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 ›
Life
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 ›
A mostly vegetarian (and slightly Chinese) Thanksgiving
Delayed post (originally written 11/25): I guess it’s appropriate to follow a review of a play called An Absolute Turkey with a review of a Thanksgiving dinner that was entirely turkey-free. As usual, Barbara and I participated in Thanksgiving dinner… Read More ›
Hiatus is over
OK, OK, I’ll start blogging again! First I ran into recent Weston alumni Sheldon and Chester at the school play, and they asked why I hadn’t posted recently. “Yes, I know,” I replied. “I haven’t posted in five months.” “Six,… Read More ›
Of course we outsource game-playing!
According to the New York Times and NPR, wealthy online gamers are outsourcing the playing of games to Chinese workers! At first glance this sounds ridiculous: surely people who play online games enjoy playing them, so it makes no sense… Read More ›
When did the meaning of “scavenger hunt” change?
Since when did the meaning of the phrase “scavenger hunt” change so that it now refers to what is properly called a “treasure hunt”? When I was a kid, there was a clear distinction: In a scavenger hunt, you were… Read More ›
Chinese-American writers…and doctors and engineers
Maybe you don’t expect a Chinese-American writer to have a name like Tess Gerritsen. On the other hand, as an ABC (American-born Chinese), it’s unsurprising that she has an American first name, and if she then marries a man named… Read More ›
But we're only a mile from Dorchester!
At the Saturday Course in Milton — frequently mentioned in this blog — we teach students from many different cities and towns, including Milton itself and Boston. So we were wondering why we don’t have a more diverse student body,… Read More ›
An Inconvenient Truth
As I reported yesterday, part of Weston High School’s Earth Day observances was a screening of An Inconvenient Truth. This event was attended by everyone — students and teachers alike. (Almost everyone, actually. A few kids skipped out, and some… Read More ›
Earth Day in Weston
We observed Earth Day today at Weston High School (since the real Earth Day will come right after April vacation). Classes were shortened to 55 minutes to allow time for a screening of An Inconvenient Truth, and we had guest… Read More ›
Ice Chips
Barbara and I spent an enjoyable afternoon yesterday at the annual Ice Chips show in Boston (not Cambridge, even though the arena is on the extended Harvard campus). The “special guest star” was Sasha Cohen, but we went primarily to… Read More ›
Meridian Academy photo show
A small but excellent exhibit of photographs by middle-school students at Jamaica Plain’s Meridian Academy was on display for the past two weeks at the JP Art Market. The official description read as follows: Meridian Academy students will show their… Read More ›
A Perfect Mess
I’ve just read a fascinating book entitled A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder — How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place, by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. If you’ve ever… Read More ›
Roxbury? Perhaps Dorchester? But Back Bay????
Check out the website for 1010 Mass Ave in Boston: This six-story building is located at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston and offers 220,770 square feet of prime office space. Located in Boston’s Back Bay, 1010 Mass Ave is within… Read More ›
Xerox? photocopy? copy?
Yes, we know that Xerox® isn’t a verb. For years we’ve been carefully trying to say, “I photocopied this document,” instead of “I Xeroxed this document.” But now the photo- prefix seems to be disappearing. Some people are even puzzled… Read More ›
The Outlier Effect
Just came back from seeing The Outlier Effect, a one-act play written and performed by Weston High School’s Theater Company. That’s right: not only performed by them, but also written by them. Collaboration by a mere two authors is difficult… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 