that anyone who said do as I say not as I do wasn't someone worth paying much attention to overall.

Not to be a cunt, but it'd seem fair to think many of your students will reach this same conclusion. The days of classroom repetition/verbatim are gone, and 'do as I say not as I do' seems one of the statements that naturally died with it.

You all aren't seriously trying to imply that my ramblings here about "do as I say" are how I teach, are you? I was simply trying to put the fire out on the whole "HEY TNF DID YOU KNOW THAT CPU ACTUALLY MEANS Central Processing Unit NOT PC????" issue.

And it isn't about following your own advice all the time - its about telling teenage kids that you've made the mistakes in the past, you've done the stupid shit and learned the hard way from it, so when you tell them to "do as I say, not as I've done" you are speaking from experience.

Perhaps they also tell you "do as I say, not as I do" because they are 'trapped' into the bad habits and want to prevent you from ending up stuck on the same in same situation.

Post by **andyman** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:40 pm

tnf wrote:
Foo wrote:
tnf wrote:Now, do as I've said, not as I have done and as I still do.
I always found a problem with this. If your (the general your, nothing personal) advice is so great that I should listen to you, why aren't you following it yourself?

..and to that end, I came to the conclusion that anyone who said do as I say not as I do wasn't someone worth paying much attention to overall.

Not to be a cunt, but it'd seem fair to think many of your students will reach this same conclusion. The days of classroom repetition/verbatim are gone, and 'do as I say not as I do' seems one of the statements that naturally died with it.
You all aren't seriously trying to imply that my ramblings here about "do as I say" are how I teach, are you? I was simply trying to put the fire out on the whole "HEY TNF DID YOU KNOW THAT CPU ACTUALLY MEANS Central Processing Unit NOT PC????" issue.

And it isn't about following your own advice all the time - its about telling teenage kids that you've made the mistakes in the past, you've done the stupid shit and learned the hard way from it, so when you tell them to "do as I say, not as I've done" you are speaking from experience.

Perhaps they also tell you "do as I say, not as I do" because they are 'trapped' into the bad habits and want to prevent you from ending up stuck on the same in same situation.

LOL. When someone says CD drive on my cpu i laugh inside

But man why couldn't my teachers use video games when i was in school....all i had was tetris and some sprite games on my TI-86

Post by **Foo** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:41 pm

tnf wrote:You all aren't seriously trying to imply that my ramblings here about "do as I say" are how I teach, are you? I was simply trying to put the fire out on the whole "HEY TNF DID YOU KNOW THAT CPU ACTUALLY MEANS Central Processing Unit NOT PC????" issue.

See iccy's post above on the general philosophy thing. Also, I'm not taking this too seriously. It's 30 past midnight and I'm avoiding constructing a presentation, so I have time to think about inconsequential shit

And it isn't about following your own advice all the time - its about telling teenage kids that you've made the mistakes in the past, you've done the stupid shit and learned the hard way from it, so when you tell them to "do as I say, not as I've done" you are speaking from experience.

Agreed, hence last post by myself.

Post by **tnf** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:42 pm

Also, in regards to verbatim repetition - the fact that we've left that behind is one of the big problems facing education today. Memorization is a VERY useful tool in education - when it is used in conjunction with the development of understanding. It's another one of the many intellectual tools that students need to be successful later on.

These poor kids have been coddled with our 'feel good' system - they know feel good about themselves for no real reason because everyone is tippy toeing around to avoid hurting anyone's feelings with an F. We eliminate all the 'boring' or 'hard' work - and anytime a student fails we say it is because his/her learning style was not addressed. We are really setting some of these kids up for a REAL kick in the ass when they leave the safety of the educational system and get out into the working world. "Hey boss, I'm not an auditory learner - I am tactile/kinesthetic. So if you want me to do this, you will have to do more than just tell me how. And, I will need more time than everyone else because my parents have convinced myself and everyone around me that I have special needs."

Post by **bitWISE** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:43 pm

You sound like kick ass teacher man. I bet that Vice City lesson really caught their attention.

Post by **Iccy (temp)** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:43 pm

Foo wrote:
tnf wrote:Now, do as I've said, not as I have done and as I still do.
I always found a problem with this. If your (the general your, nothing personal) advice is so great that I should listen to you, why aren't you following it yourself?

..and to that end, I came to the conclusion that anyone who said do as I say not as I do wasn't someone worth paying much attention to overall.

Not to be a cunt, but it'd seem fair to think many of your students will reach this same conclusion. The days of classroom repetition/verbatim are gone, and 'do as I say not as I do' seems one of the statements that naturally died with it.

Exactly, it im not trying to be a bitch about it either, but if X+Y=Z then thats what it is, you can tell me its A cause you said so. Its like the stuff going on in the government right now, telling us we dont know well enough and should just listen cause the higher powers know better, its turned us into mindless lemmings afraid to think outside the box and for ourselves, we are a society, for the most part, of clinger on's. We expect that someone else will give us the answer and cant be bothered to get it ourselves cause we are too busy talking on our cell phones or doing whatever else our inner circle deems as " cool"

Its the little varations in a path that create great change when you look ahead to the distant point of arrival. Just expressing a perspective.

Post by **Iccy (temp)** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:49 pm

tnf wrote:

And it isn't about following your own advice all the time - its about telling teenage kids that you've made the mistakes in the past, you've done the stupid shit and learned the hard way from it, so when you tell them to "do as I say, not as I've done" you are speaking from experience.

Good enough reply. Just trying to express a faulty perspective is being relayed, IMHO, if thats a unchecked mentaly. I cant deny your correct, i mean if i have my leg cut off cause i bet on a horse and i say to not bet on horses, its a valid perspective. But in the same rspect if i take a drink and tell you to not do so, thats hipocracy. Just a thin line to walk on that topic, so i think its healthy to have peopel keep you on your toes