Boston Latin School. Stuyvesant High School. Two of the very finest public schools in the nation. Should they exist? 50 years ago I would have been taken aback by the very question. Of course they should exist! Who would doubt… Read More ›
Weston
Punching down or punching up?
“Why do we have to have a Black History Month?” whined one of my less favorite Weston students in February of 2016. “Why don’t we have a White History Month?” “Because,” I replied without taking time to think, “every month… Read More ›
A Cat
Why had I never heard of this book before? Well, at least I’m not alone. A Cat is a little-known 1995 work written by Leonard Michaels and illustrated by Frances Lerner. I read the 2018 Tin House hardcover version, which I… Read More ›
Stuck in the past
You say you didn’t learn cryptography in high school or college? And you didn’t learn it on your own, as some of us did? It isn’t too late! In that case you’ve probably never heard of the Vigenère Cipher, so… Read More ›
Zoom vs. MCET: compare and contrast.
Everyone knows Zoom (the teleconferencing platform, that is, not the old PBS kids’ show). Everyone knows Zoom. Now, raise your hand if you know MCET. I thought so: everyone knows Zoom, but very few know MCET, which provided my first… Read More ›
On the other hand… Gödel (but not Escher or Bach)
In my previous blog post, I wrote about — and included a cartoon about — one aspect of math teaching. The cartoon asserted that “no one can impart perfect universal truths to their students,” with the punch line “…except math… Read More ›
What are your favorite poems?
What are your favorite poems? Is an epic poem too long to count as an answer to this question? I hope not — but I’ll play it safe and split the difference. My favorite pair of poems are… drumroll, please…… Read More ›
What’s wrong with Advanced Placement tests?
Three cheers for the College Board! Right? Everyone loves AP tests. Well, maybe you do, maybe you don’t, but read on. You might be surprised. Although Jonathan Halabi, a New York City math teacher, occasionally gets too much into the… Read More ›
Weston wins! High School Quiz Show: Tantasqua vs. Weston
Congratulations to Weston High School for their impressive performance in the opening salvo of this year’s WGBH High School Quiz Show! Weston beat Tantasqua Regional by the comfortable margin of 555–440, despite the fact that Tantasqua’s team consisted of four… Read More ›
“Why don’t high schools teach CS?” asks Mark.
Say what? Of course high schools teach CS! Weston has done so for decades. Surely Mark Guzdial knows better, but his recent blog post asks that very question. So what’s going on? It turns out that I have MB (Massachusetts Blindness)…. Read More ›
