The $1mil lottery winner being bashed for continuing to receive food stamps.

I recently saw the article about the women(Amanda Clayton) who won the million dollar state lottery, and kept getting food stamps.  Although I don't completely agree with it, I decided to crunch some numbers and see if this really hurts or if it still helps the economy.    She won $1,000,000 after taking the lump sum she got $700,000. Then the key portion here is she was "taxed" $200,000"  Leaving her winnings at $500,000   Now according to what  have read so far is she was receiving $200 a month in food stamps.

The key argument that everyone has is that Amanda Clayton  is "cheating" the system by using "other" peoples tax dollars to get food. Lets break that statement down a little bit. Whose tax dollars is she spending?

Lets take the $200,000 "she" paid in taxes from the lottery.  If she is receiving $200 a month in food stamps lets figure out how much of the $200,000 in taxes "paid by her" from her winnings covers with her food stamps. so we will divide the $200,000 by $200 dollars per month we get 1000 months out of the $200,000 "she paid in taxes" from her winnings. 1000 months divided by 12 months a year  gives us 83.3 years worth of $200 dollars a month in food stamps.  From this basic math you can see that she is actually going to be living off of her own tax dollars for 83.3 years.  I am not sure if there is a cut off on how long you can keep receiving benefits. So lets assume you can keep it for 18 years(because most people get it for their child)  83 years minus 18 years = 65.33 years so after she is past the limit on drawing food stamps there is 65.33 years left over of $200 a month for others . so lets divide that by the number we decided on of 18 years to see how many people can receive benefits off the remainder 65.33/ 18 = 3.629

Lets look at from the perspective of the amount of money left over instead of the time.  18 years at $200 a month is $43,200 which is how much she will use in 18 years of being on $200 dollars a month food stamps. Leaving $156,800 for the food stamp program.

Lets divide that up to see what else can be done with it.( now keep in mind we are still working with the money that Amanda Clayton paid for the taxes on her winnings.) We will take the $156,800 left after Amanda receives 18 years of food stamps out of the taxes she paid on her winnings.
 At $200 a month 1 person receives $2,400 a year in food stamps at 18 years that one person can receive $43,200 over the 18 year period in food stamps  now lets divide that number out of  the $156,800 left from the money paid in taxes by Amanda from her winnings. to see how many people can receive 18 years of benefits $156,800/ $43,200= 3.629  so basically 3 people in addition to Amanda can receive  $200 a month in food stamps for 18 years off just the money that Amanda paid in taxes from her winnings.

Now lets Recap Amanda Clayton paid $200,000 in taxes from her lottery winnings. After she Receives 18 years worth of food stamps at $200 a month there is  $156,800 left. Enough for 3 more people to receive 18 years of food stamps at $200 a month.  and a surplus left in taxes of $27,200 which is still enough for 11 additional people to receive 1 year of food stamps.
 So the question I leave you with is, "whose" tax dollars are being used by Amanda Clayton? , and Is Amanda Clayton hurting or helping the economy?
From the results above, She is only receiving her own tax dollars, and she is helping the economy by supporting additional people in the tax program from her taxes paid from her winnings.

Does poverty hurt academic success?

          While reading through the various new articles about test scores, I have seen a common argument about poverty affecting test scores.  Is this true or is it just an excuse?

I will start out with a personal note. I was a very impoverished teen in high school. I had to work two jobs while going to school. My parents were so poor I eventually had to live with my grandparents, who although were not much better off than my parents, they at least provided a steady home.

However they were unable to afford all of the things that I needed for school. My school required special clear backpacks which my family could not afford. I had to buy those and  I was responsible for all of my clothing, car payment and insurance.
School supplies was another expense I had to work for.

While most students were sitting at home doing homework or out with friends, I was at work. I became an emancipated teen so I could work the late hours I needed just to survive financially.  Unlike the students who would go out with friends I was unable to stay up late doing homework, or do it in the morning before class. I worked so late that I was already only getting a few hours of sleep.  I did however pay attention in class, and read while on my lunch breaks at work.

Luckily most of my teachers, would focus on teaching an understanding of material rather that just rote memorization. My teachers also spoke to me on their level like I was a colleague in some situations, or they would at least speak to me like an adult rather than like a third grader. Not all of them were like this, I did have some bad teachers. However, most of it was due to the student to teacher ratio being so unbalanced that inexperienced teachers had to sometimes ":fill in" the gaps.  No matter how old you are , most teachers treat their students like small children.

 I believe it was the way some of my teachers would treat me that helped me not only understand the material, but also have the desire and ability to learn on my own.
Due to school policies homework was 2/3 of the grade and I did very poorly in my classes. However all of my final exams were A's and B's, which is the only reason I was allowed to graduate.  ( thanks to an amazing teacher Mrs Janice Miller who rallied the rest of my teachers to get the school to allow me graduation and a diploma) I also was ale to achieve a 35 on the ACT test which shows that I was still able to learn despite my financial situation.

I have gotten a little off topic here, but I believe it is important to see that the way we treat students can go a long way in helping them learn. So if you have a student who is on a free lunch program or their parents can not afford all of the things they need for school, treat them like an adult who is at the same economic status that you are. They will respect you so much more for it , and will be more apt to get a lot more out of your lessons.

I will leave off with a question. Does how much money you have determine intelligence? Does a student whose parents can buy them a a brand new laptop, have an advantage over the student whose parents can barely afford  pencils and paper? Should we change how we teach students of different economic backgrounds?

The answer to all of these is no. If a course in high school is designed to require a laptop the school should provide one, or not require it. If a school is in a lower income district it should still get the same amount of funding that a school in a high income district gets.

I will just leave this open to comments and continue as I get questions. I may come back to this in a later post.

What math means to me?

   I love math, but I also realize that not everyone looks at math the same way. When I look at math, I see the beautiful mystery that can define everything in our world and beyond. I see a glimpse into unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Once you begin to delve deeper into mathematics, you begin to have an understanding of the world around you that only mathematicians get to enjoy.

    After you have gotten into to higher level mathematics, some of the problems you solve will begin to fill up your page like a poetry of numbers.  I know when I am solving problems that fill up a page I will take my finished product and just step back and look at the beauty of it. Even if you don't see the beauty in a page full of formulas, computers have allowed us to manifest formulas into beautiful works of art.  Fractals offer us an in depth look at the artistic capabilities of even the most mechanical of ideas. 
    The connection math has to all other subjects is infinite. Even the art world uses mathematics. The golden ratio, related to Fibonacci numbers, is considered the formula for beauty. All of these various connections in mathematics further enhances the beauty it holds.
    In addition to the art and poetry of mathematics, there is also the critical thinking aspect. Mathematics is logic conceptualized. It is about modeling our world into tangible coherent forms, and finding patterns and connections. Some refer to mathematics as the language of the universe, but it is beyond that. It is how we take abstract ideas and create a language to share and understand those ideas.

I know that most people do not look at math the way I do, and I am interested in getting some feedback on What math means to you?  Everyone has their own story or way of looking at math, even if you are completely frustrated with math I would like to see the comments I get.

So please leave some comments on what math means to you so we can discuss and compare how everyone looks at it. I am very interested to see the variety of responses I get.