As I was reading Paul Graham’s essay, “Some Heroes,” it struck me that I’ve never liked being asked who my heroes are. In his second and fourth paragraphs, Graham reflects on the question itself: I’m not claiming this is a… Read More ›
Teaching & Learning
Math is hard, let’s go shopping, says Barbie (and others)
Remember the big kerfuffle in 1992 when Mattel released a Teen Talk Barbie that said “Math is hard, let’s go shopping”? (Actually, if you look it up, you’ll find some references that quote it that way, and others that quote… Read More ›
Career Day
Today was a very successful Career Day at Weston High School. I highly recommend the concept to other high schools — if you have a dedicated, highly organized team of people to take care of all the logistics. People who… Read More ›
Which is more important, sports or academics? And what about the arts?
Every school will tell you that academics are more important than sports. After all, it is a school. Even the most sports-minded principal will ban an athlete from playing football if his grades are too low, but no one would… Read More ›
Crazy Chinese words?
Don McLeroy, chairman of the Texas State Board of Education, certainly understands cultural sensitivity with his global perspective: “What good does it do to put a Chinese story in an English book?” he said. “You learn all these Chinese words,… Read More ›
How to create a blog
In one of those typical synchronicities, two of my students have just asked me how they can create their own blogs — a Weston sophomore yesterday, and a Saturday Course fifth-grader today. The Weston student suggested that I should post… Read More ›
What's the matter with math today?
What’s the matter with math education today? No, it’s not that kids don’t know the basics, despite what some people say. And it’s not that teachers are teaching “fuzzy math,” despite what some people say. Paul Lockhart has the correct… Read More ›
“You’ll enjoy the same success and happiness…”
Novelist Elinor Lipman wrote an excellent essay in the Boston Globe the day before yesterday, entitled “If I ruled the admissions universe.” I would like all high school juniors to read it. I just wish I could agree with it…. Read More ›
MCASitis
Today was the first day of disruptive MCAS testing. One of my sections of college-prep Algebra II was wiped out, the other was barely affected. There will be a repeat performance on Thursday. Somehow this is supposed to improve education,… Read More ›
Wellness Day
Today was Wellness Day at Weston High School — a day off for the students, and a day of professional development workshops for the teachers. “Professional development”: what thoughts does that phrase conjure up? FWIW, let’s see what Wikipedia has… Read More ›
Mozart and the Whale: The book
On February 20 I reviewed Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story. After seeing and enjoying this fascinating movie, I decided to read the autobiography on which it was based. (Can I still call it an autobiography when it… Read More ›
Goodbye, Arthur C. Clarke.
Another of the great ones is gone. Scientist, science fiction writer, and visionary Arthur C. Clarke died the day before yesterday at age 90. He is best known for the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, on which the eternally rewatchable… Read More ›
Fractions
That’s fractions, not fractals. (There is, actually, a significant and non-coincidental connection between the words, but that would be something of a digression.) I’m noticing two recent and diametrically opposed views on fractions — views that I want to discuss… Read More ›
Happy Pi Day!
Pi Day at Weston was uneventful, except that one of my students brought in a virtual pie. Actually it was a chocolate cake, but at least it was round. And she had intended to write some of the digits of… Read More ›
As Dog is My Witness
I seem to be inadvertently continuing my Asperger’s theme here. As Dog is My Witness, by Jeffrey Cohen, is a mystery that features a couple of boys with Asperger’s; one is the innocent suspect, the other the informal detective. You… Read More ›
Maple
Yesterday afternoon we had a half-day workshop on Maple, a computer algebra system. At least that’s how we think of it, but here’s the description on their website: Maple is the leading all purpose mathematics software tool. Maple provides an… Read More ›
Teaching boys and girls separately — and differently?
There’s a fascinating pair of intertwined articles this week, one in the New York Times Magazine and one in Language Log. The Times article is the cover piece for the issue: “Teaching Boys and Girls Separately,” by Elizabeth Weil; the… Read More ›
An Obama/Seeger serendipity
Wow! I don’t often call a PBS show inspiring, but last night I watched the truly inspiring American Masters episode, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, which had aired on my birthday and TiVo had kindly saved for me. I… Read More ›
Fractals are fractious
(Thanks to Barbara for the title of this post.) Let me begin by setting the stage. On Friday I wrote about this year’s Fractal Fair. Groups of students (generally three in each group, occasionally two; generally juniors, but there were… Read More ›
Listen to the kids? Or listen to the adults?
In Universal Hub this morning, Adam Gaffin quotes Cara Lisa Powers on the subject of the Boston Globe’s coverage of a protest at the John D. O’Bryant High School of Mathematics and Science. The Globe ignored the kids. In this… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 