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.
-
A student’s take on testing and related pressures
Hello my name is worthless Name number and date State your class and hour Let the rubric pick your fate This is the first stanza of a high-school student’s poem, as posted by her teacher, Kevin Bosworth, in Diane Ravitch’s blog…. Read More ›
-
Our Stories, our Stuff, our Somerville at the Somerville Museum
What have you got in your basement? Yesterday I had the opportunity to see a fascinating exhibit of 79 artifacts at the Somerville Museum, all donated by Somerville residents. They have been organized by type of object, as you… Read More ›
-
Another #1 for Weston, plus a public service flowing from Weston to Dorchester
Something else where Weston is #1: According to Commonwealth Magazine, “The most generous political donors in Massachusetts state and municipal campaigns last year, perhaps unsurprisingly, tend to live in some of the wealthiest communities in the state… Weston was at the very… Read More ›
-
Bimbos of the Death Sun
No, it’s not what you think. This hilarious novel, by Sharyn McCrumb, is a satiric mystery about a fictional SF con (that’s science fiction convention, to you mundanes out there). The protagonist is a professor of electrical engineering at Virginia… Read More ›
-
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the Weston High School Math Team for finishing first in the state in the Massachusetts Math League!
-
Over the cliff
Douglas peers down over the edge of a scary cliff:
-
Friends of Dorothy
In my naive youth, I had no idea what a “friend of Dorothy” was; in-group descriptors, after all, are always known to members of the in group (and allies) long before they are known to the general public. “Friend of… Read More ›
-
Mollie on her kitty couch
That tiny little Mollie doesn’t look quite so tiny when she’s stretched out on her kitty couch:
-
Panic
Consider this. Here we have a great movie from 2000, starring William H. Macy, Donald Sutherland, Tracy Ullman, Neve Campbell, and John Ritter — so why hadn’t I ever heard of it before? Oh well, better late than never. It’s… Read More ›
-
“Libraries are a haven…”
For more reasons than one you need to read Angela Clarke’s story from six years ago. Shoutout to my sister-in-law Brenda for alerting me to this excerpt from Clarke’s account: My own fragility revealed that a library is not just… Read More ›
