Where can Dorchester kids get into college? Anywhere! Some of my Weston students believe that they are entitled to go to Harvard and BC and Bryn Mawr, but kids who go to public schools in Dorchester and Roxbury certainly aren’t… Read More ›
Month: April 2008
Money talks in Weston
In Algebra II class today we happened to be talking about a certain prominent mathematician/physicist, and I remarked that he’s “the smartest living American, as he himself will be happy to tell you.” “That can’t be true!” objected one student…. Read More ›
Death Comes for the Fat Man
Highly recommended: Death Comes for the Fat Man, by Reginald Hill. This latest installment of the literate Dalziel-Pascoe series continues the high standards of its predecessors, though Dalziel plays almost no role in it. I won’t tell you what the… Read More ›
Amazing math applets
Check out the Lawrenceville School’s amazing math applets! They provide links to class-demonstration applets that range from the unit circle and the sine function through transformations and vector addition all the way to slope fields and Riemann sums — not… Read More ›
Visiting Elmira
Barbara and I just got back from spending a week in Elmira. Actually it was just five days, it only felt like a week. Mostly I played a bunch of computer Scrabble, took some walks in the surprisingly nice weather,… Read More ›
Daddy’s Girl
On the whole I recommend Daddy’s Girl, by Lisa Scottoline. Formally it’s a mystery, but it’s mostly about families. Like many mysteries, it also carries a theme of law vs. justice, and Scottoline does an effective job of exploring this… Read More ›
All-Dorchester seder
Yes, it was one night early for Passover, but last night Barbara and I attended the 2008 All-Dorchester Seder, which is held every year at the First Parish Church. A seder at a church? Well, yes. In the first place,… Read More ›
Justice Denied
Just finished reading J.A. Jance’s Justice Denied, the 18th novel in the author’s J.P. Beaumont series of Seattle-based police procedurals. Though it’s not one of her best, Jance clearly hasn’t gotten tired and can still write a taut mystery with… Read More ›
Don’t families in Weston talk about politics at home?
Overheard this morning at Weston High School…part of a conversation between two sophomores: “What can you tell me about John McCain?” “Who’s he?” ”Oh, he’s some dude who’s running for President.”
Double Vision
I have just finished reading Double Vision, by Randall Ingermanson. This science fiction thriller has a great concept, but the execution is disappointing. On the plus side, the novel speaks effectively to those of us who have worked in the… Read More ›
Dorchester and Weston
According to an article in this morning’s Boston Globe, the average annual income in Dorchester 02124 (where I live) is $34,556. The average annual income in Weston 02493 (where I teach) is $531,374. That’s a ratio of slightly more than… Read More ›
Pirates in Weston
Last night the Weston High School Theatre Company put on a charming performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. The acting and singing were strong; the scenery, set, and costumes terrific; the pit orchestra first-rate. Derek Kief’s portrayal… Read More ›
An evening in Jamaica Plain
Barbara and I spent a few hours yesterday evening in Jamaica Plain. First we walked to the Axiom Gallery, which is hosting an intriguing Math and Art exhibit through April 27 right next to the Green Street T station (confusingly… Read More ›
Gun, with Occasional Music
Take one part Raymond Chandler and two parts Philip K. Dick. Or maybe it’s two parts Dashiell Hammett and one part Aldous Huxley. Let’s try all four. Then add three parts of George Orwell. Mix them all together, and you… Read More ›
N is a Number
I mentioned two days ago that I was going to watch N is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős, a documentary that had been enthusiastically recommended to me by my former student, Kelly Mathislife. She writes that N is… Read More ›
Heroes
As I was reading Paul Graham’s essay, “Some Heroes,” it struck me that I’ve never liked being asked who my heroes are. In his second and fourth paragraphs, Graham reflects on the question itself: I’m not claiming this is a… Read More ›
21
Two and a half years ago I wrote a brief negative review of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, by Ben Mezrich. I suggested that the account seemed to be… Read More ›
Math is hard, let’s go shopping, says Barbie (and others)
Remember the big kerfuffle in 1992 when Mattel released a Teen Talk Barbie that said “Math is hard, let’s go shopping”? (Actually, if you look it up, you’ll find some references that quote it that way, and others that quote… Read More ›
The Big Nap
On February 26, I wrote a mildly positive review of Nursery Crimes, by Ayelet Waldman. Because another novel in this series, The Big Nap, appeared to be more interesting, I decided (without great enthusiasm) to give it a read. I… Read More ›
Career Day
Today was a very successful Career Day at Weston High School. I highly recommend the concept to other high schools — if you have a dedicated, highly organized team of people to take care of all the logistics. People who… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 