I was just looking at the stats for this blog, and I was surprised to notice that the second-largest number of my readers come from…Morocco. Why Morocco? A quick search shows that I’ve mentioned Morocco only once ever in the… Read More ›
Technology
Write like you talk. Or not. As the case may be.
Paul Graham has some advice for us: Here’s a simple trick for getting more people to read what you write: write in spoken language. That’s definitely not what your typical English teacher tells us. Writing and speaking are distinct and… Read More ›
Marauder’s Map
Harry would be jealous. Look at this: it’s a real-life Marauder’s Map! But instead of showing where people are, it shows where MBTA subway trains are — right now, in real time. How cool is that?
Hello Ruby
Can young kids really learn about coding (which we used to call “programming”)? If so, do they need a computer, or can they learn it better through reading and playing board games? Linda Llukas is betting on “yes” and “the… Read More ›
A return to blogging
So…how long has it been since I blogged? Almost a year? Well, ten months anyway, which is far too long a hiatus. So I’m resuming as of today. I am hoping for at least four posts a week, and probably… Read More ›
When Desmos fails
I have become a great fan of Desmos, a free web-based graphing calculator app. It is easy to use and remarkably powerful, providing evaluations, graphs, tables, and probably a lot of other things that I haven’t learned yet. What’s especially… Read More ›
iPhone 6
Do I want an iPhone 6 (or 6 Plus)? Do I need an iPhone 6 (or 6 Plus)?
Bring Your Own Technology: A brief progress report
Six months ago I wrote a post about the “Bring Your Own Technology” initiative at Weston (BYOT). It’s time for an informal progress report (from my own point of view — which of course is objective and completely unbiased). On the… Read More ›
PD and edX
Yesterday was the fourth day of a long weekend for my students, but a professional development day for us teachers. It was surprisingly productive. As a department we constructed a list of every unit in every math course in grades… Read More ›
Where did ten weeks go?
How did I manage to go ten weeks without blogging? Just overtaken by events, I guess. But I’m determined to resume my almost-daily posts, starting today. So stay tuned, as they used to say. (Does anyone actually say “stay tuned”… Read More ›
iOS 7
As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on iOS 7. I’ve installed it on my iPhone and my iPad, and at this point I hate it. Well…that’s a bit too strong. But let’s say that the negatives… Read More ›
Technology uses in education
The esteemed Diane Ravitch, who is always worth reading even when her focus can seem obsessed, wrote an article recently for Scientific American, reprinted today in Salon, entitled “Three Dubious Uses of Tech in Schools.” So what was I expecting? From my perspective, the… Read More ›
Computer programming in English class?
How is it possible to persuade English teachers to teach computer programming (or “coding,” as people say today)? Maybe it can happen only in a private school? Why would anyone even want to insist that English teachers should teach programming? These are… Read More ›
What does an IT department do?
Speaking of the Math Curmudgeon, I’m glad I don’t teach where he teaches. At least we don’t have these problems. (Just don’t get me started on Infinite Campus…)
BYOT
Just finished participating in a two-day workshop on BYOT, a.k.a. BYOD. If you’re not up on current educational jargon, you might not realize that the T stands for “technology,” the D for “device.” In either case, the idea is that… Read More ›
Post #1000
It was just over five and a half years ago, in my 500th post, that I wrote this: I’m pleased to have kept it up for 500 posts, and I’m looking forward to 500 more. And now I’ve completed those… Read More ›
It’s tough to type math.
Mathematical expressions and equations are normally written on paper with a pencil, or on a blackboard with chalk, or on a whiteboard with markers. There’s a good reason for this: it’s really hard to type math, whether you’re using an… Read More ›
Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.
“Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.” So observes Farhad Manjoo, in a well-reasoned article entitled “Space Invaders: Why you should never, ever use two spaces after a period.” This is not a matter of opinion; it’s… Read More ›
All iPads, all the time?
Can we survive in the classroom if we entirely replace laptop computers with tablets? Last summer we converted from laptops to iPads for the incoming sophomores at the Crimson Summer Academy. This summer we expanded the program to the juniors…. Read More ›
Learning Strategies 