Time travel stories are tricky. The author must either ignore the inevitable paradoxes or must find some plausible device for resolving them. (In a few cases, there’s a third option: the author decides to wallow in paradoxes, which can put… Read More ›
Month: August 2013
The case against Algebra II?
The reason these kids are upset is that they are required to do something they can’t do. They are forced, repeatedly, to stare at hairy, square- rooted, polynomialed horseradish clumps of mute symbology that irritate them, that stop them in… Read More ›
The Cats’ House
What an amazing book! Or perhaps I should say “What an amazing house!” Bob Walker and his wife Frances have turned their house into a jungle gym for their nine cats, as you can see in this image. But… Read More ›
How to pick a tutor…or not
Who needs a tutor? You do! Well, no…you probably don’t. Even if you’re faced with the challenge of Honors Geometry (a rude awakening to many students who are suddenly faced with the demands of their first high-school honors math course),… Read More ›
The soft bigotry of low expectations
I hate to use a phrase that was coined by a senior advisor to President George W. Bush. But use it I must…and even in a similar context. Michael Gerson described the all-too-common educational practice of expecting less from members… Read More ›
Learning goals and common assessments
Yesterday we had our final workshop of the summer, so we must be ready (hah!) to return to school on Tuesday. This workshop was titled “Learning Goals and Common Assessments.” You might be wondering what that means. I’ll tell you…. Read More ›
Using web-based technology in math courses
Yesterday we had a one-day workshop on using web-based technology in math courses. The premise was that the technology used in our math courses has been almost unchanged over the past ten years, despite the big improvements in web-based applications that… Read More ›
BYOT
Just finished participating in a two-day workshop on BYOT, a.k.a. BYOD. If you’re not up on current educational jargon, you might not realize that the T stands for “technology,” the D for “device.” In either case, the idea is that… Read More ›
Post #1000
It was just over five and a half years ago, in my 500th post, that I wrote this: I’m pleased to have kept it up for 500 posts, and I’m looking forward to 500 more. And now I’ve completed those… Read More ›
Isaac’s Storm and The Devil in the White City
Having read and enjoyed Erik Larson’s non-fiction account of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, I decided to read his tale about the flood that… Read More ›
It’s tough to type math.
Mathematical expressions and equations are normally written on paper with a pencil, or on a blackboard with chalk, or on a whiteboard with markers. There’s a good reason for this: it’s really hard to type math, whether you’re using an… Read More ›
Meerkats, the Canadian Pacific Railway, coral reefs, and the Dead Sea scrolls
What do meerkats, the Canadian Pacific, coral reefs, and the Dead Sea scrolls all have in common? Maybe I should have added a fifth item, so we could play “one of these things is not like the others.” But that’s… Read More ›
Three philosophical novels: Goldstein, Sloan, and Barbery
Three of the novels that I read this summer are explicitly or implicitly built on philosophical themes: Rebecca Goldstein’s 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A work of fiction. With a title like that, you can see why a subtitle… Read More ›
A white lion?
As you know, Douglas has a lot of fur. (That’s why his name is Douglas.) So where did it all go? Well, the problem was that his hair is so long and so thick that it kept getting badly matted…. Read More ›
Ambivalent much?
I guess this JP family is hedging their bets. Conley? Connolly? Golar Richie? Arroyo? Walczak? Connolly gets two signs, so…
Paul Lockhart
Three and a half years ago I wrote a post about Paul Lockhart’s book, Mathematician’s Lament. Now he has a new book, oddly titled Measurement. Why, you ask, is that title odd? It’s because the book is only peripherally about measurement. Mostly it’s… Read More ›
My Short, Happy Life in “Jeopardy!”
I reviewed Ken Jennings’s book Brainiac seven years ago. (Was it really seven years ago‽ Yes, it was!) So I figured I should also read the latest book by another Jeopardy champion, Brendan DuBois, whose short fiction I had read several times… Read More ›
Lobstah Bake at Ashmont Grill
Mmm…what a feast! Last night was the much-anticipated occasion for the Ashmont Grill’s annual Lobstah Bake, three hours of unlimited grilled lobsters, tuna ceviche, striped bass ceviche, mussels, potato salad, tomato salad, cheddar-and-scallion biscuits, fresh corn on the cob, wine,… Read More ›
It's better than sleeping on the keyboard.
Usually Douglas annoys me by sleeping on the keyboard and “helping” me type. I guess this is better.
Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.
“Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.” So observes Farhad Manjoo, in a well-reasoned article entitled “Space Invaders: Why you should never, ever use two spaces after a period.” This is not a matter of opinion; it’s… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 