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

• Bush & Barbie

  By ljd42 on February 11, 2006

  On February 3, President Bush was addressing a crowd at Intel concerning the importance of studying math and science: A lot of people probably think math and science isn’t meant for me — you know, it seems a little hard,… Read More ›

• Personal responsibility

  By ljd42 on February 10, 2006

  An interesting resonance among four recent but different news and/or entertainment items: Last month, students in a certain well-regarded suburban high school report that “other kids” (of course it’s always other kids) have been selling or giving Ritalin to their… Read More ›

• Diversity in Weston

  By ljd42 on February 9, 2006

  The other day I turned on the radio to hear someone say, “Sure, there’s diversity in Weston. They have doctors and lawyers.” But now we have a more convincing sign of diversity: a black principal! The Superintendent of Schools just… Read More ›

• North, East, South, and West

  By ljd42 on February 8, 2006

  The day before yesterday, it was getting to be too late to cook dinner after I picked up Barbara in Watertown…and we would have had to defrost something anyway, or go grocery shopping on the way home…which would have made… Read More ›

• More APs! More APs!

  By ljd42 on February 6, 2006

  High-school students want to take more and more Advanced Placement courses these days. And we’re encouraging them. At Weston we have altogether too many students who want to skip the second half of precalculus and take AP Statistics instead —… Read More ›

• Sudoku challenges and championships

  By ljd42 on February 5, 2006

  On February 15, Weston High School will be holding a Sudoku challenge in the Library for the first 30 students to sign up. On March 10-11, the first World Sudoku Championship will be held in Lucca, Italy.

• The Year of the Dog

  By ljd42 on February 4, 2006

  You may have heard that dogs have masters but cats have staff. It’s true. Even though Barbara and I are privileged to share our house with five cats — well, actually six at the moment, since we have temporary custody… Read More ›

• Quantitative literacy in college students

  By ljd42 on February 3, 2006

  According to the National Survey of America’s College Students (NSACS) — a study conducted by the American Institutes for Research and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts — American college students know even less math than we had thought: Approximately… Read More ›

• Can exams reduce stress and be otherwise helpful?

  By ljd42 on February 2, 2006

  There’s a possibility that Weston may return to a traditional exam schedule after a decade or so of not having one. There have been many justifications for not having a final exam week: An emphasis on exams increases stress. Students… Read More ›

• Educator-in-chief

  By ljd42 on February 1, 2006

  President Bush (on CBS today): My job is not only Commander-In-Chief but educator-in-chief. And I needed to say to the people, you bet it’s tough. George W. Bush as educator-in-chief? Hmmm…

• The Sudoku/Systems connection

  By ljd42 on January 31, 2006

  Epiphany: A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization (definition 3b in the American Heritage Dictionary) So I guess I was visited by an epiphany this weekend: I realized that Sudoku has a surprising connection… Read More ›

• Security through obscurity

  By ljd42 on January 30, 2006

  So how do you hide a password in plain sight when it doesn’t need to be particularly secret? For instance, imagine that you are using a hard-copy textbook for which the publisher also provides an online version. And the online… Read More ›

• Static or dynamic systems

  By ljd42 on January 29, 2006

  How do we think about systems of equations (or inequalities)? I know, most of us don’t think about them at all. But teachers and students of algebra certainly do. Whether we call them systems of equations or simultaneous equations, we… Read More ›

• Back from the show

  By ljd42 on January 28, 2006

  Just got back from the Amherst Railway Society’s annual model railroad show, which is held in…no, not Amherst…Springfield, MA. Barbara wasn’t interested in going, so Meredith accompanied me. Although she isn’t a model railroader, her interests in crafts and technology… Read More ›

• Law and order and suicide

  By ljd42 on January 27, 2006

  Catching up on last week’s television shows with the wonders of the VCR — soon to be replaced by the greater wonders of TiVo — I just watched the excellent January 18 episode of Law & Order, Heart of Darkness…. Read More ›

• What's in a name?

  By ljd42 on January 26, 2006

  Does the name of a course matter? At Weston High School we recently renamed our two-year college-prep precalculus sequence. The first course, taken primarily by juniors but always including a few seniors, used to be called Math 4. What does… Read More ›

• Playing with Trains

  By ljd42 on January 24, 2006

  Currently I’m halfway through reading Playing with Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale, a memoir by Sam Posey. There’s a certain irony to the title. The word “passion” is accurate, for this book is truly about Posey’s deep enthusiasm and passion… Read More ›

• MyLifeBits, Borges, and big ideas

  By ljd42 on January 23, 2006

  On yesterday’s episode of NPR’s Living on Earth, Steven Cherry interviewed Gordon Bell about his project at Microsoft, called MyLifeBits. Bell is in the process of recording everything in his life in digital form: Gordon Bell has captured a lifetime’s… Read More ›

• Science, math, & engineering

  By ljd42 on January 22, 2006

  A fellow Dorchesterite, calling himself Trxckster — yes, the third letter is indeed an x, not an i — quotes visionary Alan Kay in his blog: Today, science (a concern with what is real) is mixed with mathematics (a concern… Read More ›

• The hub of the Hub?

  By ljd42 on January 21, 2006

  Dot! Dorchester is becoming the city’s hip new destination after dark says the headline above Johnny Diaz’s big story splashed over the front page of the Living section of today’s Boston Globe. Not Landsdowne Street, not the South End, says… Read More ›