On August 8 I wrote about the unusual novels of Jasper Fforde in his Thursday Next series, which could basically be described as science fantasy. Recently I finished the first two novels in his Nursery Crime series, set more-or-less in… Read More ›
Month: November 2006
Sudburyopoly
I am told that there is an unfortunate preposition in the game of Sudburopoly, where the first half of the slogan of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School is misstated as “Think of yourself,” rather than “Think for yourself.” I know a… Read More ›
Connecting math with other disciplines
From time to time we try to connect our math teaching with other disciplines. Often this happens naturally — physics examples in precalculus, biology examples in Algebra II, etc. It’s no coincidence that both of these other disciplines are scientific… Read More ›
The Rule of Four
I recently read The Rule of Four, a truly fascinating novel co-written by first-time authors Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Fascinating to me, at any rate — your mileage may vary. If you’re interested in Latin, linguistics, typography, academic mysteries,… Read More ›
Leaving the answer blank
If you don’t know the answer, should you leave it blank or should you guess? An argument can be made on each side: On the one hand, many tests (such as the SAT and the AMC) penalize random guesses by… Read More ›
Using Scheme in the so-called real world?
This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post about replying to student questions concerning applicability of a math topic in the “real world.” At Weston we get a similar question with regard to our selection of Scheme as the Math Department’s… Read More ›
Using math in the so-called real world?
So what do we say when we hear that all-too-familar question, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?” [Grammatical footnote: logically speaking, that sentence should have two question marks at the end, one before and… Read More ›
Case of Lies
Catching up on posts about recent reading: I highly recommend Case of Lies, by Perri O’Shaughnessy, especially if you are interested in math or linguistics. If you’re not, it’s still a solid mystery, well above average for the genre even… Read More ›
Tech Model Railroad Club and MIT Museum
Barbara and I spent an enjoyable couple of hours yesterday visiting the MIT Museum and the Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC). Go see both of them! MIT’s small museum is currently showing five exhibitions: a fascinating collection of holograms —… Read More ›
The Winter's Tale
I’ve never read it; I had never seen it before last night. The Weston High Theater Company is currently performing one of Shakespeare’s less well known plays, The Winter’s Tale. It’s very definitely worth seeing, with several outstanding performances and… Read More ›
Sig figs
Science teachers — and science textbooks — generally insist on careful attention to significant figures. Math teachers — and math textbooks — generally pay no attention to them. Here are two representative examples: Our Algebra II textbook contains a word… Read More ›
Upcoming model railroad shows
Two upcoming model railroad shows: Tech Model Railroad Club, Saturday, November 18, at the MIT Museum, 265Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA, Room N52–118, 2–5 and 7–10. Free! National Model Railroad Association HUB Division, New England Model Train Expo, Saturday-Sunday, December 2–3,… Read More ›
Teaching linguistics in high school
At Lincoln-Sudbury in the 1970s I taught a rotating sequence of linguistics courses along with my primary assignment of teaching math. As my undergraduate and graduate work were in linguistics, it was a natural fit. In my ten years teaching… Read More ›
How do you get the gas company's attention?
So we park our car in front of the house, get out, and smell the distinctive odor of natural gas. Sniffing around, we conclude that it’s pretty clearly coming from the middle of the street. We go in and call… Read More ›
Numb3rs and the MAA
The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) has generally been enthusiastically positive about the well-known television show, Numb3rs. So has the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). These reactions are to be expected: both organizations want to promote interest in… Read More ›
Should we rename all the Washington Streets?
So the Cambridge City Council wants the MBTA to rename Lechmere Station because they have just discovered that mid-18th-Century local resident Richard Lechmere was a slave owner. By that theory, should they petition to have all the Washington Streets renamed?
Ah, that explains it
Some thoughtful reflections on the election — from Grover Norquist, best known for being head of Americans for Tax Reform, as well as being a distinguished alumnus of Weston High School and a close Republican colleague of Karl Rove: Nobody… Read More ›
Yearbooks and gender
What is it about yearbooks that makes boys unwilling to serve as editors? Year after year, when I look at the list of Weston High School yearbook editors, what do I see? Pulling out four recent yearbooks at random, I… Read More ›
Former students
Now that I’ve been teaching in Weston for almost ten years, I seem to be running into a surprising number of former students of mine (from Lincoln-Sudbury, but now through other connections). Weston isn’t exactly far from either Lincoln or… Read More ›
Mathematica and Maple
At Weston High School we’re considering the use of mathematical symbol-manipulation software such as Mathematica or Maple. Our theory is to pick one of these for a trial run for a year — just one copy per teacher, for use… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 