Author Archives

I am entering my 21st year as a math teacher at Weston High School, the sole public high school in Weston, MA. It’s also my 44th year as a teacher altogether. In addition to my day job, I taught for 20 years at the Saturday Course in Milton, MA. I also teach at Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy each summer; 2017 was our 14th consecutive summer.

Sometimes I work on educational software. I also read, cook, and continue building my model railroad whenever I can. For some reason I'm left with less so-called free time than would be ideal. Nevertheless, I manage to devote time to my wife, Barbara, and to our excessive number of cats as well.

• Stories are sticky. Statistics, not so much.

  By ljd42 on August 8, 2020

  

  Last month I was listening to a Freakonomics episode that really stuck with me. That’s what it was about. Stickiness. As teachers, we would like our lessons to be sticky. As citizens, we would like certain political messages to be… Read More ›

• The Existential Joss Whedon: Evil And Human Freedom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly And Serenity

  By ljd42 on August 7, 2020

  

  Don’t go away! OK, a reasonable response to this book title might be “How geeky can you get‽” I mean, the pop-culture-plus-intellectual combo inherent in The Existential Joss Whedon: Evil And Human Freedom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly… Read More ›

• Nobody sends messages by fax anymore… or do they?

  By ljd42 on August 6, 2020

  

  I was wrong. I admit it. For years I’ve been saying that it’s ridiculously archaic to be using fax technology. I said that in 2020… and in 2019… and in… well, I’ve been saying it since 2010 at least. It… Read More ›

• School-reopening plans

  By ljd42 on August 5, 2020

  

  Harvard staff writer Colleen Walsh asks whether we are “agonizing over school-reopening plans.” We certainly are! In fact, that’s all I seem to be reading about these days. Should schools open in-person, remote, or hybrid? Whether it’s Donald Trump’s screeds… Read More ›

• Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

  By ljd42 on August 4, 2020

  

  Two or three weeks ago I wrote a piece about the complications of Hispanic surnames. Despite the complications, there is definitely something appealing about taking your surname from both parents, not just from the father. The problem, of course, comes… Read More ›

• Model trains are not cat toys!!!

  By ljd42 on August 3, 2020

  You can skip to 1:20 if you’re impatient:  

• High school students! You can learn linguistics online!

  By ljd42 on August 2, 2020

  

  Linguistics is the science of language. While most often classified as a social science, it’s really an interdisciplinary field that sits at the intersection of social sciences, humanities, and STEM – language is such a fundamental piece of our collective… Read More ›

• The myth of “learning styles”

  By ljd42 on August 1, 2020

  

  It says here that 90% of teachers believe two related claims: There are four different learning styles — visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic. Lessons need to address all four. For several reasons I have long been skeptical of statements like the… Read More ›

• He’er, his’er, him’er: Pronouns in the news, 1912 edition

  By ljd42 on July 30, 2020

  

  Pronouns again! There are (at least) two different issues swirling around pronouns: Singular they, which I wrote about in 2018 Calling someone by their preferred pronouns (in terms of gender), which I wrote about earlier this month Both of these issues… Read More ›

• I can’t give secure assessments in a remote teaching-and-learning setting!

  By ljd42 on July 28, 2020

  

  Don’t tell anyone: there’s a dirty little secret here! I have some bad news: people cheat. More specifically, students cheat on tests and other assessments. So, how do you give secure assessments in a remote teaching-and-learning setting? It’s all too… Read More ›