Yes, it was one night early for Passover, but last night Barbara and I attended the 2008 All-Dorchester Seder, which is held every year at the First Parish Church. A seder at a church? Well, yes. In the first place,… Read More ›
Life
Don’t families in Weston talk about politics at home?
Overheard this morning at Weston High School…part of a conversation between two sophomores: “What can you tell me about John McCain?” “Who’s he?” ”Oh, he’s some dude who’s running for President.”
Heroes
As I was reading Paul Graham’s essay, “Some Heroes,” it struck me that I’ve never liked being asked who my heroes are. In his second and fourth paragraphs, Graham reflects on the question itself: I’m not claiming this is a… Read More ›
Which is more important, sports or academics? And what about the arts?
Every school will tell you that academics are more important than sports. After all, it is a school. Even the most sports-minded principal will ban an athlete from playing football if his grades are too low, but no one would… Read More ›
Don’t procrastinate! Goodbye, George, I hardly knew you.
Actually, I never knew you, sad to say. For 15 years now I have been intending to meet George Sanborn and talk with him about the MBTA (since my model railroad layout is based loosely on the MBTA of 1969)…. Read More ›
An Obama/Seeger serendipity
Wow! I don’t often call a PBS show inspiring, but last night I watched the truly inspiring American Masters episode, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, which had aired on my birthday and TiVo had kindly saved for me. I… Read More ›
Fractals are fractious
(Thanks to Barbara for the title of this post.) Let me begin by setting the stage. On Friday I wrote about this year’s Fractal Fair. Groups of students (generally three in each group, occasionally two; generally juniors, but there were… Read More ›
Listen to the kids? Or listen to the adults?
In Universal Hub this morning, Adam Gaffin quotes Cara Lisa Powers on the subject of the Boston Globe’s coverage of a protest at the John D. O’Bryant High School of Mathematics and Science. The Globe ignored the kids. In this… Read More ›
"Boys and girls,…" What's wrong with that?
One of my colleagues objects when a teacher addresses a group of students as “Boys and girls,…” No, it’s not that she would prefer it if we said “Girls and boys,…”; that’s not the issue, though of course one should… Read More ›
Thinking again about Obama/Bloomberg
A month ago I wondered why nobody was talking about the possibility that Barack Obama would pick Michael Bloomberg as his running mate. It wasn’t that I was seriously supporting such a ticket at the time; it just seemed to… Read More ›
Applying Yourself
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 ›
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 ›
Learning Strategies 