Recent Posts - page 114

  • Labyrinth of Languages

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    On May 5, as you will recall, I posted an article about a proposed new class for the Saturday Course, temporarily code-named Geolinguistics. Well, that course has indeed come into existence, and I am just finishing teaching it for the… Read More ›

  • Books about high school: The Physics of the Buffyverse, Prep, & The Kings of NY

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    I really wanted to like these books. I really did. And in some ways I suppose I liked all three of them. But not enough. All three are deeply flawed. First, let’s consider The Physics of the Buffyverse, by Jennifer… Read More ›

  • Veterans' Day Assembly

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    Delayed post (originally written 11/10): This was the first year in my memory that Weston High School held a Veterans’ Day Assembly. It was extraordinarily well done, and a truly moving experience to boot. Second World War veterans and their… Read More ›

  • Visiting Pittsfield (…Who would visit Pittsfield?)

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    Delayed post (originally written 9/10): If you say you’re going to the Berkshires for vacation, nobody bats an eye. But say that you’re going to Pittsfield, you get some very odd looks. Who ever vacations in Pittsfield? It can simply… Read More ›

  • A mostly vegetarian (and slightly Chinese) Thanksgiving

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    Delayed post (originally written 11/25): I guess it’s appropriate to follow a review of a play called An Absolute Turkey with a review of a Thanksgiving dinner that was entirely turkey-free. As usual, Barbara and I participated in Thanksgiving dinner… Read More ›

  • An Absolute Turkey

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    Delayed post (originally written 11/18): The Theater Company at Weston High School put on a hilarious performance of Georges Feydeau’s 1896 farce, An Absolute Turkey this weekend. Director and theater teacher John Minigan reports that “the French mother of a… Read More ›

  • Switzerland is not Sweden

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    An overheard conversation: “Where’s Ms. Shields this year?” one sophomore asked. Before I could reply, one of her classmates gave her the answer: “Don’t you remember? She got married and moved to Philadelphia.” “Oh, yes,” recalled the first student. “She… Read More ›

  • Cross at the green

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    “Cross at the green, not in between.” Didn’t we all learn that rule as children? Dorchester is inner-city: a very urban environment. It’s dangerous to cross against the light! It’s dangerous to walk across Dot Ave right in front of… Read More ›

  • Hiatus is over

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    OK, OK, I’ll start blogging again! First I ran into recent Weston alumni Sheldon and Chester at the school play, and they asked why I hadn’t posted recently. “Yes, I know,” I replied. “I haven’t posted in five months.” “Six,… Read More ›

  • Of course we outsource game-playing!

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    According to the New York Times and NPR, wealthy online gamers are outsourcing the playing of games to Chinese workers! At first glance this sounds ridiculous: surely people who play online games enjoy playing them, so it makes no sense… Read More ›

  • When did the meaning of “scavenger hunt” change?

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    Since when did the meaning of the phrase “scavenger hunt” change so that it now refers to what is properly called a “treasure hunt”? When I was a kid, there was a clear distinction: In a scavenger hunt, you were… Read More ›

  • Milton K-12

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    I recommend reading the website of MiltonK–12.org, a new organization committed to preserving Milton Academy as a school that runs from kindergarten through grade 12. “Why is this an issue?” you may well ask. Here’s why: Periodically, rumors surface that… Read More ›

  • OFD or DBC?

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    There’s something faintly annoying about those “OFD: Originally from Dorchester” medallions and bumper stickers. Yes, it’s nice that people are proud of coming from Dorchester, but the word ‘originally’ sticks in the craw. It implies something like, “Yes, I was… Read More ›

  • Wisdom from a fourth-grader

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    A fourth-grader in my Saturday Course class, “Create Your Own Computer Game,” announces to me at the end of the third day that she’s almost done writing her game. “So you are,” I observe. “How did you get it done… Read More ›

  • Which parish?

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    A stranger entered my classroom just before my Algebra II class was about to start. He was wearing a visitor’s pass but didn’t introduce himself. So I went up to him, introduced myself, and of course he responded in kind…. Read More ›

  • Chinese-American writers…and doctors and engineers

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    Maybe you don’t expect a Chinese-American writer to have a name like Tess Gerritsen. On the other hand, as an ABC (American-born Chinese), it’s unsurprising that she has an American first name, and if she then marries a man named… Read More ›

  • Math Tests: U.K. vs. China

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    In the U.S. we’re accustomed to the bashing that the American system of teaching math receives from critics at home and abroad. Despite reservations about whether we’re comparing the wide spectrum of American population with the elite populations to whom… Read More ›

  • The Oxford Murders

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    If you like math and mysteries, do read The Oxford Murders, an academic mystery by an Argentinian author, Guillermo Martinez, as translated by Sonia Soto. If you don’t like math, your interest in mysteries probably won’t sustain you throughout this… Read More ›

  • Preliminary thoughts on benefits of CSA

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    As reported here at various points, a frequent topic of discussion at Weston High School is the achievement gap — as seen in Weston and elsewhere. In its starkest form, standardized tests show that white and Asian kids from upper-middle-class… Read More ›

  • Geolinguistics?

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    One Saturday last month, when I walked into the Saturday Course wearing my map jacket, the director brought up the idea that I should consider teaching a geography course. I was lukewarm to that idea, primarily because I couldn’t imagine… Read More ›