Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 100

• dBar revisited

  By ljd42 on November 22, 2009

  I’ve written about dBar twice before: on January 17, 2006, and on February 15, 2008. It has maintained its high standards. Barbara had mussels, followed by steak tacos, and she reports that both were excellent. I started with a scrumptious… Read More ›

• The Good Woman of Setzuan

  By ljd42 on November 21, 2009

  Congratulations to the Weston High School Theater Company for another first-rate production! The last time I saw Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Woman of Setzuan must have been at least 20 years ago, so I didn’t remember much about it except… Read More ›

• Friday Cat Blogging

  By ljd42 on November 20, 2009

  Vincent posed specially for this photo, because he liked his contribution to all the strong vertical lines — particularly the line from his right ear through his front paws, the nearly vertical sweep of his tail, and of course all… Read More ›

• Struggle

  By ljd42 on November 19, 2009

  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 ›

• The early bird gets the…copies?

  By ljd42 on November 18, 2009

  You have to get up early in the morning to get ahead of the rest of the Weston faculty. (No slackers here!) I got to school at 6:30 this morning, figuring that I could use the photocopier without competition… but… Read More ›

• Before and after

  By ljd42 on November 17, 2009

  

  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

• How can you lose a quiz while you're taking it?

  By ljd42 on November 16, 2009

  It doesn’t seem possible for a student to lose his quiz while taking it. If it’s possible at all, it should surely be a once-in-a-lifetime event. But no! For the second time in my years at Weston, this unlikely event… Read More ›

• The Catch

  By ljd42 on November 14, 2009

  Apparently I’m reviewing one of Archer Mayor’s novels each year. I see that I wrote about St. Alban’s Fire on February 3, 2007; and I wrote about The Second Mouse on March 8, 2008. Unfortunately I have to report that… Read More ›

• Friday cat blogging & a geometry quiz

  By ljd42 on November 13, 2009

  

  One of my students asked me what Friday Cat Blogging is all about. You can read the answer here or here or especially here. In other news, since today is Friday the 13th, we had to have a pop quiz… Read More ›

• Trophy Wives Don't Need Advanced Physics

  By ljd42 on November 12, 2009

  This is an unsolicited recommendation for the new book published by my colleague, Boris Korsunsky, Trophy Wives Don’t Need Advanced Physics: Dubious Words of Wisdom From Physics Students. Just now I almost said, “written by my colleague…,” but that would… Read More ›

• 88 Wharf

  By ljd42 on November 11, 2009

  

  The southern half of Dorchester is becoming known for its new restaurants, especially if you extend the southern edge a bit into Milton. As you know from my brief review of Mrs. Jones, I’ve already written about one of these… Read More ›

• Weston teens & Boston teens…polite or not?

  By ljd42 on November 10, 2009

  Earlier today I just happened to make a small remark to my junior class, complimenting them (and indirectly their parents) on how well brought up they were. The context was that two students had gone out of their way to… Read More ›

• Friday cat blogging

  By ljd42 on November 6, 2009

  

  Geometry was never their strong point. It’s hard to get them to understand what “parallel” means:

• Congratulations to the Math Team!

  By ljd42 on November 5, 2009

  Please congratulate the Weston High School math team for a spectacular showing at today’s meet. There were three — count them, that’s three — students with perfect scores, an unprecedented event in my years at Weston. Kudos to Marco Alagna,… Read More ›

• What's wrong with a B+?

  By ljd42 on November 4, 2009

  Three different freshmen approached me at various times today with concerns about whether they should stay in Honors Geometry or drop down to College Prep. That’s OK. But for two of them the reason was that their current average is… Read More ›

• What a good day for a test!

  By ljd42 on November 2, 2009

  Must be a good day for a test. Today three out of my four classes are taking tests — or opportunities to achieve, as some of them like to say. Maybe we are getting close to the end of the… Read More ›

• Halloween ups and downs

  By ljd42 on November 1, 2009

  

  This year’s Halloween was the best and the worst. Let’s save the best for last. So the first question is, “How many trick-or-treaters did we get this year?” For perspective, we need to know that Barbara and I just happened… Read More ›

• Friday cat blogging

  By ljd42 on October 30, 2009

  

  This is Rosalita, commonly known as Rosie but sometimes called the Curmudge-o-cat:

• Class blogs

  By ljd42 on October 26, 2009

  Check out the blogs for all of my classes! We rotate each day that a class meets, so that students take turns posting class notes. So far this has led to a number of positive effects: Students who miss class… Read More ›

• Bullet voting: why it may be a good idea

  By ljd42 on October 24, 2009

  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 ›

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