Recent Posts - page 125

  • The Harvard Coup

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    No, that’s not a typo. I don’t mean the Harvard Coop; I’m referring to the forced resignation of Harvard President Larry Summers, which Alan Dershowitz rightly calls a coup. Definitely read Dershowitz’s column! I do have a certain bias in… Read More ›

  • Finally TiVo

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    So we finally gave in and got a TiVo box. I think it was a recommendation by Ira Glass that did the track. Most of the setup was painless, but it’s been very frustrating trying to connect it to our… Read More ›

  • The soul-stealing iPod and fuzzy math

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    Does the iPod steal music’s soul? Do these numbers make sense? Here are the views of Tony Brummel, founder of Victory Records: iTunes “makes music disposable. It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul,” according to Macworld… Read More ›

  • Redefining our major curriculum units

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    Early in April, our entire math department will be participating in a workshop on “redefining our major curriculum units”. At this point I have some very preliminary thoughts, some of which I’ve discussed here previously: Many mathematical applications that are… Read More ›

  • Inflammatory headline in Boston Globe

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    Today’s Boston Globe reports on the appointment of new principals to both of the high schools in Newton. One candidate, Jennifer Price, had been a finalist for the position at Weston, though she was not the one ultimately chosen. (See… Read More ›

  • The Bookman’s Promise

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    I’m currently reading The Bookman’s Promise, another Cliff Janeway mystery by John Dunning. If you don’t know this series, run to the nearest library or bookstore — at least if you love books. Dunning’s protagonist is a bookman, defined in… Read More ›

  • Throwing money at it

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    How we can solve the dismal state of so many of our schools that are educationally inadequate? We all know that throwing money at the problem won’t help, don’t we? “Throwing money at the problem isn’t going to help,” says… Read More ›

  • Bill Gates Redux

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    We don’t have to like Bill Gates, and we certainly don’t have to like Microsoft, but we do have to admit that Gates has changed. He’s making an impact by doing fine work as a philanthropist, and occasionally he’s even… Read More ›

  • The Anglo-Irish Murders

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    I’ve just finished listening to an audiobook, The Anglo-Irish Murders, by the Irish author Ruth Dudley Edwards. Rates a cautious thumbs-up from where I stand. But I learned from a former boss that where you stand depends on where you… Read More ›

  • Bush & Barbie

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    On February 3, President Bush was addressing a crowd at Intel concerning the importance of studying math and science: A lot of people probably think math and science isn’t meant for me — you know, it seems a little hard,… Read More ›

  • Personal responsibility

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    An interesting resonance among four recent but different news and/or entertainment items: Last month, students in a certain well-regarded suburban high school report that “other kids” (of course it’s always other kids) have been selling or giving Ritalin to their… Read More ›

  • Diversity in Weston

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    The other day I turned on the radio to hear someone say, “Sure, there’s diversity in Weston. They have doctors and lawyers.” But now we have a more convincing sign of diversity: a black principal! The Superintendent of Schools just… Read More ›

  • North, East, South, and West

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    The day before yesterday, it was getting to be too late to cook dinner after I picked up Barbara in Watertown…and we would have had to defrost something anyway, or go grocery shopping on the way home…which would have made… Read More ›

  • More APs! More APs!

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    High-school students want to take more and more Advanced Placement courses these days. And we’re encouraging them. At Weston we have altogether too many students who want to skip the second half of precalculus and take AP Statistics instead —… Read More ›

  • Sudoku challenges and championships

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    On February 15, Weston High School will be holding a Sudoku challenge in the Library for the first 30 students to sign up. On March 10-11, the first World Sudoku Championship will be held in Lucca, Italy.

  • The Year of the Dog

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    You may have heard that dogs have masters but cats have staff. It’s true. Even though Barbara and I are privileged to share our house with five cats — well, actually six at the moment, since we have temporary custody… Read More ›

  • Quantitative literacy in college students

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    According to the National Survey of America’s College Students (NSACS) — a study conducted by the American Institutes for Research and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts — American college students know even less math than we had thought: Approximately… Read More ›

  • Can exams reduce stress and be otherwise helpful?

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    There’s a possibility that Weston may return to a traditional exam schedule after a decade or so of not having one. There have been many justifications for not having a final exam week: An emphasis on exams increases stress. Students… Read More ›

  • Educator-in-chief

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    President Bush (on CBS today): My job is not only Commander-In-Chief but educator-in-chief. And I needed to say to the people, you bet it’s tough. George W. Bush as educator-in-chief? Hmmm…

  • The Sudoku/Systems connection

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    Epiphany: A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization (definition 3b in the American Heritage Dictionary) So I guess I was visited by an epiphany this weekend: I realized that Sudoku has a surprising connection… Read More ›