Why have I been surprised at the way that many teachers use the word “strategy”? And why does it bother me when teachers refer to “tricks”? Well, I’m glad you asked, so I’ll tell you why I believe that in… Read More ›
Math
The distance formula
What are the pros and cons of teaching the distance formula? I can think of two of each: Pro #1: It’s useful and convenient. Pro #2: Future teachers may expect your students to know it. Con #1: It’s nothing but… Read More ›
Significant figures
Math teachers and science teachers never agree about significant figures — neither about their importance nor about how to use them. Math books and competitions tend to ignore the issue, or else they promulgate arbitrary rules, such as “answers must… Read More ›
Another math summer camp
You’re looking for a two-week math summer camp, aren’t you? Or perhaps you know an advanced student for whom this would be just the thing. While I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of the Mathematica Summer Camp, it does look… Read More ›
MCAS again
It’s easy to find plenty to dislike about MCAS, but I was particularly struck by the cogency of Sanjoy Mahajan’s piece entitled “Public School Math Doesn’t Teach Students How to Reason.” Aside from the usual arguments against MCAS — it… Read More ›
Favorite numbers
On yesterday’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” on NPR, there was a five-minute segment on “What’s Your Favorite Number and Why?” The interview with British mathematician Alex Bellos is definitely worth listening to; you can find a listen-to-the-story link on that webpage…. Read More ›
A beautiful fractal project
In last month’s post about our Fractal Fair, I made the following promise: Stay tuned for a post on one project in particular, a spectacular children’s book on fractals. So here’s the follow-up, or at least a preliminary follow-up. I… Read More ›
Massachusetts State Math Playoffs
Congratulations to the Weston High School Math Team for coming in fifth in the state at the Massachusetts State Math Playoffs in Shrewsbury on Monday! We have just learned that those results have qualified us to enter the New England… Read More ›
Lost in Lexicon, but not lost in Brookline
A terrific turnout last night at the Driscoll School in Brookline. More than half (!) of the fourth- and fifth-graders (and their parents) showed up for an evening event revolving around Penny Noyce’s Lost in Lexicon. My role was to… Read More ›
A test should tell a story.
A colleague who does not teach in our Math Department was tutoring one of my students. Not being familiar with our mildly unusual Honors Geometry course, she found that she herself did not know how to do the last problem… Read More ›
Math should be useful, or fun, or beautiful…
The great Art Benjamin, whom we’ve had the pleasure of listening to twice at Weston High School, made the following remarks in his TED talk: If I had an extra minute, I’d also talk about how we shouldn’t only show the mathematics… Read More ›
Pi Day — or Tau Day???
This is a few days late, but… We held our annual observation of Pi Day on Monday in two of my classes and on Tuesday in the other two (since they didn’t meet on Monday). But one of my students… Read More ›
Bob Devaney’s talks and the Weston Fractal Fair
Professor Robert Devaney of Boston University gave two excellent talks to our precalculus classes (consisting mostly of juniors, with a sprinkling of advanced sophomores and freshmen) on Tuesday. His talk to the college-prep classes (”Precalculus Part One”) focused on the… Read More ›
Fractal Fair preview and invitation
If you’re in or around Weston on Wednesday, come to our Ninth Annual Fractal Fair! It’s from 10:00 to 12:15 in the Weston High School Library. The exhibits and presentations, by 50 Honors Precalculus students (mostly juniors), will focus on… Read More ›
Making order out of chaos
BSP*: Come hear my talk on linguistics at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, February 1, at the Weston Public Library! Here’s a description: Making order out of chaos: A conversation about linguistics “Linguistics? What’s that?” This is the usual response I… Read More ›
Doodling in math class
And the award for coolest math video ever goes to…Vi Hart, for her Doodling in Math Class series. These videos are “subversive,” as one of my colleagues (approvingly) labels them. The common theme appears to be that math classes in… Read More ›
Themes in precalculus
A course ought to tell a story. If it doesn’t, it’s just a collection of topics, not a course. Honors Precalculus at Weston definitely does tell a story. I was thinking about the themes of that story today, and I… Read More ›
Names of polygons
Why do so many of my students use incorrect names for various polygons? They claim that they are merely recalling what they have been taught; maybe this is so, maybe not. I suppose there are two major possibilities: They are… Read More ›
Making order out of chaos
My principal has selected me to give the first presentation in a proposed series of talks to be delivered by faculty and staff; the audience will consist of colleagues, students, parents, and community members. I’ve written a very rough description… Read More ›
“Solving” the Rubik’s Cube
Why is it that the phrase “solving the Rubik’s cube” has such a different meaning to me than it does to others? For a long time I was quite puzzled by people who made the implausible claim that they had… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 