“How did you multiply this times 2.5 and get this?” I ask.
He looks at the problem for a while.
“I multiplied it a different way,” he says.
ME: Shouldn’t this answer be 41 instead of 71?
HIM: No, Alex.
ME: Why are you calling me Alex?
HIM: What is “no”?
He’s reading a word problem aloud:
“Maggie was traveling with her family on the Oregon Trail. The first day, they traveled 11 miles, the second day they traveled 9 miles, and the third day they traveled 14 miles.”
Pause.
“Now that was a good story!”