You’re familiar with the fact that high-school students often display their creativity in the fields of art, music, and theatre, and everyone has heard of science fairs, but similar opportunities in mathematics are all too rare. Today we held the… Read More ›
Month: February 2008
My 10 favorite books
That’s 10, not ten — because there are twelve, which is still 10. Confused? Just pick the right base, of course. So I guess they’re still my 10 favorite books. Anyway, if you look at my profile (the link is… Read More ›
Thinking again about Obama/Bloomberg
A month ago I wondered why nobody was talking about the possibility that Barack Obama would pick Michael Bloomberg as his running mate. It wasn’t that I was seriously supporting such a ticket at the time; it just seemed to… Read More ›
Nursery Crimes
Nursery Crimes, by Ayelet Waldman, is a satirical mystery novel that’s fun to read but is a bit too much like cotton candy. Here is my favorite passage: “This is terrible. You don’t seem to understand. If Ruby doesn’t go… Read More ›
Curriculum B
Every curriculum can be viewed at several different levels of granularity. Let’s look at what’s important when we’re teaching math. At one level the curriculum is obvious: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, etc. But of course that’s much too broad,… Read More ›
If you can read this, you can read at a high-school level
According to the badge that I’ve pasted into the right sidebar, this blog requires a high-school reading level. I was glad to see that it passed that test, even though only a small part of my audience actually consists of… Read More ›
Applying Yourself
I’ve been catching up on some back reading over vacation, so I just now got to my copy of the January issue of Harvard Magazine. After reading “Applying Yourself,” by college senior Liz Godwin, I am convinced that this essay… Read More ›
Sex vs. math
The anonymous Minnesota math teacher who blogs under the name “3σ→Left” sarcastically calls it “surprising news,” but how will this news item affect teens who are considering majoring in math? Now we know why so many of those teenagers who… Read More ›
Slay Ride
In my post of January 9, I promised to read Chris Grabenstein’s Slay Ride, since I had been disappointed by its sequel, Hell for the Holidays, but liked the author’s other series, including Tilt-A-Whirl and Mad Mouse. I concluded my… Read More ›
Mozart and the Whale: The movie
Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story? I was initially skeptical — definitely intrigued, but still skeptical. The premise sounded too sentimental. It was going to be a chick flick, I figured. It was going to be what my… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 