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In 2018 I semi-retired by retiring from Weston High School after my 21st year teaching mathematics there. This was also my 44th year as a teacher altogether. In 2023 I retired fully, adding in my 18 years at Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy each summer. For 21 years I had taught at the Saturday Course in Milton, MA, and I used to serve on the board of the Dorchester Historical Society.

I read, cook, and spend a lot of time building my model railroad. For some reason I’m left with less free time than would be ideal, considering that I’m supposed to be retired, but somehow I also manage to devote time to my wife, Barbara, and to our varying number of cats (once up to six, but now sadly down to one).

Larry Davidson
ljd@larrydavidson.com

  • Too many applications, too little time

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    One of my colleagues returned from her first-period class this morning, Dec. 17, to find a very thick manila envelope on her desk. There was a note on top: Dear Ms. Jones, Here are my recommendation forms. I am applying… Read More ›

  • Model railroading at museums

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    Is model railroading an art, or is it a craft? Or is it just a hobby, as most people believe? Surely some would admit that it’s not only a hobby but also a craft, and perhaps there’s someone somewhere who… Read More ›

  • Helvetica

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    How nerdy can you get? A movie about typography? About a font??? (Well, actually, it’s a typeface, but the ubiquity of Windows and Macs has trained people to call typefaces “fonts”; I’m sure I’ll slip up and do so here.)… Read More ›

  • Restless Virgins

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    There has been a lot of buzz in recent years about Milton Academy — at least in certain circles. Sex scandals, drugs, computer break-ins, and an attempt to abolish the Lower School have all threatened to tarnish the high reputation… Read More ›

  • De-Lovely

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    The first time I saw De-Lovely, the 2004 biography of Cole Porter starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, I thought it was an interesting but not particularly impressive movie. At least, unlike the 1946 movie about Porter (Cary Grant’s Night… Read More ›

  • What do we truly "need to know"?

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    According to the tenets of standards-based education, any teacher should focus primarily on what is “essential to know” and only secondarily on what is “nice to know.” It’s hard to disagree with this idea. But I’m going to try. The… Read More ›

  • Gardner at the dealership

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    So I’m waiting at the car dealership in Dorchester while my car is being serviced, and I don’t want to stay in the Service Department’s waiting room because the television is blaring some stupid show and I would like to… Read More ›

  • Labyrinth of Languages

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    On May 5, as you will recall, I posted an article about a proposed new class for the Saturday Course, temporarily code-named Geolinguistics. Well, that course has indeed come into existence, and I am just finishing teaching it for the… Read More ›

  • Books about high school: The Physics of the Buffyverse, Prep, & The Kings of NY

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    I really wanted to like these books. I really did. And in some ways I suppose I liked all three of them. But not enough. All three are deeply flawed. First, let’s consider The Physics of the Buffyverse, by Jennifer… Read More ›

  • Veterans' Day Assembly

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    Delayed post (originally written 11/10): This was the first year in my memory that Weston High School held a Veterans’ Day Assembly. It was extraordinarily well done, and a truly moving experience to boot. Second World War veterans and their… Read More ›

  • Visiting Pittsfield (…Who would visit Pittsfield?)

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    Delayed post (originally written 9/10): If you say you’re going to the Berkshires for vacation, nobody bats an eye. But say that you’re going to Pittsfield, you get some very odd looks. Who ever vacations in Pittsfield? It can simply… Read More ›

  • A mostly vegetarian (and slightly Chinese) Thanksgiving

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    Delayed post (originally written 11/25): I guess it’s appropriate to follow a review of a play called An Absolute Turkey with a review of a Thanksgiving dinner that was entirely turkey-free. As usual, Barbara and I participated in Thanksgiving dinner… Read More ›

  • An Absolute Turkey

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    Delayed post (originally written 11/18): The Theater Company at Weston High School put on a hilarious performance of Georges Feydeau’s 1896 farce, An Absolute Turkey this weekend. Director and theater teacher John Minigan reports that “the French mother of a… Read More ›

  • Switzerland is not Sweden

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    An overheard conversation: “Where’s Ms. Shields this year?” one sophomore asked. Before I could reply, one of her classmates gave her the answer: “Don’t you remember? She got married and moved to Philadelphia.” “Oh, yes,” recalled the first student. “She… Read More ›

  • Cross at the green

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    “Cross at the green, not in between.” Didn’t we all learn that rule as children? Dorchester is inner-city: a very urban environment. It’s dangerous to cross against the light! It’s dangerous to walk across Dot Ave right in front of… Read More ›

  • Hiatus is over

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    OK, OK, I’ll start blogging again! First I ran into recent Weston alumni Sheldon and Chester at the school play, and they asked why I hadn’t posted recently. “Yes, I know,” I replied. “I haven’t posted in five months.” “Six,… Read More ›

  • Of course we outsource game-playing!

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    According to the New York Times and NPR, wealthy online gamers are outsourcing the playing of games to Chinese workers! At first glance this sounds ridiculous: surely people who play online games enjoy playing them, so it makes no sense… Read More ›

  • When did the meaning of “scavenger hunt” change?

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    Since when did the meaning of the phrase “scavenger hunt” change so that it now refers to what is properly called a “treasure hunt”? When I was a kid, there was a clear distinction: In a scavenger hunt, you were… Read More ›

  • Milton K-12

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    I recommend reading the website of MiltonK–12.org, a new organization committed to preserving Milton Academy as a school that runs from kindergarten through grade 12. “Why is this an issue?” you may well ask. Here’s why: Periodically, rumors surface that… Read More ›

  • OFD or DBC?

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    There’s something faintly annoying about those “OFD: Originally from Dorchester” medallions and bumper stickers. Yes, it’s nice that people are proud of coming from Dorchester, but the word ‘originally’ sticks in the craw. It implies something like, “Yes, I was… Read More ›