Today, on July 3, I am telling you that I survived my first week. Not my first week of teaching, of course: what I survived was my first week of teaching with Zoom — although sometimes it did feel like… Read More ›
Math
On the other hand… Gödel (but not Escher or Bach)
In my previous blog post, I wrote about — and included a cartoon about — one aspect of math teaching. The cartoon asserted that “no one can impart perfect universal truths to their students,” with the punch line “…except math… Read More ›
Sanity through math
Why is Jonathan Halabi called “Mr. D.”? I mean, it’s an excellent way to refer to a math teacher — isn’t it? — but I’m puzzled by “D” as the abbreviation for Halibi. Oh well, who am I to object?… Read More ›
Beautiful trigonometry
You would be forgiven if you had the misimpression that I don’t like trigonometry, because I hadn’t been clear, as I pointed out the very next day. I definitely do like trig. In fact, I love trig! To see one… Read More ›
The Mathematics of COVID-19
As you know from my recent post, my colleague Joyce and I will be co-teaching a short unit on the mathematics of COVID-19 this summer. But what topics should it include, and in what order, and how will students learn… Read More ›
How about replacing trig? But with what?
“You can’t get rid of trig! It’s my favorite unit!” Said no one ever. Well, that’s not quite true. Some of us quite like trig, at least if it’s approached as a set of functions rather than ratios in right… Read More ›
The cats know what to do!
William, Flicka, and Vincent — as you can see — were observing proper social distancing as they lined up six feet apart, waiting patiently for their dinner last night. (BTW, William isn’t quite as large as the perspective makes him… Read More ›
Math and cats
(This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post. I suggest reading it first, if you haven’t done so already.) A quote from John Horton Conway in today’s MathBlab: You know, people think mathematics is complicated. Mathematics is the simple bit. It’s… Read More ›
RIP, John Horton Conway
Very sad news. John Horton Conway, one of the greatest math educators of our generation, has died of COVID-19: John Conway leaves a legacy of the most awe-inspiring mathematical and magical mind-twisters—the Monster group and monstrous moonshine, surreal numbers, Sprouts,… Read More ›
Social distancing: a simple geometry problem
I am told that these signs are appearing around San Francisco — thank you, Doug Marquis! — offering either an open-ended or a traditional problem to give your math students. Pick one: What do you notice? How far is the… Read More ›
