A friend of mine recently decided to quit his tech job and become a high school math teacher (a move that still has my jaw on the floor in awe). He’s been tracking the tough lessons of being a new teacher on a blog. This morning, he posted about why culture matters and his experience has had me smiling all day. For those who are link shy, i’ll summarize:

Homework question: “While in France last summer I bought a hat for 25.50. A friend bought a similar hat for 5 in the United States. What’s going on here? Explain completely.”

Expected answer: “something about different currencies and exchange rates. This question comes in the context of problems about length and area, so the importance of units in measurement is being emphasized.”

Student answer: “Two possibilities: 1, the hat your friend bought was fake. It said similar not same. 2, you got ripped off in France because your [sic] a tourist.”

ROFL! I just want to reach out and hug his student – that just rocks.