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.
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Kapow!
Unusually delicious takeout last night from Kapow (actually styled “Kapow!”) in Lower Mills, Dorchester: Tom Yum soup, chicken wings, excited eggplant (!), steamed gyoza, udon garlic noodle with duck, and shrimp pad Thai — more than enough for both Barbara… Read More ›
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Your brother-in-law’s mother’s sister is your _________________?
Fill in the blank in the title — but no need to do it in Latin, as in the figure. English will be fine. What? You can’t do it? You say English doesn’t have a word for that relationship? You… Read More ›
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My diverse neighborhood: everybody counts!
As I was taking my walk today, I came across this multilingual sign at the corner of Dot Ave and Park Street. Can you identify all five languages? Remember to fill out your census forms! In order to count, you… Read More ›
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What are your favorite poems?
What are your favorite poems? Is an epic poem too long to count as an answer to this question? I hope not — but I’ll play it safe and split the difference. My favorite pair of poems are… drumroll, please…… Read More ›
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Read it on the internet (if you can)!
“So many boxes to be found on the internet!” I’m guessing that you’ve seen something like this, perhaps in Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. Right? And perhaps you know that the boxes represent characters in fonts that you don’t have on… Read More ›
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Freedom City
So Donald Trump dies from an apparent heart attack after taking hydroxychloroquine, and President Pence calls on far-right militias to enforce a “Make America Great Again” fascist-style government. OK, it’s fiction. More or less. My opening sentence is not quite… Read More ›
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What’s wrong with Advanced Placement tests?
Three cheers for the College Board! Right? Everyone loves AP tests. Well, maybe you do, maybe you don’t, but read on. You might be surprised. Although Jonathan Halabi, a New York City math teacher, occasionally gets too much into the… Read More ›
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The Mechanic
I should have known. Months ago, back on May 4th — OK, OK, I know that it was really just two weeks ago, but it feels like months — I was watching Greater Boston on Channel 2, as one does, and Jim Braude was… Read More ›
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Does William fit?
“William, you don’t fit in that box.” “Yes I do.”
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Do you know the hidden rules of conversation?
“Can you pass the salt?” “Yes, I can.” And then of course he doesn’t. This is an easy example of violating the hidden rules of conversation as described by philosopher Paul Grice. The rules are commonly known as the Gricean… Read More ›
