Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 34

• A Meh Landmark

  By ljd42 on August 19, 2021

  After a couple of friends had enthusiastically recommended the pizza at the Landmark Public House in Adams Village, a.k.a. Adams Corner, Barbara and I decided to try it. We lucked into an open parking space right on Minot St. at… Read More ›

• Fake news? Or not? Jigsaw puzzles improve cognitive functioning in seniors!

  By ljd42 on August 18, 2021

  Not high-school seniors. Not college seniors. Seniors as in senior citizens—old people—like me. We all know (don’t we?) that solving crossword puzzles and playing games like Scrabble can supposedly help stave off Alzheimer’s by keeping the left side of the… Read More ›

• Infinity is not a number. (Or is it?)

  By ljd42 on August 16, 2021

  Yes, students have trouble with infinity. And with zero. The great James Propp has written an in-depth essay about conceptual and linguistic issues with infinity and zero. Concrete examples are always best. Propp offers eight ways in which a student… Read More ›

• Fortune Favors the Dead, by Stephen Spotswood

  By ljd42 on August 14, 2021

  No, this is not another Nero Wolfe pastiche that lamely tries to follow Rex Stout’s formula. In Fortune Favors the Dead, written in 2020, author Stephen Spotswood has created two new and very original characters who vividly come to life… Read More ›

• The so-called SmartPhone trap: Is it real?

  By ljd42 on August 11, 2021

  Confirmation bias strikes again! Maybe I’m being unfair to myself. But I admit that I started reading this New York Times piece with a two-fold bias: The “guest essay” in the Times is titled “This is our chance to pull… Read More ›

• עס און עס

  By ljd42 on August 8, 2021

  No, that’s not Hebrew in the title of this post. Yes, it is written in the Hebrew alphabet. The alphabet is Hebrew, but the language is not—it’s Yiddish. You can’t tell it from the name of the restaurant as shown… Read More ›

• Guilt at the Garage, by Simon Brett

  By ljd42 on August 6, 2021

  A mystery in a small seaside village in England. Sounds like Agatha Christie, right? Well, yes, it does sound like Christie. But it’s actually Simon Brett. Guilt at the Garage is a conventional English village mystery. Now don’t interpret “conventional”… Read More ›

• “They Might be Linguists.” Linguists—not giants???

  By ljd42 on August 3, 2021

  You all do know the band They Might Be Giants (TMBG), don’t you? But you might not know my personal connection with them. The connection is that John Flansburgh and John Linnell, founders of TMBG from Lincoln, MA, were students… Read More ›

• Remember the ’60s and the ’70s? WBCN and the American Revolution

  By ljd42 on July 31, 2021

  The ’60s and the the ’70s were formative years for many of us. A must-see film recently illuminated these decades through the lens of the story of WBCN, a.k.a. The American Revolution. Perhaps I need to point out a couple… Read More ›

• No, it’s not Lupin. It’s Hannah LeBaron’s Adventure Cats!

  By ljd42 on July 29, 2021

  Some say you can’t train a cat. My former student Hannah LeBaron and her cat Lily beg to differ. Go read the interview with them on the Community Cats podcast! Apparently Hannah is now an influencer on social media—or so… Read More ›

• The Rose Code, by Kate Quinn

  By ljd42 on July 26, 2021

  Heartfelt thanks to my friend and colleague Leah Gordon for recommending this wonderful novel! The Rose Code is a remarkable work of historical fiction, focusing primarily on three invented characters—together with a supporting cast of real-life ones, such as Alan… Read More ›

• An excessively large box for Flicka

  By ljd42 on July 24, 2021

  

  For some reason Flicka likes this excessively large box. Apparently she doesn’t understand that cats are supposed to sit in boxes that are slightly too small for them!

• Osteria Madre

  By ljd42 on July 22, 2021

  Another new restaurant in the Lower Mills area! This time it’s the “mother restaurant,” Osteria Madre, on the Milton side of the river but just “a stone’s throw from Dorchester.” Since it has only been open for two weeks so… Read More ›

• William loves to watch television!

  By ljd42 on July 18, 2021

  William had to get really, really close to the TV so that he could enjoy watching the promo of The Last Pig:

• A dinner fit for a king—with prices to match—at Pearl in Dorchester

  By ljd42 on July 15, 2021

  Last night Barbara and I tried out The Pearl, a new seafood restaurant in Dorchester’s growing South Bay development. Barbara had grilled oysters and chilled king crab legs. I had Caesar salad (with anchovies: yum!) and a grilled lobster. I… Read More ›

• “The Student as Citizen”

  By ljd42 on July 12, 2021

  Going all the way back to its conception in 2003, the Crimson Summer Academy (CSA) has had a theme for the summer: “The Student as Citizen.” If you look at its public-facing webpage, you will see this statement: “The curriculum… Read More ›

• The Suicide House, by Charlie Donlea

  By ljd42 on July 9, 2021

  Don’t let the title scare you away. Without committing any spoilers, I can tell you that it’s a bit misleading. This is another book about a boarding school—but it’s one that is totally different from the Atwater School in All… Read More ›

• Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain, By Shankar Vedantam (and Bill Mesler)

  By ljd42 on July 6, 2021

  Podcast listeners are—or certainly should be—familiar with Hidden Brain, a fascinating podcast filled with lots of interesting info. Useful Delusions, as you might guess from the subtitle, The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain, is Vedantam’s distillation of ideas… Read More ›

• Your neighbors have a right to shoot off fireworks, don’t they?

  By ljd42 on July 4, 2021

  Well, no. Aside from being illegal in Massachusetts, they are dangerous and traumatic everywhere. This satirical episode of the always great Breaking Cat News captures all the issues, especially if you read the fine print:

• Should “exam schools” exist?

  By ljd42 on July 1, 2021

  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 ›

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