My favorite teacher

[bijuabrahamp]

Hi,
I had a cool experience... so I thought I'll post it here ;)
This year C++ has become a part of my computer syllabus at school... So we have a teacher who teaches it. I had some previous knowledge of C++ - though I'm not at all good at it currently.
None of my friends have any idea about this language. So when she started teaching I could feel that she was really missing a lot of basic stuffs... bah.. that was a bad time - her class is really boring also. She used to make a lot of mistakes... but I don't remeber most of them.. but I remember a serious one.. read on
So after a few months, it was exams - ie the first exam on C++.
I felt the paper was quite easy... but there was one question that appeared pretty normal or needed no thinking on my first look (plz, i'm a newbie)... But after a while of writing, I looked at the question again.. OOPS! I had made a serious mistake!
I rewrote the answer. So, after a few weeks, the papers were corrected and I was eager to see how much I got for that question because none of my friends wrote correctly (note that they are super newbies and pretty poor because of this teacher's training ;))
To my shock, I didn't get anything for that question... the teacher marked it completely wrong! and all my classmates who wrote it wrong got full marks for the question.
So, I went to the teacher and argued with her for sometime (:mad:maan, I don't know what I said)... atlast she agreed with me - coz I said to her that I tried it on the computer and my answer was correct... So it ended up with me and all others getting full marks... LOL.. I wz the only person who got it correct and all of us got full marks... So u want to see what the question is ??

Question

Convert the follow to a switch statement

if(dir == 'E')
est++;
if(dir == 'W')
wst++;
if(dir== 'N')
nth++;
if(dir == 'S')
sth++;
else
unk++;

Answer which she thinks is correct and what all the others also wrote
switch(dir)
{
case 'E' : est++; break;
case 'W' : wst++; break;
case 'N': nth++; break;
case 'S': sth++; break;
default : unk++;
}

My Answer :p
switch(dir)
{
case 'E' : est++; unk++; break;
case 'W' : wst++; unk++; break;
case 'N': nth++; unk++; break;
case 'S': sth++; break;
default : unk++;
}

It was she who gave one another question and a strange output... that made me go very confused and she won't explain why that output was happening... actually the question was this (http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=341645&highlight=increment+problems)(I posted it here a few months ago the time she gave it)
One more year is left with her! I don't know how much I'm going to suffer. Did anyone have any experiences like this?
(sorry about making the title ironic)

[panayotisk]

Oh come on,
I had a maths teacher in University that was much worse than that. Unfortunately there is not much you can do about it. (Once I got so angry that I had to go to the blackboard and give my own proof of a theorem since hers violated basic mathematical principles). But do not worry it will be over soon, be patient.

[HanneSThEGreaT]

Teachers hated me. I hated them. :p

My maths teacher, was in the classroom twice in a whole year. Once to say "hello, I'll be your teacher", then to say "good luck with your final exams". -Well he might have been in class more than twice, but everytime I actually attended his class, he wasn't there.

I once gave more insight about an Afrikaans poem than my teacher - needless to say, that was my best subject (Language) and best marks..

[cilu]

In my first two years in high school I had at physics a woman teacher that wasn't too good at it (to use an euphemism) (though she was good looking :D ). Usually when hard problems were to be solved, I was asked to do that at the table (I was the best at math and physics in my class, and many others :D), and sometimes I used methods she didn't like or was unfamiliar with. So, in several ocasions, when she tried to convince me that her method was better, we started solving the problem in parallel at the table, each one using his own method. And usually I was winning... :D

Anyway, it's fun to remember things from high school. ;)

And yes, I had some interestng "conflicts" in college too.

[NoHero]

I cannot complain I have a good maths teacher and a very good programming teacher. :)

[bijuabrahamp]

I cannot complain I have a good maths teacher and a very good programming teacher. :) Lucky you. My maths teacher is quite good.. but this teacher is really stupid.

I remember one time I made her stuck - Hey, I don't know the answer to that question till now! (my main aim at that time was to make her stuck)
We used to learn BASIC before, and this same teacher taught that.
So, I showed her a program

10 INPUT A$, B$
20 PRINT A$
30 END

Now at runtime if i enter
Hi,how are you
Hi will be stored into A$ and how are you will be in B$
So I asked her.. what if the user wants
Hi, How are you in A$ and Fine, thankyou in B$ (NOTICE THE ',')
But when you enter this at runtime:
Hi, How are you,Fine,thankyou

it would ask me "Redo from start"
So I asked her what if the user wants it like how I wanted. She stood there for about 5-10 minutes thinking... atlast the period got over and she told me that it is impossible to do that.:D:D

Btw, anybody knows how to get around this problem with BASIC (i don't really care abt BASIC now.. but it maybe useful knowing)

[cilu]

Btw, anybody knows how to get around this problem with BASIC (i don't really care abt BASIC now.. but it maybe useful knowing)
I suggest posting this question in the VB forum.

[bijuabrahamp]

I suggest posting this question in the VB forum. VB doesnot use any INPUT statements... so it maybe of no use
BASIC is outdated but they still teach it in my school for the kids(i hate the school also)

[panayotisk]

I suggest posting this question in the VB forum.
Even they, may not be able to handle QBasic questions. Try to find people with old age and send them a pm. :D

[bijuabrahamp]

Even they, may not be able to handle QBasic questions. Try to find people with old age and send them a pm. :D
Hm.. let me see about that.. where do you think I can find them? :D

[ovidiucucu]

We had few teachers candidate at our company interviews. No one was accepted. :D

[NoHero]

We had few teachers candidate at our company interviews. No one was accepted. :D

Some our IT teacher's come out from business (VOEST) and heck they are good. But well... vice versa it does not work at all. Everything that is too intelligence for a teacher position goes into business... and sadly vice versa.

:D

[ovidiucucu]

Some our IT teacher's come out from business (VOEST) and heck they are good. But well... vice versa it does not work at all. Everything that is too intelligence for a teacher position goes into business... and sadly vice versa.

:D
Well, I forgot to say they were C/C++ teachers. Poor little students!!! :D ;)

[NoHero]

Well, I forgot to say they were C/C++ teachers. Poor little students!!! :D ;)

Poor little students... you speak of my heart... I thought of revoluting and take over the programming lessons in my class and reintroduce C++ as programming lanuage for the 12th Grade... Viva la revolution! :D :D

/otherwise I will have C# and then I am really proselytized... :)

[Smasher/Devourer]

Btw, anybody knows how to get around this problem with BASIC (i don't really care abt BASIC now.. but it maybe useful knowing)
Try to find people with old age and send them a pm. :D
Old age?? Hey, QBasic wasn't that long ago! ;) Here's a QB program that takes a line of input and stores it all (including commas) in a single variable, then breaks that line at the second comma, if two commas are present. I think this is what bijuabrahamp was after. It's a bit long-winded perhaps, but it works.
' Get an entire line of input (without breaking at commas)
LINE INPUT a$

' Find the first comma (if one exists).
n = INSTR(a$, ",")

' If one comma exists, find the second one.
IF n > 0 THEN n = INSTR(n + 1, a$, ",")

IF n > 0 THEN
' If two commas were found, break the string in two using the second
' comma as the dividing line
b$ = MID$(a$, n + 1)
a$ = LEFT$(a$, n - 1)
PRINT "a$ = "; a$
PRINT "b$ = "; b$
ELSE
' Otherwise, print an error message
PRINT "Formatting error."
END IF
Or if you're using an even worse form of BASIC that requires line numbers and doesn't allow block-if statements (like GW-BASIC, which I was taught in high school in 1995):
10 LINE INPUT a$
20 n = INSTR(a$, ",")
30 IF n > 0 THEN n = INSTR(n + 1, a$, ",")
40 IF n > 0 THEN GOSUB 60 ELSE PRINT "Formatting error."
50 END
60 b$ = MID$(a$, n + 1)
70 a$ = LEFT$(a$, n - 1)
80 PRINT "a$ = "; a$
90 PRINT "b$ = "; b$
100 RETURN
Output from a sample run:
How are you, Smasher?,Fine, thanks!
a$ = How are you, Smasher?
b$ = Fine, thanks!

[MrViggy]

Heh. My math, science, and computer teachers were all pretty good. I do remember one test in college physics. Basically, we had to calculate how much energy (from the sun) was used to melt snow off of a rooftop. Fairly simple, right. Well, I figured it all out, and came up with a number that was large enough to power a small city. "This can't be right!" I thought. So, I finished the test, and went back to that question. Worked it all out again, and came up with the same answer. So, I left the answer, and under it I wrote, "There's a problem with one of the variables you gave us, because this is enough energy to power a small city."

The rest of the class saw the same thing, and thought they did the problem wrong. So, they all erased their answers, and left that question blank. The teacher realized his mistake, and didn't count that question. However, myself and one other person got extra credit for (a) answering the quesiton properly, and (b) realizing that the answer itself was wrong for the problem at hand!

Viggy

[bijuabrahamp]

10 LINE INPUT a$
20 n = INSTR(a$, ",")
30 IF n > 0 THEN n = INSTR(n + 1, a$, ",")
40 IF n > 0 THEN GOSUB 60 ELSE PRINT "Formatting error."
50 END
60 b$ = MID$(a$, n + 1)
70 a$ = LEFT$(a$, n - 1)
80 PRINT "a$ = "; a$
90 PRINT "b$ = "; b$
100 RETURN
Output from a sample run:
How are you, Smasher?,Fine, thanks!
a$ = How are you, Smasher?
b$ = Fine, thanks!
Nice work! Wonder when I can show this to my teacher
I never knew BASIC had left, mid, instr etc. - and i guess she also doesn't know. :D:D

I suggest posting this question in the VB forum. You're quite right, VB does have left(), mid() and instr() functions like the BASIC... but still no INPUT statement

[NoHero]

You're quite right, VB does have left(), mid() and instr() functions like the BASIC... but still no INPUT statement

But an InputBox if I remember correctly... Who cares? We are hijacking the thread...

[bijuabrahamp]

My chemistry teacher, this year forgot to teach a formula which came for the exam! I don't blame her much, it can happen to anyone ;)
One day, she told us to remind her to teach the formula the next class.. but we didn't remind her. And at the end when when she asked whether she gave the formula.. one fool replied "Yes".:D
And the thing came for the exam. We asked for free marks.. but she said she can't give it. She said she'll add the marks in the next examination.. but everyone knows she wont:p

[Smasher/Devourer]

I had a physics teacher in high school who claimed that sound propagates at the speed of light, and that pendulums are not affected by gravity, among other things. I had to correct his answer key for him every time he gave a test because he would invariably mess up many of the problems. That was a lousy experience. I ended up dropping the class halfway through the year. He kind of soured me on physics for a bit, but the following year in college I had a brilliant physics professor who more than made up for the bad times I had in high school.

[bijuabrahamp]

I had a physics teacher in high school who claimed that sound propagates at the speed of light Who the **** must have given him the permission to teach?
Even a 4yr old child knows that sound is slower than light!!

[MrViggy]

Well, in high school, I don't believe you need a graduate degree to teach. Or, if you do, it doesn't need to be in the subject that you are teaching.

But, I found that all of the good math/science high school teachers do have graduate degrees in math or science.

Viggy

[Smasher/Devourer]

Who the **** must have given him the permission to teach?
Even a 4yr old child knows that sound is slower than light!!
I can't imagine. What's odd is that another teacher at the school, one of the programming instructors, had a degree in physics. So I don't know why they didn't have him teaching the physics course instead. Also, the school supposedly had an excellent physics teacher at one point, but unfortunately he retired the year before I started high school, and the idiot I was describing in my last post took over.

I will say that in the US, it can be quite difficult to get rid of a tenured teacher who's not doing his job well, but I don't know if that played into it. Perhaps the administration just didn't think the problem was worth addressing, or didn't care. They certainly weren't ignorant of the problem; I voiced my complaints to them, and I know I wasn't the only one to do so.

[MrViggy]

Welcome to the wonderful world of tenure, and the short supply of teachers in our (U.S.) school systems. One of the reasons that my wife homeschools our daughter (not in high school yet, though).

Viggy

[bijuabrahamp]

I will say that in the US, it can be quite difficult to get rid of a tenured teacher who's not doing his job well, but I don't know if that played into it. I don't think its jst for US, i guess its applicable to the whole world!

[NatThoelecke]

Well, in high school, I don't believe you need a graduate degree to teach. Or, if you do, it doesn't need to be in the subject that you are teaching.

But, I found that all of the good math/science high school teachers do have graduate degrees in math or science.

ViggyThey don't require higher degrees to teach high school but they do prefer you have BA/BS degree in the subject(s) (or related to ones) you are teaching in addition to the teaching credential.

I do have to give props to my dad (he's a math teacher); without his help I never would have gotten past algebra.

Physics had to have been the hardest class I ever took. Mostly because the prof assumed WAY too much about the knowledge of the students. He'd run through an example of how to solve a problem on the board, start to run out of room, wave his hand saying to incorporate theorem x or law y to get the answer and then just write the answer on the board. He would never explain how exactly to utilize said principle or law to arrive at the solution so when exam time came the whole class was hosed. I think the best grade in the class was earned by some guy who was a physics major and sought assistance from his other profs in the department. I had to challenge my grade just to pass the class and probably half of my classmates had to do the same.

[RoboTact]

It's not that bad if the subject isn't difficult. It may be fun if you're guru in the subject (at least at the required level or relative to teacher). But it's not fun at all if discipline is "out of scope". This case (if you bother about studying) is generally corresponds to subject outside the specialization being crumpled to the level when you are supposed to be adaptive parrot to pass exams.

[Smasher/Devourer]

They don't require higher degrees to teach high school but they do prefer you have BA/BS degree in the subject(s) (or related to ones) you are teaching in addition to the teaching credential.
Well, the requirements to be certified to teach vary from state to state. If you're interested in more detailed information, you can find it here (http://www.uky.edu/Education/TEP/usacert.html).
It's not that bad if the subject isn't difficult.
I generally agree with this, though it will also depend on students' preferred learning styles. In most cases I prefer to just pick up a textbook and go at my own pace, but I've known some otherwise good students who struggled in a class with a bad teacher because they learned best by having material presented to them, rather than going through it independently.

[RoboTact]

I generally agree with this, though it will also depend on students' preferred learning styles. In most cases I prefer to just pick up a textbook and go at my own pace, but I've known some otherwise good students who struggled in a class with a bad teacher because they learned best by having material presented to them, rather than going through it independently.In most cases there is no retional way other then learning the subjet yourself. It saves time and allows more deep understanding. There are cases when there is no accessible material for the subject and that last thing when there is too much material packed up in the plan so that it isn't possible to learn it all in reasonable amount of time (week devoted to single subject - when it requires more it doesn't look term course, does it? Usual time to prepare to exam by year course to get to know it thoroughly is 3 days)

[bijuabrahamp]

My physics teacher is a great person... and everybody like him for one reason :- HE GIVES ALL THE QUESTIONS TO THE CLASS BEFORE THE EXAM.. he leaks out the question paper. He doesn't teach so well.. but he gives questions and we know for sure that it will be there in the exams... I wish all my teachers were like that :D

[RoboTact]

What's so great about giving the crib to the class instead of teaching well? :sick:

[bijuabrahamp]

What's so great about giving the crib to the class instead of teaching well? :sick: I would say great if he does either or both
: 1) he teaches well
2) gives out the paper before the exams
because it may result in the same thing.. most of us will get good grades!:D

[RoboTact]

I would say great if he does either or both
: 1) he teaches well
2) gives out the paper before the exams
because it may result in the same thing.. most of us will get good grades!:DWell - if THAT result is what you are after...

[Smasher/Devourer]

I would say great if he does either or both
: 1) he teaches well
2) gives out the paper before the exams
because it may result in the same thing.. most of us will get good grades!:D
Better to get a lower grade in a class where you're actually learning something useful than to get a high grade that is essentially meaningless. Grade inflation (http://www.gradeinflation.com/) is not a good thing.

[bijuabrahamp]

I really don't like physics that much.. maybe that could be the reason that I like him
If he was my maths or computer teacher, he would be my worst!

[RoboTact]

And that's the difference between "he's a great teacher" and "I like him".

[bijuabrahamp]

And that's the difference between "he's a great teacher" and "I like him". Oh.. When I said that, i meant ' i like him '

[cilu]

VB doesnot use any INPUT statements... so it maybe of no use
BASIC is outdated but they still teach it in my school for the kids(i hate the school also)
Now, I really feel so stupid. :blush: Frankly I have no idea what was I thinking of. :confused: :cry: