Infraction wrote on Feb 15^th, 2011 at 5:56am:


I doubt it.

300 dollars isn't very much to get someone to compromise their ethics.

At least once per semester, a kid asks me if they can give me money to not have to do some piece of homework or something similar.  I then explain to them that if I were caught taking a bribe, I'd certainly be fired and I would probably lose my license to teach.  Since that means I'd be out of a job and wouldn't be able to get a new job, any potential bribe would have to be enough for me to retire on.

Because of that, I'm happy to accept any bribe that is $300,00 or more since that's the amount that I figure I'll need on top of what I have now in order to retire.

I'm pleased to say that this shuts the kids right up on that topic.  When I used to just say, "No, I don't take bribes," someone would always try to push the issue, trying to find out what it would really take for me to compromise my ethics.

No one ever believes "I can't be bought" but people are entirely willing to believe "I'm more expensive than you can afford." 

Honestly, I wouldn't.  To me this is like installing an aimbot and playing Counterstrike.  Part of the fun of playing is the accomplishment of gearing up.

Kimberlite wrote on Feb 15^th, 2011 at 10:59am:


Yeah, it was supposed to be three hundred thousand dollars.  I can imagine that one of our resident Euros might be particularly confused by that one. 

I actually used to work in IT and I went into teaching once I could afford to do so.  I think it's both depressing and hysterical when I hear people complaining about how much teachers get paid for "only" 9 months of work when I think about the fact that I had to save up so that I could afford to teach.

The $300,000 is just the amount that I know I need to finish out my retirement fund.  If one of my students actually did offer me $300,000 for an A in one of my classes, I'd turn him down because I'd expect that the kid was more likely trying to record me on his cell phone as taking a bribe than actually trying to offer one for real.  Can't imagine anyone paying $300,000 just to have a free ride in Algebra.


On a mildly related note, I also answer non-math questions for anyone who wants to know about something that I find interesting.  Some students were asking me questions about religion, so I answered them, always saying, "Christianity teaches that..." or, "Buddhism teaches that..." as my answer to each of their questions about specific religions.  One of the students noticed that and asked me what I believed, so I put up a challenge.  Anyone who can guess my specific religion gets an A for the entire course (not just the marking period).  They have to guess my specific religion, though, not just "Christian" or "Muslim" or whatever.

I figure if they can't even successfully guess what my religion is, then their parents would be hard pressed to show that I'm trying to push my religion on them when I answer their questions. 

Cash on the table drives prices downward.  It's one thing to talk money, it's an entirely different thing when the money is on the table in front of you.

On topic, I wouldn't pay much more than a few bucks.