Math is hard...knocks!

Landstown math teacher Mike Shanklin was arrested by Virginia Beach police for allegedly belting a math student who failed to finish an assignment. Talk about high stakes testing!! The female student apparently stayed after school for some extra tutoring help when Mr. S cut loose with the fury of  No Child Left’s Behind.  With all of the negative publicity about US schools falling so far behind foreign competition in math and science test performance (TIMMS for example), rather than actually invest a higher % of our GDP in public education ( we rank near the bottom in this), we leave it up to individual teachers to come up with creative ways to solve the problem. Mr. Shanklin’s efforts were failed patriotism but patriotism nevertheless!
USA, USA, USA!!!

STORY: Landstown High School teacher arrested for allegedly beating student with belt

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.jor-on.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/mathematics_theproblem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.jor-on.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/mathematics_theproblem.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> Landstown math teacher Mike Shanklin was arrested by Virginia Beach police for allegedly belting a math student who failed to finish an assignment. Talk about high stakes testing!! The female student apparently stayed after school for some extra tutoring help when Mr. S cut loose with the fury of  No Child <b>Left’s Behind</b>.  With all of the negative publicity about US schools falling so far behind foreign competition in math and science test performance (TIMMS for example), rather than actually invest a higher % of our GDP in public education ( we rank near the bottom in this), we leave it up to individual teachers to come up with creative ways to solve the problem. Mr. Shanklin’s efforts were failed patriotism but patriotism nevertheless!<br /> USA, USA, USA!!!<br /> <br /> <b>STORY</b>: <a href="http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-landstown-high-school-teacher-arrested-for-allegedly-beating-student-with-belt-20120119,0,1141178.story">Landstown High School teacher arrested for allegedly beating student with belt</a><br /> <div> <br /></div>

If four math teachers have a combined IQ of 300...

Greetings again from the deep south! A suburban Atlanta teacher has regrettably resigned after assigning math homework to 3rd graders that included word problems about slavery and beatings. While I am not astonished about this coming from Georgia, I am shocked that the teachers can actually cipher word problems! Four teachers from Beaver Ridge Elementary School assigned said homework, only one has resigned.  Imagine the teacher planning meetings that arrived at this lesson plan. Talk about collaborative brilliance. Apparently they spent several days pondering not only this gem of an assignment, but also how to arrive at the correct mathematical solution! Does this really require teacher certification?

STORY: Georgia teacher resigns over slavery math lesson
 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/18/georgia-teacher-resigns-over-slavery-math-lesson/

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/slavery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/slavery.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> Greetings again from the deep south! A suburban Atlanta teacher has regrettably resigned after assigning math homework to 3rd graders that included word problems about slavery and beatings. While I am not astonished about this coming from Georgia, I am shocked that the teachers can actually cipher word problems! Four teachers from Beaver Ridge Elementary School assigned said homework, only one has resigned.  Imagine the teacher planning meetings that arrived at this lesson plan. Talk about collaborative brilliance. Apparently they spent several days pondering not only this gem of an assignment, but also how to arrive at the correct mathematical solution! Does this really require teacher certification?<br /> <br /> STORY: Georgia teacher resigns over slavery math lesson<br />  <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/18/georgia-teacher-resigns-over-slavery-math-lesson/">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/18/georgia-teacher-resigns-over-slavery-math-lesson/</a><br />

Pop Quiz! How many possible different tweets are there?

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that limits updates to 140 characters.

How many possible different tweets are there?

Leave your answer in the comments below and show your work! (ie explain how you got your answer.)

Bonus points if you do this with your class. I've got a surprise giveaway for the best mathematically / logically correct answer.

Ready go? Also, bonus points if you TWEET this question ;)

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="blue bird 100+ Remarkably Beautiful Twitter Icons And Buttons" height="195" src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/twitter_icons_03/blue-bird.jpg" width="320" /></div><br /> Twitter is a micro-blogging service that limits updates to 140 characters.<br /> <br /> How many possible different tweets are there?<br /> <br /> Leave your answer in the comments below and show your work! (ie explain how you got your answer.)<br /> <br /> Bonus points if you do this with your class. I've got a surprise giveaway for the best mathematically / logically correct answer.<br /> <br /> Ready go? Also, bonus points if you TWEET this question ;)