I’ve been catching up on some back reading over vacation, so I just now got to my copy of the January issue of Harvard Magazine. After reading “Applying Yourself,” by college senior Liz Godwin, I am convinced that this essay… Read More ›
Life
Sex vs. math
The anonymous Minnesota math teacher who blogs under the name “3σ→Left” sarcastically calls it “surprising news,” but how will this news item affect teens who are considering majoring in math? Now we know why so many of those teenagers who… Read More ›
The Proper Ladies in Dorchester
Yesterday’s special program at the Dorchester Historical Society was a performance by Anabel Graetz and Deborah Anne Goss, singing as The Proper Ladies, featuring a Valentine’s Day history. In some ways they remind me of Bolcom and Morris, especially in… Read More ›
My Fair Lady
Barbara and I went to see My Fair Lady at the Opera House last night. Not surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed this production of the greatest musical in history. 24-year-old Lisa O’Hare was especially effective in her outstanding performance as Eliza…. Read More ›
Post #500!
According to Blogger, this is my 500th post! It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve written 500 of these short (and sometimes not-so-short) essays. One of my Weston students asked in class why anyone would bother keeping a blog,… Read More ›
Two Weston students think about poverty
I love teaching in Weston. But occasionally I have to admit that some of my students are out of touch with reality. Here are two recent incidents: The first was a conversation between two ninth-graders in the Math Office. It… Read More ›
Is Prisoner's Dilemma still teachable?
For over three decades I’ve been teaching the Prisoner’s Dilemma. This is a classic problem — perhaps the classic problem — of game theory, the misleadingly named field that lies at the intersection of mathematics and economics (with a dash… Read More ›
How about an Obama/Bloomberg ticket?
Now that Obama is starting to catch up with Clinton in the national polls, and now that Edwards has dropped out, some people are starting to talk about the possibility of an Obama-Edwards ticket. While that would have a certain… Read More ›
Courtesy: a double standard?
One of my colleagues has asked us not to cut in line in the cafeteria, correctly pointing out that “adults set the tone and serve as personal examples of respectful behavior.” I agree with the text, but I have some… Read More ›
Defaults
“Default, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves…” No, that doesn’t seem quite right. I don’t think Shakespeare had Cassius talking about defaults, did he? But it’s what I think of when we just assume that defaults… Read More ›
The fuzzy math of Huckabee's FairTax
There are many things to dislike about Mike Huckabee’s proposal for a 30% national sales tax, the so-called Fair Tax, such as the fact that it’s thoroughly regressive. (It would lower taxes slightly for the poor, lower them tremendously for… Read More ›
Stay off the main drag
“Please if possible stay off Dorchester ave until the community gets more information,” writes a well-known Dorchester community activist with an incendiary temperament. This sentence was part of a mass email sent out in response to a targeted killing on… Read More ›
Can a middle-aged professional become a math teacher?
We had an interesting visit yesterday from a local accountant who is considering making a mid-career switch and becoming a math teacher. He spent most of the day at Weston High School, talking with teachers and kids and observing classes…. Read More ›
Pi plate
A solstice present (from my sister Ellen, of course):
Achilles and Odysseus
A really interesting report on NPR’s All Things Considered the other day dealt with two different but intertwingled issues. One was the psychological reality of fictional characters. Some readers challenge the appropriateness of discussing the sexual orientation of Dumbledore, on… Read More ›
Cheating and imaginary property, Part Two
This is a follow-up to my post of December 26. There are two separate and distinct issues here: Has there been a decline in ethical attitudes and behavior among students in recent years? Are some lines that used to be… Read More ›
Adventures at Microcenter
So I’m at Microcenter on Wednesday to take advantage of their post-Christmas sale, and I walk in clutching their flyer with the descriptions of two external hard drives highlighted. These are advertised as being for both PCs and Macs, so… Read More ›
Cheating and imaginary property, Part One
David Pogue has written a fascinating article about cheating and intellectual property — or imaginary property, as some call it. Pogue is a technology writer, but his article is aptly entitled “The Generational Divide in Copyright Morality.” Nevertheless, technology has… Read More ›
Gardner at the dealership
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 ›
Books about high school: The Physics of the Buffyverse, Prep, & The Kings of NY
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 ›
Learning Strategies 