Michael Jackson? Tupac? What do you think — who are the supreme musical artists of the past fifty years? As some of you know, the sophomores of the Crimson Summer Academy vote every summer for which three artists should hold… Read More ›
Teaching & Learning
Painting a Mural
A group of dedicated high-school students and city employees paint a mural, in historically accurate colors, overlooking the garden maintained by community volunteers at Clementine Park in Dorchester:
Stories and courses
What is a course? Is it a collection of chapters? Is it a collection of topics? I hope it’s neither — especially not that collection of chapters! A course should always tell a story. It should have a unifying purpose…. Read More ›
Stories and tests
Should a math test tell a story? That’s certainly not what most people think a math test should do! Should a course tell a story? More on that tomorrow, but at least I might get a few more takers for… Read More ›
Weston alum on treating depression
One of my former Weston students has just published “Treating depression takes much more than serotonin,” a fascinating article in Popular Science. The author, Grace Huckins, class of 2012 and erstwhile co-captain of the award-winning Weston High School Math Team, has written this… Read More ›
Teacher comments by race of student
Hmmm… Math teacher Bowman Dickson has gathered some statistics on the frequencies of various words used by teachers of various subjects in their report-card comments on high-school students. Here’s one of his charts: The phrase “more common” in the data above… Read More ›
Those reviewers on Amazon are ____________ [fill in the blank]
As Tom Lehrer famously said, “the reason most reviews on Amazon are so atrocious is that they were written by the people.” Actually, that’s not quite what he said. He actually said “the reason most folk songs are so atrocious is… Read More ›
Rationality vs. Intelligence
What do IQ tests measure? Intelligence? Something else? Some of us think they measure how well you do on IQ tests… …and nothing else. Is that the same as intelligence? And how does intelligence differ from rationality? Read this article,… Read More ›
Computer Lib
What? A popular book about computers was published in 1974? “How is that even possible????” you ask. Computer Lib, by Ted Nelson, was indeed published in 1974, way before the World Wide Web, and it is undeniably and explicitly a popular… Read More ›
An outstanding vocal recital by a Weston student
Five years from now, when she’s nationally known, I’ll be able to say “I knew her when.” Yesterday I had the privilege of attending an outstanding vocal recital by Weston junior Kayla Silverman, one of my former geometry students. For… Read More ›
Is it even possible to have an intergenerational dialogue? Is that really what we had on Wednesday?
So, finally, it’s Wednesday, the last day of the reunion. (Well, the last day for me. I just don’t have the stamina to go to the afternoon session today or to hear Angela Merkel tomorrow.) Today’s symposium is an “intergenerational… Read More ›
Do we have fair elections? Can we? Do we have equal representation? Can we?
Continuing with my 50th reunion, check out this map of Pennsylvania’s second Congressional district, which is actually not the most gerrymandered in the country, although it’s in the running. It illustrates what I had expected when I decided to go… Read More ›
Still more about the reunion. (Will it ever end? Yes, it really will… but not yet.)
“True-blue American Yalie George Bush versus pinko-Crimson Harvard Mike Dukakis.” That‘s what some Republicans were saying back in 1988 when George H.W. Bush was running against Michael Dukakis. The color prejudices are understandable, and maybe even the college prejudices, but… Read More ›
“We were going to change the world. What went wrong?”
Not everything went wrong. In many ways we did change the world. Continuing to describe my 50th reunion of the Harvard Class, let’s move on to a Tuesday symposium titled “We were going to change the world. What went right?… Read More ›
“Vote early and often,” he said; “support whoever the Democratic nominee is.”
No, it wasn’t a political rally. It was a reunion: the 50th reunion of the Harvard Class of 1969. One speaker, Bob Hughes, exemplified a running theme of the entire reunion by pointing out what we can do: “Vote early… Read More ›
Vietnam War legacy, Al Gore, and more: The first 24 hours of the reunion
Exhausting and overwhelming! That’s what the first day of my 50th Reunion was like. Not so much for the usual reason that exhausts and overwhelms us introverts — too many people — but because of the intensity of the experiences… Read More ›
How many ml in a liter?
So I’m in a certain store in Jamaica Plain today — name kept anonymous to protect the oh-so-innocent — and I ask the clerk if they sell Hennessy Privilege (a cognac, for those of you who don’t know). She says… Read More ›
High School SCOTUS
Can high-school students conduct an excellent interview and write an excellent article about it? Anna Salvatore and Joe Hanlon certainly can! No, I have never taught these two. I have never even met them. But I highly recommend Anna’s blog, High… Read More ›
A Raspberry Pi class
This time the student teaches the teacher! I had a great time yesterday at MakeIt Labs in Nashua, participating in a four-hour class taught by a former student of mine, Johnathan Vail, who was in two or three courses of… Read More ›
“Math teachers should be more like football coaches.”
As you probably know, John Urschel is both a professional mathematician (at MIT, no less) and a recently retired professional football player (in the NFL, of course — recently retired from the Baltimore Ravens). What a combination! A few days… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 