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Math at Work Monday: Labor Day 2012 Edition

It’s been a rough year for the U.S. economy and workforce. No matter what your political stripe, there’s no sugar coating the numbers: unemployment is still high and people around the country are struggling. In honor of Labor Day, we’ll look at the numbers behind this news.

Once a month, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics releases its employment data, and here are some interesting numbers from July 2012. (August 2012 data will be released on September 7, 2012.) Remember, this is just raw data. The numbers are important, but they can’t really tell the story behind the country’s (or a portion of the population’s) economic and employment situation. People will interpret this information differently, based on their ideologies and personal philosophies. (Politicians will interpret this data based on who they want to attract to the voting booth.)

155.013 million: The number of people in the workforce (16 years and older).

47.8: Percent of women in private workforce

82.6: Percent of women in total production and non-supervisory positions.

34.5: Average weekly hours worked for all employees.

33.7: Average weekly hours worked for all production and non-supervisory positions.

$23.52: The average hourly earnings for all employees.

$19.77: The average hourly earnings for all employees in production and non-supervisory positions.

11.472 million: Number of people in the workforce with less than a high school diploma or equivalent.

37.047 million: Number of people in the workforce with a high school diploma or equivalent.

37.398 million: Number of people in the workforce with some college or an associates degree.

47.697 million: Number of people in the workforce with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

9.616 million: Number of self-employed workers (including agriculture workers).

8.246 million: Number of people who are working part time (one to 34 hours a week), for economic reasons.

6.9: Unemployment rate* for all veterans.

8.9: Unemployment rate for all Gulf War II-era veterans.

12.4: Unemployment rate for all Gulf War II-Era veterans in the previous month (June 2012).

8.3: Unemployment rate for all non-veterans (18 years and older).

18.866 million: Number of people who are working part time (one to 34 hours a week), for other reasons (including childcare problems, school, training or family or personal reasons).

2.711: Number of people who have been unemployed for less than 5 weeks.

3.092 million: Number of people who have been unemployed for 5 to 14 weeks.

6.945 million: Number of people who have been unemployed for more than 15 weeks.

38.8: Average duration of unemployment in weeks.

*The unemployment rate is the percentage of the workforce that is unemployed at any given date.

Based on these numbers, what do you think about the current economy? What kinds of questions do these numbers raise? Are there other numbers that you would like to see? How does this data inform you as a voter? (Don’t worry, we won’t get into big political discussions here. I promise.)

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Math at Work Monday: Tiffany the math teacher

Today is the first day of school here, so I decided to repost this Math at Work Monday interview with Tiffany Choice, a middle school math teacher in Fairfax, Virginia. You might be a little surprised by how she uses math in her work!

I know what you’re thinking. “It’s so obvious how a 6th grade teacher would use math! She’s teaching fractions and division and percents!”

There’s always a lot more to teaching than the rest of us may think. And that’s why I asked Tiffany Choice to answer today’s Math at Work Monday questions.  Ms. Choice was my daughter’s 4th grade teacher, and she’s the best elementary math teacher I’ve ever met.  She truly made the math fun, and she really got into her lessons.  I know this for sure, because I had the pleasure of subbing for Ms. Choice while she was on maternity leave.  Let me tell you, those kids loved her — and so do I!

Last year, Ms. Choice moved to Fairfax County, Virginia.  She’s getting ready to start teaching 6th grade there.  In honor of what was supposed to be our first day of school — until Hurricane Irene changed our plans! — here’s how she uses math in her classroom.

Can you explain what you do for a living? I teach state-mandated curriculum to students. My job also includes communicating to parents progress and/or concerns, appropriately assessing my students, and analyzing data to drive my instruction and lessons.

When do you use basic math in your job?  I use math all the time — mostly basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. When I plan lessons, I need to appropriately plan for activities that will last a certain length of time. Then, when I am teaching the lessons, I am watching the clock and using timers to keep my lessons moving or calculating elapsed time.

I also use math to grade assignments and calculate grades. I break a student’s grade into 4 categories; participation, homework, classwork, test/projects. Each category has a different weight. Participation and homework are each 10 percent, while classwork and test/projects are each 40 percent. Then for each grading period, I average grades and take the appropriate percentage to get the overall grade.

I also use math to analyze data and drive my instruction. After quarter assessments or chapter tests are given, I look for trends. Which questions did the majority of students get incorrect? If I notice out of 60 students only 30% of them got a certain question correct this says to me that most of them (42 to be exact) got the question wrong. I need to figure out why and go back.

I will also use math to group my students for games and activities. When I originally plan for them I always assume all students will be present. However, with absences and such I have to use last-minute division to regroup them.  I move desks around into different groups periodically during the year, and that requires division as well.[pullquote]It’s completely normal to feel anxious or nervous about math. But a great teacher at any level (primary to college) will help you “get it.”  Just don’t give up.[/pullquote]

When I plan for field trips, I have to calculate the total cost for each student depending on the fees involved. Then, I have to count large amounts money that has been collected to account for the correct amounts.

Do you use any technology (like calculators or computers) to help with this math?  At my first teaching job, I had a computer program that calculated grades for me, but when I left and went to a new district I didn’t have that software, so I did grades all by hand using a calculator.

How do you think math helps you do your job better? The whole point of my job is to get students to learn and become great thinkers. I wouldn’t be able to find or focus on areas of weakness if I wasn’t able to properly analyze data and comprehend what it really means to me.

What kind of math did you take in high school?  Did you like it or feel like you were good at it? I only took algebra and geometry in high school. I was terrible at math in high school and didn’t enjoy it or “get it” until college. I started in a community college and I had to take two developmental math classes before I could take what was required. It was during those developmental courses I finally “got it” and began to actually enjoy it. Everything finally made sense.

It’s completely normal to feel anxious or nervous about math. But a great teacher at any level (primary to college) will help you “get it.”  Just don’t give up.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do this math? The math I use to do my job is math that is taught up to the middle school level. I didn’t have to learn anything special.

Thanks so much, Ms. Choice!  (I don’t think I can ever call her Tiffany!)  If you have questions for Ms. Choice, just ask them in the comments section.  She has agreed to come back to Math for Grownups to talk a bit about how parents can work with their kids’ math teachers, so stay tuned for more advice from her.  

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Math at Work Monday: Samantha the Freelance Designer

I had the pleasure of speaking with Samantha Volz who has the pleasure of working from her very own home every day. That is one of the benefits of being a freelance designer. In addition to graphic design, this artist also does photography. It seems she is creatively blessed with talent.  I was curious about how she uses math in her work. Let’s take a look at what she had to say:

Can you explain what you do for a living?

I’ve been working as a freelance designer since 2001.  I design marketing/advertising material for companies. In addition, I also design websites and other support files for social media applications. I am a photographer, painter, and artist as well.

When do you use basic math in your job?

I have to use specifications to set up design files. Set up bleed, trim and safe zones so that when the file gets to the printer, it is set up correctly and prints correctly. For instance, if I have a print sheet that is 8.5 by 11 inches for a trifold brochure, I need to divide the paper by three and adjust 1/8th of the 3 panel. Depending on how the trifold folds, I will need to adjust the panels 1/16th of an inch if a panel folds in. Then, on the layout in the software I have to consider set up for a printing press or digital printing if my graphics bleed to the edge I have to add at least 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch of graphics that extends past the actual final layout for being trimmed down to allow for machine error. So my final file that is handed over to the print vendor is 8.5 x11 with bleed 1/8th bleed on all sides. Total graphic coverage is 8.75 x 11.25 trimmed down to 8.5 x 11 and scored for folds indicated on the set up with 3 panels roughly 3.66 ” wide, again depends on the fold design chosen for that tri-fold brochure how it will read, flow and open up to reveal the information being provided.

Do you use any technology (like calculators or computers) to help with this math? Why or why not?

Yes, I use a calculator a lot.

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

I could not do my job without it. It is how everything flows from the client to me, the designer, and then to the printer until it is produced as an end product.

How comfortable with math do you feel? Does this math feel different to you?

I am comfortable with normal addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, and fractions. Nothing too complicated.

What kind of math did you take in high school? Did you like it/feel like you were good at it?

I took honors math classes.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job? Or was it something that you could pick up using the skills you learned in school?

Yes, what I use now I learned in high school.

Who knew that the creative type still need to know their basic calculations and fractions?  Seems like everywhere you go, even in your home, math is sure to follow. I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Samantha. Let me know if you have any further questions for her. 

Photo Credit: 55Laney69 via Compfight cc

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Math at Work Monday: Leah the firefighter

Leah Davis is tough as nails. She’s been a firefighter in North Carolina for 17 years. These days, she is a Captain EMT — intermediate. I had never really thought about the math required to fight fires, but reading through Leah’s responses, it all makes perfect sense. If your little guy or gal is interested in firefighting as a career, this interview is a must-read!

Can you explain what you do for a living?

I am a Captain on a fire engine. This means that I respond to and mitigate emergencies ranging from motor vehicle accidents, fires (all sorts), medical emergencies and rescues. In addition to providing emergency response, I complete preplans of existing businesses; the preplans are walk-through inspections that provide information about a building’s layout and any hazards that might be associated with the business. As a member of the fire service, I am responsible for participating and providing training in all aspects of the job.

When do you use basic math in your job?

Within the fire service, there are many opportunities to use math. The first one that comes to mind is calculating pump pressure to determine the PSI (pounds per square inch) on the end of a nozzle.  Basic math skills, like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, are necessary. A basic understanding of hydraulics and a good understanding of formula usage is vital.

In order to calculate the amount of nozzle pressure is necessary, the engineer must find the friction loss of hose distance, along with appliances and elevation. Only then can the pump be set up properly. Engine pressure is the sum of the nozzle pressure plus the friction loss plus any elevation or devices. Based on the engine pressure formula EP = NP + FL, if we need a nozzle pressure of 100 psi to flow 100 GPM then the engine pressure needs to be greater then 100 psi.

When determining how much water will be required for any given structure that is 100 percent involved in a fire, the fire engineer must calculate the area and divide by 3. This gives the gallons per minute required to extinguishing the fire.

Math is also used when providing medical care. The division is used in calculating the correct dosage of medications to administer. Many medications are calculated milligrams per kilograms or mg/kg.

Do you use any technology to help with this math?

I use a calculator when finding the fire flow or GPM needed on the preplans.

Technology is not usually used on the fire ground when calculating the engine pressure. The engineer needs to be well trained and able to calculate the engine pressure in their heads.

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

Having a math competency provides me with additional problem-solving skills. The fire service is about problem-solving.

How comfortable with math do you feel?

Although I am not a math whiz by any means, I do feel relatively comfortable with math most of the time. The math that is used within the fire service–like the area of a structure, GPM needed, nozzle pressure, medication dosage–helps ensure the safety of firefighters and others.

What kind of math did you take in high school?

I did not take much math in high school because I did not like it and did not feel successful. However, in college, I was required to take remedial math courses and then was able to move on to taking more advanced classes, including calculus. I graduated from college with a good understanding of math and problem-solving. I also found that I enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of math.  Too bad I didn’t pay more attention when I was in high school.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job?

I was comfortable with my math skills when I entered the fire service.

Do you, or your child, have math questions like the ones in this firefighting story? If so, buy the book that will help you with the math here. As for summer-slide activities, why not take your child to a fire station for a tour? While you’re there, ask about the math required on the job.

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Math at Work Monday: Charlie the baseball writer

Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that math plays a pretty big role. From how the pitcher releases the ball to the many stats that help rank the best players, the game depends on numbers. No one knows this better than Charlie Vascellaro. He’s been a freelance baseball (and travel) writer for 20 years. Here’s how he uses math in his work.

Can you explain what you do for a living?

I write baseball and travel feature stories for magazines, newspapers and web sites. A lot of my baseball writings are historical retrospective pieces that include statistical analysis and comparisons. In a recent story on this year’s National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Barry Larkin, I compared his batting statistics to those of other shortstops enshrined in the Hall of Fame. I also write spring training preview stories on major league baseball teams that rely heavily on statistical information used to explain each teams relative strengths and weaknesses and how they compare to other teams. I use this information to measure each teams’ relative prospects for the upcoming seasons. Last spring I wrote a feature story on current players chances of being elected to the Hall of Fame based on statistics produced so far and projections for the future (see excerpts below).

Jered Weaver, 29, had what could be described as a breakout season in 2011, reaching a career best with 18 victories and a 2.41 ERA. In six seasons, Weaver has compiled an 82-47 record, for a very Hall-of-Fame-like .632 winning percentage with a 3.31 ERA.  The 300-victory-pitcher is fast becoming an endangered species, and consequently, not a necessary prerequisite for the Hall, but Weaver would still have to maintain his current pace, and actually improve upon it a bit, to merit consideration for Cooperstown; a 20-win season or two would certainly improve his chances. 

            Of the current White Sox players, slugging first baseman/DH Paul Konerko compares favorably with Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda in similarity of scores posted on Baseball-Reference.com, and although he has not quite reached 400 home runs, (he’s currently at 396) he probably will this year. Konerko’s numbers are also similar to what Reggie Jackson’s were at the same age, and his .282 batting average is 20 points higher than Jackson’s .262 career mark. Jackson hit 39 home runs at age 36 and 99 home runs in his last 5 years on the field. Konerko hit 31 last year at age 35, and will probably end up pretty close to Jackson’s 563. In today’s age of inflated offense, Konerko’s eventual career statistics might be on the cusp of Hall-of-Fame-worthiness, but I like his chances. 

When do you use basic math in your job?

Oftentimes while I am writing a baseball story I will consult the www.baseballreference.com website to research statistical material. Sometimes I might have to tally up home-run and runs-batted-in totals and divide them by the number of years to decipher the average numbers per year.  I do a lot of multiplication and division to figure percentages. For example, a player’s batting average can be figured by dividing the number of hits by the number of at bats. Three hits out of 10 at-bats is 3 ÷ 10 or .300.

Earned run average (ERA) is a measure of a pitcher’s relative effectiveness and is often referenced when writing about pitchers. Earned run average is the number of earned runs scored against a pitcher, divided by the number of innings pitched multiplied by nine (the number of innings in a regulation game). Earned runs are scored without the assistance of a fielding errors. ERA is represented with a number followed by a decimal and two percentage points explaining how many runs a pitcher gives up in an average nine-inning game. Here’s an example: In 1985, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets gave up 47 earned runs in 276 and 2/3 innings pitched for a National League leading ERA of 1.53, a number which has not been reached by any starting pitcher since Gooden accomplished the feat. Prior to Gooden’s stellar season, no pitcher had recorded an ERA as low as Gooden’s 1985 figure since Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968. (His ERA was 1.12.)

Do you use any technology (like calculators or computers) to help with this math?

I use the calculator on my computer, which I can move around on top of the statistical information, so that both are visible to me at the same time.

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

Math and baseball are inseparable. Mathematical measurements are employed to explain batters’ and pitchers’ relative success and failure. Individual and team statistics are used by writers to explain what has transpired during the course of a baseball game, a baseball season and a baseball career.

How comfortable with math do you feel?

I was not very proficient at math in high school or college. In fact I struggled with high school algebra which is as far as I have advanced in mathematical skills and could probably not solve an algebraic equation today. I would like to strengthen my math skills.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job?

Thankfully, I have been figuring batting averages and earned run averages since I first became a baseball fan. Fortunately I can still get by in my baseball writing with the rudimentary math skills that I have. However, statistical analysis in baseball has become much more complicated and there are certain statistical formulas that I do not understand.

Read a few of Charlie’s stories:

The Real Indians of Baseball

The Living Spirits of Sports Legends

The King and I: Remembering and Writing about Dave Kingman

Do you have questions for Charlie? Ask them in the comments section, and I’ll let him know they’re here. Do you remember learning math through baseball when you were a kid? Share your stories below.

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Math at Work Monday: Ethan the game designer

Aaaaand we’re back with weekly editions of Math at Work Monday! This month, we’ll have lots of great interviews with folks who are in the kinds of jobs that kids say they want. This way, parents can tell their kids with confidence: “Yes, you will need math.”

First up is Ethan Ham, who is a game designer and professor. Games he’s worked on include Sanctum and The Sims Online. In fact, he’s such an expert, he’s written the book on game design: The Building Blocks of Game Design (Routledge, May 2013). As you might imagine, game design is chock full of math — the kind of math that most folks don’t do regularly. Take a look.

Can you explain what you do for a living? 

A game designer is the person who plans out the rules for a game, whether it is a board game or a computer game. A game programmer is the person who takes the game design and implements it on a computer. I did both of these jobs professionally for about 6 years. While I still work on the occasional game project, these days I spend most of my time teaching game design (at the City College of New York, CUNY) and writing about it.

When do you use basic math in your job?  

The main math I use as a game designer include probability and algorithms.

Any game that involves chance (such as the chance that a sword swing in World of Warcraft will hit) requires probability. It’s an odd branch of math and something that our intuition is often wrong about. When I teach game design, I always introduce probability by asking my students what are the odds that rolling two six-sided dice will result in at least one die coming up as a “6.” In the past 8 years I have never had a student guess the correct answer (11/36).

(Editor’s Note: Ethan developed this dice simulator to help game designers quickly deal with probabilities. It’s very cool!)

An algorithm is a like recipe for making a calculation. A lot of computer game design involves coming up with game mechanics in the form of algorithms.

As a programmer, I largely use algebra, geometry and trigonometry. I don’t use calculus much, but would probably use it more often if I did games that involve modeling physics. Recently I used logarithms in some computer code that shifts the pitch of a sound.

Beyond math, logic and problem-solving skills are incredibly important to game programming.

Do you use any technology to help with this math?  

Aside from the obvious need of computers to program the games, I often find myself searching the web to refresh my memory of how to calculate, for example, how to find the change in position based on an object’s vector.

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

It’s critical—I couldn’t do my job without it.

How comfortable with math do you feel?  

I’m comfortable figuring things out that I don’t initially understand (a characteristic of most programmers). So even though I don’t always have the math I need in my head, I can track it down.

What kind of math did you take in high school?  

Geometry, trigonometry, one semester of Advanced Placement calculus. I was reasonably good at it, but not the best in my class (except for probability).

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job? Or was it something that you could pick up using the skills you learned in school?

Most of the math I learned in school, but I often need to re-learn it in order to put it to use.

Do you (or your kids) have questions for Ethan? Ask them in the comments section, and I’ll be sure to let him know to come back and respond. But first, print out this quirky — and challenging — connect-the-dots picture that Ethan created. After reading the instructions on page 2, see if you (or your kid) can figure it out!

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Math at Work Monday: Julie the travel agent

The details involved in a big vacation can be so overwhelming. And from determining the best prices on airfare to figuring out when you’re going to arrive at your destination, there’s a ton of math involved. That’s exactly why my family contacted Julie Sturgeon, owner of Curing Cold Feet, to help us plan our trip to the Galapagos Islands several years ago. Julie is just the person you want — detail oriented, always on the lookout for the best deal and very, very careful with your hard-earned cash. She proclaims a distinct fear of math, but she’s managed to turn that around and build a very successful travel agency. She was also kind enough to bare her math soul today.

Can you explain what you do for a living? I research, recommend, and book travel packages for both family vacations and business trips. This involves checking everything from airline schedules and prices to comparing amenities for the price at all-inclusive resorts, cruise lines, and hosted tour packages. I also book hotel rooms and car rentals.

When do you use basic math in your job?  Most of my math involves basic adding, subtracting and determining percentages. For instance, if a family wants to go to Walt Disney World for 5 days, but they know nothing more than that, I would prepare charts that show the costs of a value hotel with Hopper passes versus a moderate hotel with Hopper passes versus a deluxe hotel without Hopper passes. The chart would also show what happens to the price if you add any of the three meal plans to this vacation package. This way, families can weigh their values against their budget — at $3,200, for example, would they really need a sit-down meal every day versus a fast food option at their original budget of $2,400? Or should they keep the higher food plan and stay at a less expensive hotel?

Other times, I need to show vacationers why one package is better than another. For instance, a property may be running national commercials on all the cable channels advertising “30% off your stay in July.”  A couple wants to take advantage of that deal and calls asking for it specifically. Meanwhile, a supplier has a bulk inventory pricing on the property next door, which actually has higher ratings at Trip Advisor, and that total price comes out $100 less. And the property down the beach always offers rooms at the rate from the nationally advertised brand. I need to be able to explain in simple numbers why the 30% off deal isn’t really a sale in this circumstance, so they aren’t overly impressed with something that is, in fact, ordinary.

The second way I use math is more behind the scenes. Vacation packages require a deposit, with a final payment on a specified date. Just making sure you don’t over- or underpay requires a calculator. And sometimes it can become even more complicated when two people are sharing a room and want to divide the cost into two equal payments across two credit cards. I really have to stay on the numbers ball if they choose to make incremental payments before the final payment on split credit cards!

Do you use any technology to help with this math? I use a calculator as an insurance policy that the numbers come out right. Whenever I need to translate foreign currency quotes to US dollars, I use xe.com, and I use worldtimeserver.com when determining the time difference between two countries.

How do you think math helps you do your job better? It allows me to be an advisor and research assistant as opposed to a salesperson. I am more comfortable — and therefore more effective — in that role.

How comfortable with math do you feel? I am very math phobic. When I was a journalist, I had my engineering husband check any statistics conclusions I had to make, because I didn’t trust myself to choose the right formula to get the right answer. We have a pool table, and everyone in my family tells me the key to winning a game is to use geometric principles. I’ve never won a game. At one point in my life, I thought about getting an MBA but learned I’d need to take the GMAT for my admission application. So I decided to take math lessons, borrowed a seventh grader’s textbook and ended up in tears because I couldn’t understand it. Needless to say, I’ve never taken the GMAT, and I consider an MBA closed to me.

But this feels completely different because it’s about someone’s money. This counting makes sense to me, it feels important, and it really doesn’t stray that far from the basics I learned in grade school.

What kind of math did you take in high school? I was required to take two years of math to graduate, and I enrolled in algebra and geometry. I was allowed to take classes with the word “remedial” in them for the diploma, but my pride wouldn’t let me, since I was in the accelerated track for every other topic. I passed both math classes with a C, although I had to have a tutor to get me to that point, and I spent every in-class study period getting one-on-one help from the math teacher.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job? I had everything I needed except confidence. That came only when my desire to protect people’s hard-earned money was greater than my fear.

All you need to get comfortable with basic math is a victory. It gets easier from there. Start with balancing your checkbook. Or figuring out how much faster you will be out of debt if you pay X amount more each month on a financial commitment. The fact that it’s worth real money to you is a powerful motivation, and when you get it right, you know you can do it again.

Questions for Julie? Post them in the comments section, and I’ll be sure to let her know they’re here!

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Math at Work Monday (Thursday): Lee the yogurt maker

I’m on vacation! (Can you tell?) So this week’s schedule is way off. But when I saw that Lee Doyle, owner of BTO Self Serve Yogurt in Colorado had sent along her Math at Work Monday responses, I decided to spend just a few moments during a delicious hotel breakfast of Cheerios and milk to post the interview. Then I’m back in the car, headed to Cincinnati to my cousin’s wedding.

There’s nothing better than a cool treat on a hot summer’s day, and since I was a little girl, the options have expanded exponentially. From popcicles to snowballs (a Maryland-only experience) to frozen yogurt — ice cream isn’t the only sweet, cold treat available. At the Doyle’s Highland Ranch location of BTO Self Serve Yogurt, you can create your own delicious treat. But first, the math:

Can you explain what you do for a living? 

I am responsible for creating and making all the yogurt at the shop, buying ingredients for recipes and estimating useage of product and toppings weekly.

When do you use basic math in your job?

I use math all day, everyday. Since I create and follow recipes, I use addition, subtraction, liquid and dry measurements, fractions, estimation, equivalency charts multiplication, division, just about every kind of basic math you can think of. For example, if I am creating a new recipe, I use one cup of our basic yogurt and add a teaspoon or tablespoon of various flavors to come up with a new flavor I like. Then I have to write a recipe using a gallon of basic yogurt, because all our recipes are based on one fluid gallon.

Do you use any technology to help with this math?

When I shop for ingredients, I use a calculator constantly to determine price per ounce to be sure the ingredients are within our pricing guidelines.

How comfortable with math do you feel?

I always liked math and feel very comfortable using it. In high school, I took algebra, trigonometry and solids but did not take calculus.

Do you have questions for Lee and Jack? Ask them in the comments section. And of course stay cool with a sweet treat, like frozen yogurt.

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Math at Work Monday: Joelle the assistant camp director

Whether a day or sleep-away, camp is a perineal part of summer for many families. So today, I introduce you to Joelle Kelenson, Director of School Age Programming for the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. She uses math, and she doesn’t even run a math camp!

Can you explain what you do for a living?

During the school year I am in charge of managing the before and after school program at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. The program encompasses 150 children and 30 part-time teenage and college staff. I am responsible for ensuring that our program is up to the health and safety standards of our license, that the children get a healthy snack, training the staff to ensure the well being of all children, that all supplies are purchased, and that all information is communicated with parents. During the summer I switch hats and become the assistant camp director. I develop programming and curriculum for our summer camp, supervise the units heads and specialists and ensure that camp is running smoothly.

When do you use basic math in your job?

I use very basic math in my job like counting how many children are in a room to ensure proper ratios. I also use math to add up staff hours for payroll. In addition I manage a budget of $160,000 so I need to use math to make sure I’m on top it and know where I’m at spending wise.

Do you use any technology to help with this math?

I use a calculator to do my payroll and a formulated Excel spreadsheet to help me manage my budget. I’m also not very good at math so I often use my fingers to count. 🙂

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

If I didn’t use math in my job, my program wouldn’t be up par, we would run a defict and our staff would probably get paid more than they actually worked. Math helps me stay on top of things and manage things.

How comfortable with math do you feel?

Over time I’ve gotten better and more comfortable using math. Most of my math is basic, it was the math of managing the budget that at first made me nervous, but now I’m getting better with it.

What kind of math did you take in high school?

I grew up in Montreal and took advanced math called 436 and 536 in my junior and senior year.  I was never good at math. It didn’t come naturally to me and I hated it, but I worked hard and did well in the classes — except that midway through my senior year, I gave up and barely passed my senior math class. As a result I was forced to drop out of the sciences like physics and chemistry and take more social science classes.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job?

I did not need to learn anything new but rather refresh myself on the basics. I did however learn the benefits the Excel formulas and how they are helpful!

Thanks, Joelle, for being our Math at Work Monday interview today. If you have questions for Joelle, ask them in the comments section. I’ll make sure she sees them and has a chance to respond.

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Math at Work Monday: Some lessons

When I started doing Math at Work Monday interviews, I thought of it as a little experiment. Would people I talk to actually recognize the math they do? Would they feel confident in their math skills? Would the the math they need to succeed in their careers get in the way? I had a theory: Most people don’t realize that they’re doing much of the math they need for an average day.

Now that I’ve got about a year of Math at Work Monday interviews under my belt, it’s a great time to take a closer look. Did my hypothesis stand up? Reading through these interviews again, I’ve noticed five interesting themes.

1. Everyone does math in their jobs. Okay, that’s a duh conclusion, right? But when you consider the number of school kids who ask, “When will I ever use this stuff?” it’s not necessarily a foregone conclusion. In other words, if kids think that by avoiding science, they’ll avoid math in their careers, they should think again.

Kiki Weingarten, a NYC-based executive, corporate and career coach uses math to help her clients understand the financial implications of a career change. Criminal profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole looked for patterns and used statistical analysis to help solve crimes.

2. Many folks don’t know that they’re doing so much math — until someone asks them about it. This has come up over and over again. I’ll ask someone to do a Math at Work Monday interview with me, and they’ll say, “Why would you want to talk to me? I don’t use math in my job.” But once they think about it — even a little — many of them are surprised by the sheer number of numbers in their jobs. From managing their business to practicing their passion, math is everywhere.

Painter Samantha Hand said that she didn’t realize how much math she uses, until we talked about it — then she started making big connections, including using proportions to help paint to scale. When I asked my sister, Melissa Zacharias to participate, she first said that she didn’t really use math. She soon discovered plenty of places that math is useful in her job as a speech therapist who works with adults.

3. Math is particularly prevalent in the visual arts. So much for the myth that people are either artistic or mathematically minded! In fact, math is required in a variety of different aspects of art, from working with materials to managing sales to envisioning the final design. That’s one of the reasons that I devoted an entire month to math in the arts. (And we didn’t even scratch the surface!)

From noted jewelry artist Shana Kroiz to glass artists Ursula Marcum and Beth Perkins, it became clear that the connection between math and art is undeniable. Even museum curator Ann Shafer uses math.

4. Using math tools is fine, but many people depend on their brains. I expected people to tell me that they depended heavily on computers or calculators to do the math they needed. But most folks admitted that they do a heck of a lot of mental math — from basic addition to finding percents.

Kim Hooper uses a calculator to check some figures, but as a copywriter, she also does “margin math,” a grownup version of showing her work. Executive vice president, Gina Foringer uses mental math to quote labor percents for new contracting jobs.

5. People generally like the math they do at work. Of course they don’t always think of the math they do as math (see #2), but the folks I interview feel confident in the skills they need to perform their jobs well. This includes those who say they didn’t do well in school math classes or that they feel like they’ve never really “gotten it.”

Costume designer, Katie Curry says that she doesn’t feel comfortable with math outside of the calculations she needs to draft a creative design (though she can balance her checkbook, of course). When hair stylist Nikki Verdecchia opened her salon a few years ago, she worried that the math would get in her way, but she quickly became comfortable with the calculations she needs to make her business work.

So there you have it — the unscientific results of my unscientific experiment. As I suspected, people don’t mind doing the math in their jobs, and that’s because they don’t even realize that they’re doing math. We’ll see if that trend continues in the upcoming year of Math at Work Monday interviews.

What about you? Do you like the math that you do at work? Are you now realizing that there’s more math than you originally thought? Share your ideas in the comments section.

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Math at Work Monday: Julia the financial aid professional

Any college student who receives financial aid knows the drill. Folks in the financial aid office look carefully at many of the numbers that define a college student’s life — from income to GPA. Financial aid is reserved for those who need the funds the most and maintain good grades, while moving through a degree program in a reasonable amount of time.

Financial aid is also one big reason that some people are able to attend college — and ultimately land a good job in the hopes of remaining financially stable. Julia Dennis just left her job as a financial aid professional for a community college in North Carolina. She offered to share how she used math in her job.

Can you explain what you did for a living? I awarded financial aid (grants, loans, scholarships, and work study) to college students.

When did you use basic math in your job? Mostly adding and subtracting, but also some division and a small amount of multiplication. Here’s an example.

Students are federally required to maintain a 2.0 or higher cumulative GPA and at least a 67% cumulative completion rate. Being able to look at the number of completed versus attempted classes and know at a glance whether the student hit the 67% mark is decidedly helpful. (When it’s close, I always break out the calculator or adding machine to be certain.)  The student also is required to complete their degree in 150% of the allotted time for their program. In other words, if their program is 100 credit hours, they have to complete their degree by the time they have finished attempting no more than 150 credit hours. Math is helpful for that as well.

Did you use any technology to help with this math? Some things I can do without it. For the numbers that look close, I always use a calculator or an adding machine.

How do you think math helped you do your job better? Sometimes students are right on the line. Being able to do the correct calculations to determine their eligibility for aid means the difference between that student going to school or not. In my job, the usefulness of math is a no-brainer.

How comfortable with math do you feel? I’ve always been comfortable with math. I scored higher on the math portion of the SAT than the English, which was weird because English was my favorite subject. I am one of those weird people who actually enjoys balancing the checkbook. I like the preciseness of it.

What kind of math did you take in high school? I took Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus. I can’t say I loved it, but I did pretty well at it.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you used in your job? No new skills required. Most financial aid math involves things you learned in grade school.

Anything else you want to mention?  If math is something you enjoy, then being a financial aid professional is something you might want to consider as a career. On the other hand, it’s important to be good with people too, since so much of being a Financial Aid Counselor or Director is having to give people bad news. You have to be prepared for lots of misplaced anger and a fair amount of stress and overtime.

Stay tuned for more details about financial aid math, along with repaying student loans! 

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Math at Work Monday: Stephen the Realtor

When we moved to Baltimore almost seven years ago, my family and I found amazing friends in our next-door neighbor Stephen Sattler and his partner Neil. So, it is really no surprise that Stephen has now found his calling as a Realtor, working primarily with relocation. Here’s how Stephen uses math in his work.

Can you explain what you do for a living?

Basically, I help my clients find shelter–which includes the buying, renting, selling, and ferreting out of places to live, after listening and then understanding what they’re trying to tell me.

When do you use basic math in your job?

The whole idea of proration is key to the real estate industry.  At the settlement table, the property’s monthly taxes, utilities, interest, and other financial considerations must be equitably split between both buyer and seller, as of that date.  The same thing holds true if you’re renting a house, especially if you’re beginning your term in the middle of a month.  Leases typically call for a yearly total of rent due, which means you just multiply the monthly rent by twelve. But calculating the first month’s rent can be tricky if you don’t know how to calculate the daily rate.  It sounds complicated, but all you have to do is divide the yearly rent by 365. Then you can multiply that by the days left in the month.

Stephen Sattler

Do you use any technology to help with this math?

I do have a fancy real estate calculator that helps with the more complex things like finding a monthly amortization amount at a given interest rate over a set period of time, but for the most part I hand-calculate the math I tend to use from day to day.

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

I wouldn’t really have a job unless I could apply math at its most basic levels:  settlement costs are a typically a set percentage of the sales price, prorated bills are due as of the date the property is transferred, and my income is always a percentage of the total sales price–which can change at each and every transaction.  I feel like I’m always taking quick, armchair calculations to figure out where things generally stand at the end of any given week.

How comfortable with math do you feel?  

I was one of those students in school who tended to excel more in the creative arts–writing, languages, history, and the like.   I have horrible memories of feeling I was the last person in math or science class to even generally grasp the problem being discussed, from algebra to geometry to even basic chemistry.  I don’t think I ever quite figured out how to balance a chemistry equation!

I turned 50 this year, which meant I could finally let go of what hasn’t worked for me in the past.  With GMATs and all the other truly stressful mathematical events I’ve had in my life, I was convinced that my brain just wasn’t wired the right way, or that I even had some sort of math disability.  Put me in a job I absolutely love, however, and help me see how math can help my clients find and then settle into the home of their dreams, and I’m astonished at how mathematically competent I now feel!

What kind of math did you take in high school?  Did you like it/feel like you were good at it?

I took everything mathematical a good properly-educated, college-bound boy was supposed to take, but my God was it absolute torture.  There were so many rules to understand and follow, and you couldn’t really reason or write your way out of a problem–like you could in an essay question in, say, English class–unless you knew how to manipulate the underlying mathematical formulae (which of course my feeble brain could barely even understand let alone memorize and apply).  It also didn’t help that all the math teachers at my school seemed to double as coaches for various sports teams in their after-school lives, and using the same motivational threats they used on the field (Yo–  what the &*^%$ were you #@!) thinking!) didn’t quite have the same result in the classroom with those of us who were not quite as macho about math.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job?

Actually, successfully using math as much as I do now in my everyday job has finally helped me feel I’m not the complete and utter dolt I always thought I was when it came to dealing with figures.

Do you have questions for Stephen about the math of real estate? Please ask them in the comments section. He can responded there or I’ll write another post addressing more complex issues.

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