At Saturday Course we were working with prime numbers, and one fifth-grader asked his classmates a question: Student A: Is 1 a prime number? Student B: No. Student A: So it’s composite? Student B: No, it isn’t prime and it… Read More ›
Math
Weston’s Math Department on nation-wide TV
The Math Department of Weston High School & Middle School was featured in a report on last night’s NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams! Be sure to watch all the way to the end (it’s only two and half minutes), not… Read More ›
Lost in Lexicon
If you regularly see my Facebook status in your News Feed, you may have noticed that it said “I’m lost in Lexicon right now…” on October 17. This status confused some of my students. One of them asked, “How did… Read More ›
Why do we have to learn proofs?
Yes, some students enjoy writing proofs. They accept the task as a challenging puzzle, one that provides an agreeable sense of completion once you’ve successfully threaded a path from the given information to the conclusion. I was one of those… Read More ›
Sixteenth in the state
No, Weston teachers do not have the highest salaries in the state. According to today’s Boston Globe, Weston ranks only 16th in the state in average teacher salaries! At $73,338, we can be compared to a high of $79,444 (Old… Read More ›
Linguistics, mathematics, and mysteries
“I make order out of chaos.” This is how an old friend whom I hadn’t seen in years explains her transition from linguistics to statistics, when people think it’s a complete change of field. It’s how she explains it to… Read More ›
Mathematician’s Lament
“Mental acuity of any kind comes from solving problems yourself, not from being told how to solve them.” So says Paul Lockhart, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s great having cooperative students who will correctly follow directions in solving problems… Read More ›
Requiring algebra in eighth grade
Ten years ago, the highly respected mathematician Lynn Arthur Steen wrote an article entitled, “Algebra for All in Eighth Grade: What’s the Rush?” Well, now we know what the rush is…or do we? Steen sets up the issue with a… Read More ›
Traumatized for life
Some of us can barely remember anything from third grade, but last night at a restaurant in Dorchester I met someone my age who was truly traumatized for life by a single experience way back in third grade. We’ll call… Read More ›
Defining a trapezoid
This is the cue for my students to roll their eyes… Yesterday I got into a heated discussion with another math teacher about an important issue: how to define a trapezoid. He was arguing in favor of the position that… Read More ›
Pie for Thanksgiving? No, a pie chart from Fox News
This pie chart from Fox News speaks for itself:
Struggle
At this week’s Math Department meeting, we spent the first 15 minutes or so discussing what we do to help “struggling students” succeed in our courses — particularly what resources we provide. Something was bothering me about the whole discussion,… Read More ›
Before and after
A major topic of high-school math is the study of transformations. My colleague, Jim McLaughlin, wants you to know that his desk has somehow undergone a miraculous transformation: Before After
Bullet voting: why it may be a good idea
I was recently asked whether a Boston voter should always vote for the full allotment of four at-large City Council candidates, or whether bullet voting made sense. I unhelpfully replied, “It depends.” It occurred to me that I had already… Read More ›
Math Explorers Club
I don’t know why I never knew about the Cornell Math Explorers Club before now. Its website is a terrific enrichment resource for high-school math students and their teachers, with a wonderful assortment of slightly offbeat topics that are right… Read More ›
Numb3rs, Season Six — and the Unexpected Quiz
On the other hand, the season opener of Numb3rs — Season Six, which is hard to believe! — was pretty good, even it was skimpy on the math and a bit long on tensions between Charlie and Amita. But this… Read More ›
The New England Playoffs
No, not football — too late for that. And not basketball — although it’s the right season for that. I’m talking, of course, about the New England Association of Math Leagues Playoffs, which took place today at Canton High School…. Read More ›
Unnecessarily difficult
A few years ago, one of my former students from Honors Precalculus informed me that my course had been “unnecessarily difficult.” An interesting phrase. “What does that mean?” was my puzzled response. Let’s call her Rachel (not her real name)…. Read More ›
The forest or the trees?
I was just thinking about some of the difficulties that many high-school students have when attempting to learn math. Aside from those who face external obstacles — such as brain damage, severe emotional problems, or extremely inadequate teaching — we… Read More ›
Linguistics, mathematics, and the general public
Just about everyone can speak, so we all have an opinion about language. Just about everyone can count, so we all have an opinion about math. Everyone’s an expert. After reading uninformed opinions about both, I decided to compare and… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 