Today, I had to find simple words to explain to the idiot I was tutoring that "1/4" is not of a greater value than "1/3" just because the denominator is bigger. FML
Collection
Black Friday
70% off something you didn't need, a stampede and a cart that crashes at checkout. Thanks, Black Friday.
Today, one of my students corrected the problem I had solved on the board, explaining that you do multiplication before subtraction. I teach the second grade. FML
Today, I was babysitting, and a little girl asked for help with her homework. I cheerfully began an explanation, only to freeze mid-sentence. I could not for the life of me remember how to do long-division. I'm about to graduate from Cornell University, and her little brother had to correct me. FML
Today, I had someone place two separate to-go orders, so that he could use two of his "25% off" coupons. He couldn't understand why it wasn't 50% off his total bill, no matter how many times I plainly explained it to him. FML
Today, disappointed with my results on a mathematics test, I went over it and realized my teacher had added up the marks incorrectly, leaving me with 17% less than I earned. The person who's supposed to be teaching me math can't even perform basic arithmetic. FML
Today, I was asked to dumb myself down so the people I was training could comprehend what I was saying. FML
Today, while home from college for the weekend, my sister started whining about how I keep using "big fancy college words" and making her feel bad. My sister is 27 and teaches elementary school. The word I used was "ludicrous." FML
Today, I was teaching a class when a student pointed out that I'd used the wrong "your/you're" while writing on the board. FML
Today, I handed a middle-aged woman her change of $0.75 with three quarters. She looked at the change bewildered and threw the coins down, asking if she thought I could get away with only giving her thirty cents. I had to explain to her how much a quarter is worth. FML
Today, I was helping my kid with homework after work. I tried to Google “third grade long division explained simply.” Autocomplete filled in “because I don’t understand it either,” which I read out loud without thinking. My kid stared at me and said, “So… who’s teaching who?” FML
Today, a McDonald's employee had to correct my math after counting out $2.37 in change. I'm in AP Calculus and am currently learning how to find the derivative of an inverse of a logarithm. FML
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Top comments
makaramiracles 18
Well, there's a reason why you're tutoring them.
iShanny 13
Those little pie pieces always helped me. Try using real pie or pizza.
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Comments (107)
vampire1618 5
Pizza. Everyone understands pizza.
xXrainbow5000Xx 4
well... that's kinda rude cause he/ or she didn't know what it meant and that's why you are tutoring he/ or she so she can get better at what you are tutoring her
Laurenlou 24
I tutor 11-12 year olds currently, and I also give free help to 11th graders in advanced math clasess. As long as the student is TRYING to understand, there is absolutely NO reason to believe that he or she is "an idiot," (and much less, call them an idiot.) I have found that most of the students' lack of understanding actually comes from being taught wrongly in school or never being encouraged to like or learn math. Those who want a tutor are those who try! OP, you may be smart enough to understand math, but you do not sound mature enough to handle teaching, or sociable enough to be providing a service in enchange for money. You also sound like a horrible tutor if you aren't explaining fractions with visuals like pies, pizzas, clocks, dollars and cents (one quarters is 1/4th of a dollar), or even those fraction bars that most primary schools use.
bushwhacker274 9
I actually read that as; he was tutoring you. Woulda been a bigger FML.
teamnikster 9
Depending on the age of the kid, words won't work too well. They can only reason with abstract ideas if there's some physical representation of the object, like many of the other comments have stated.
yerrkiddingme 2
your a ******* dick
SwagBasket 10
Omg that used to be me
iowacountrygirl 9
Wow you're a jackass
tamesenicole 27
The bigger the number at the bottom the smaller the piece. That's how I remember it
sophiehelen 32
I'm going to assume that this person is at an age where he should understand the difference between a third and a quarter which is why OP called them an idiot