Ahh I see.
What really pisses me off about the U.S. education system is it's too conforming. I realized this as a math tutor, but it really applies to all aspects--I've tutored many students who the teachers taught them one way to do a problem, when there's like 5 ways to do every problem, and then i'll show them other ways and usually one of those works. One teacher didn't give a student I showed another way for doing it that way which really pissed me off, so then I had her do it that way first, and transfer it to the way the teacher wanted.
But it's not just w/ math. Some students like me are excellent test-takers, others freeze up. Sometimes I just study for the test and don't make an effort on things "not on the test." I mean, the best thing would be if every student had different options to show teachers they understand the concepts...they could choose between taking a test, writing an in-class essay, writing a paper, giving an oral presentation, etc. Each student could do what she's comfortable w/, and it would encourage students to do some more actual learning.
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