A recent question on Quora: If you are a teacher, is there a way to tell students to put away their cell phones that creates willingness in them rather than just annoyance? This is an interesting twist on an all-too-common… Read More ›
Month: July 2017
Yes, the Mission Hill presentation was successful.
Yes, the Mission Hill trip was successful. Two weeks ago, I promised to tell you the results of our decision to replace Chinatown with Mission Hill as one of the eight Boston neighborhoods we visit each summer as part of… Read More ›
The Fall
John Lescroart has long been one of my favorite genre authors. This blog has included reviews of two of his large number of San Francisco-based mysteries/legal thrillers — The Ophelia Cut and The Oath — the former in 2015 and the latter way… Read More ›
Five ways to engage reluctant learners
One of my favorite bloggers, John Spencer, wrote a post a year ago on how to engage reluctant learners. But let me first quote the hook, his opening paragraphs: I am currently on my fifth solid day of doing things that… Read More ›
Snow Crash
The time came to re-read Snow Crash. I had first read Neal Stephenson’s seminal science fiction novel when it came out in 1992, and then again at the end of the millennium, which seemed appropriate. Now, to celebrate its 25th… Read More ›
Restaurants in the southern part of Dorchester
In the last year or two the southern part of Dorchester has been blessed with a large influx of new restaurants. Here are some capsule comments on ten of them (yes, ten! — and there are more) in alphabetical order:… Read More ›
The Industry
“The Industry”? Is that a restaurant? Yes, indeed; it’s Dorchester’s newest restaurant. Barbara and I decided to try it out last night. All in all — two thumbs up. Fortunately they have valet parking (in the gas station across the… Read More ›
PhDeath: The Puzzler Murders
How could I resist? Word puzzles, a murder at NYU, some math, a dash of ancient Greek, political intrigue, faculty politics, philosophy, social commentary, and even Will Shortz… obviously irresistible. So I didn’t resist it. The result of all these… Read More ›
Peer tutoring
Who likes peer tutoring? Google “peer tutoring” and you’ll see dozens of upbeat images like this one. The Math Curmudgeon, who usually hits the nail on the head, certainly hits the nail on the head in the opening to his… Read More ›
Mansplaining
I have to share this cartoon (by Arnold Zwicky), but I’m not going to explain it:
Learning Strategies 