Dear all,
here comes the third (and to my opinion absolutely best) joke which was told to me by a member of the organisation committee in Gdansk. Since the joke is even better fitting for our situation in Germany, I took the freedom to adapt it a little to our German and in paerticular to my personal environment.
Best regards Otto
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A middle school in Germany, fifth year of education. Day of "open door" (with the purpose of inviting parents and to convince them to register their younger children into that school).
Demonstration of a normal lecture in mathematics.
The teacher is Renate Spaniol, my wife who is really a teacher of mathematics in such a school and who teaches in classes five and six.
Renate Spaniol: "Welcome, my dear parents to our school and to this lecture in mathematics. I'll come directly to the point. As you know for sure, our school has not got the very best reputation (by the way: that is indeed true for the school where my wife is a teacher!). However, this rumour is far from being true. We are admittedly not world class, but we are also not regional class. We are quite ok - and I hope that after our lecture you will be convinced that our pupils have already learned a lot. Thus we'll start. Willi, would you please come to me".
Willi comes forward.
Renate Spaniol: "My dear parents, this is Willi. He is a quite normal schoolboy. Not our best one but by far not our worst one, just average. Willi has not been prepared by me beforehand, please believe that. Willi: I would like to put you a mathematical problem: How much is 2 + 2? Please do not disappoint me since this will be decisive whether we get new pupils next year or not".
Willi (with some hesitation): "Three?"
Renate Spaniol: "Oh my god, Willi. What did you do? This answer is wrong!".
And the whole class rhythmically shouting: "GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! ......
Renate Spaniol (after two minutes of full frustration): "Ok, last chance! Willi: How much is 2 + 2?"
Willi (hesitating even more): "Five?".
Renate Spaniol: "Oh my dear Willi, this is maybe even wronger than the first answer. We will have to dissolve our school next year. But before we will probably have to send you back to another school which has some lower prestige than our shcool".
And the whole class rhythmically shouting: "GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! ......
Renate Spaniol (after ten minutes of uninterruped shouting by the class) totally demoralized: "Oh yes, I'll give you a new chance but this will be the very very last one. Willi: How much is 2 + 2?"
Willi (with full trembling body): "Four?"
And the whole class rhythmically shouting: "GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! GIVE HIM A NEW CHANCE! ......