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

• Harvard does a good deed

  By ljd42 on May 23, 2005

  In addition to my day job at Weston High School — and my Saturday job at The Saturday Course — I teach during the summer in an extraordinary program known as the Crimson Summer Academy at Harvard University. In its… Read More ›

• A presentation in 10 minutes or less?

  By ljd42 on May 22, 2005

  Dennis and Jim and I have been invited to present a paper at the TeachScheme Tenth Anniversary Workshop in Providence on June 11. At first we were allocated ten minutes! Not ten minutes apiece, but ten minutes total. But wait,… Read More ›

• How to approach a probability problem

  By ljd42 on May 22, 2005

  If you are dealt a hand of five cards, what is the probability that you have three diamonds and two clubs? There are (at least) two different approaches to this kind of problem: The chance the first card is a… Read More ›

• Learning in fourth grade — on Saturdays

  By ljd42 on May 21, 2005

  For about half of the Saturdays each year, I teach in a wonderful program called The Saturday Course. This is an enrichment program for gifted and talented public-school and parochial-school students in grades four through six. Small classes, dedicated faculty,… Read More ›

• Risks and probabilities

  By ljd42 on May 20, 2005

  We know that both adults and kids are notoriously bad at estimating probabilities. Bruce Schneier (one of the world’s leading experts on security, cryptography, etc.) has this to say concerning risks and probabilities: One of the things I routinely tell… Read More ›

• Kids can’t concentrate? Don’t believe it!

  By ljd42 on May 19, 2005

  Most exciting event of the week: I’ve been sitting here proctoring MCAS for the past two and a half hours. Actually, it isn’t exciting (surprise, surprise). But I’ve gotten quite a lot of work done. I don’t think I’m allowed… Read More ›

• Why start now? First thoughts…

  By ljd42 on May 18, 2005

  For a year now I’ve been thinking of starting a blog. But there was never a reason to start it today. Tomorrow would do. Or the next day. Or the next day. So why start one now? The proximate reason… Read More ›