Thursday, May 21, 2009

Back to school

Tonight was interesting. I accompanied Mr Nell and my eldest belle to her school where we found out more about the maths help available for the GCSE students. For those of you who know me really well and know my challenges with numbers I can already hear you sniggering. All I can say is that I am so happy that I don't have to do my GCSE now. I couldn't do it back then either and if I went to school every day from now till forever I would never, ever fully get it.
Sigh, we looked at the computer programme they use to work through the problems and I fell straight into the same trap I always went into when I was at school.

Question - Jaya spins a coloured spinner 500 times it lands X number on yellow, X on green, Y on red, Y on pink and Q on blue. What is the probability of it landing on Pink?

Already they lost me - I'm thinking Jaya has too much time on her hands and why did she want to make a spinner anyway? Did she convert a cocktail umberella and where is purple? I'd have put glitter on it and oh, what was the question again?
Oh yeah um, 500 right, and what colours? or was it 05?
I don't think I like Jaya, what an odd name to choose, wonder why they didn't just put Jane. Jane sounds like a mathy name or maybe not, what was the name of that girl in the easy reader books at primary? Was she a Jane. No, that was Dick and Dora. Dora could be a mathy name. If Jaya had a brother what would they call him? Is the next question a boy name? Maybe that one will be easier?

So now you know why I'm a writer and not a mathematician. Mr Nell says the inside of my head is a dark and scary place. I think it's more sort of pink and fluffy with little sparkly bits.

1 comment:

Julie Day said...

You and me both Nell. I'm not that hot with numbers either and wasn't back at school too. I could never work out those logical maths, like you mention, either, still can't. Which is why I am getting my mum to take the money at my book launch and now the book signing in June.