Fuzzy Math Teachers Give Abdul “A” for Effort
LOS ANGELES. Progressive math instructors rushed to the defense of Paula Abdul, the pop singer and judge of “American Idol”, for miscounting the number of songs performed by contestant Jason Castro Tuesday night.
Castro: Maybe his one song was so bad it seemed like two.
“She said two when he only sang one–big deal,” said Paul Baddour, a math instructor at Don Ameche Middle School in Chula Vista, California. “The important thing is she felt good about her answer.”
Paula Abdul: “I can wrap my arms around my waist–can you?”
Abdul is a Grammy Award-winning singer, dancer, butcher, backer, candlestick-maker, choreographer, television personaltiy, doctor, lawyer and Indian chief who has been a judge on American Idol since 2000. “Fuzzy math” refers to a pedagogical method that discourages memorization of algorithms, whatever they are, and encourages children to ”discover” principles of mathematics that have been known for centuries so that teachers can use ”professional” days to watch television or shop at outlet clothing stores.
Young Paula under pressure.
On Tuesday night’s show judges were asked for the first time in American Idol history to take notes and offer critiques at the end of a round, rather than delivering their appraisals immediately after a contestant finished his or her song.
“We’ve got so many contestants I need a calculator!”
“That was really unfair,” said Lynette Skinner, President of the Paula Abdul International Fan Club. “Paula’s got a lot of things on her mind, like the words to ‘Straight Up’ and ‘Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow’. A pop quiz like that would confuse an Einstein.”
Einstein: “Paula may have better legs, but I’ve got a bodacious brain.”
Fuzzy math instructors encourage students to work in collaboration, and applauded the assistance that Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest gave Abdul when she became confused:
ABDUL: That second song, I felt like your usual charm wasn’t–it was missing for me. It kind of left me thinking about the Pythagorean theorem . . .
(smattering of audience laughter)
JACKSON: I think you mean Euclidean geometry . . .
COWELL: Or maybe trigonometric functions . . .
SEACREST: We’re going to take a station break.
May 2, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Paula has been treated so unfairly. She’s one of the world’s leading nuclear physicists, after all, but because she’s pretty people don’t take her seriously.