Author Archives
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
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The Sunday Philosophy Club
Just finished reading The Sunday Philosophy Club, by Alexander McCall Smith. This quirky mystery isn’t for everybody, as it’s more an exploration of applied philosophy than a mystery novel. Complete with an explicit reference to Sissela Bok’s Lying, it creates… Read More ›
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Market Harborough and environs
Barbara and I are in England right now, visiting our Dorchester friend Ardis, whose company has sent her to Market Harborough for a period of over a year. She volunteered to be our kind chauffeur, so we don’t have to… Read More ›
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The other Cambridge
Barbara and I spent the day with our host, Ardis, visiting the other Cambridge — you know, the one in England. Seeing 600-year-old buildings still in active use and walking in the footsteps of Isaac Newton never cease to astonish…. Read More ›
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By a Spider's Thread
Just finished listening to By a spider’s thread, by Laura Lippman, on audiobook. Although it poses as a detective novel or mystery novel — or at least is so positioned by its publisher, Avon — it doesn’t really fit the… Read More ›
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Too much in your inbox?
Thanks to Diane Greco for pointing out this series of articles on “the skills, tools, and attitude needed to empty your email inbox — and then keep it that way.” Now all I have to do is implement the advice.
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The sociology of model railroading
It takes a certain kind of person to be interested in the sociology of model railroading…
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W
Can this really be true? George W. Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover who has no Jews in his cabinet at all and has appointed no Jews to the Federal bench. — Professor Sherman L. Cohn, Georgetown University… Read More ›
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Hip hop fo' Hebrews, and three cheers for Goths
Thanks to sashinka for these two links: Hip hop fo’ Hebrews. An article explaining why parents should be happy if their kids belong to the goth subculture.
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Urinetown
Yesterday I saw Weston High School’s production of Urinetown. It was exceptionally well done, with excellent acting, singing, and dancing, as well as a first-rate performance by the tiny orchestra in the pit. Time flew by, and the two-and-a-quarter hours… Read More ›
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Tilt-A-Whirl
I’m almost done reading Tilt-A-Whirl, by Chris Grabenstein. With a few pages left to go, I confidently recommend this novel enthusiastically. The character who narrates the story in the first person is a young, part-time cop in a summer-tourist community… Read More ›
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Big Picture Curriculum Day
Today was the assigned date for the Math Department’s Big Picture Curriculum Day, which meant a full-day workshop with no math classes. Although we were not thrilled about having to miss two consecutive days of math classes — especially troublesome… Read More ›
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Career Day
Just completed another successful Career Day at Weston High School. We started with keynote speakers: Barry and Eliot of Jordan’s Furniture — actually only Eliot, as Barry didn’t show up — or maybe it was Eliot who didn’t show up… Read More ›
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What is probability?
We’re having a small disagreement here concerning just what probability is. One colleague claims that it’s an indication of belief: if I say that there’s a 30% probability of rain, then that means that I believe that there are about… Read More ›
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Not too much eye contact
I wonder how many Weston students would want to go to Pensacola Christian College. Check out the fascinating article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, which reports an interesting set of written and unwritten rules: At Pensacola any physical contact… Read More ›
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Too much homework in fifth grade?
What’s happening with the lives of fifth-graders these days? Too many of my Saturday Course students have lives that are completely filled with homework, sports, music lessons, and all sorts of other activities. I suppose most of those have been… Read More ›
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The Plot to Save Socrates
Just finished The Plot to Save Socrates, by Paul Levinson, an intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying science-fiction novel. In many ways it’s in the classic time-travel genre, with the usual issues about preventing paradox and taking future knowledge back to an… Read More ›
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Who has time to read blogs?
“Who has time to read blogs?” asked one of my colleagues. She went on to guess that blogs can’t have very many readers, since no one has time to read them. “Actually,” I replied, “some blogs have large numbers of… Read More ›
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A student speaks out on MCAS
Michael Bendetson [real name used by permission] is a sophomore in my Algebra II class. Today he emerged from the first of many MCAS sessions with the observation that MCAS is supposed to promote education, and yet his math class… Read More ›
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Homework: punishment or reward?
More than 400 students at Weston High School are participating in the Relay for Life, a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society. Everyone is justifiably enthusiastic about this, since it’s a community effort supporting an excellent cause. But that’s not… Read More ›
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Birkenstocks
According to movie director Jason Reitman: Nothing says “I want to tell you how to live your life” more than Birkenstocks.
Learning Strategies 