Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 46

• It can’t happen here.

  By ljd42 on July 5, 2020

  

  In 1964, when Barry Goldwater was running for president, Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here came to my attention, so I promptly checked a copy out of the library and read it right away. In case you’ve never heard of… Read More ›

• I survived my first week of Zoom-based teaching.

  By ljd42 on July 3, 2020

  

  Today, on July 3, I am telling you that I survived my first week. Not my first week of teaching, of course: what I survived was my first week of teaching with Zoom — although sometimes it did feel like… Read More ›

• On the other hand… Gödel (but not Escher or Bach)

  By ljd42 on July 1, 2020

  

  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 ›

• Sanity through math

  By ljd42 on June 29, 2020

  

  Why is Jonathan Halabi called “Mr. D.”? I mean, it’s an excellent way to refer to a math teacher — isn’t it? — but I’m puzzled by “D” as the abbreviation for Halibi. Oh well, who am I to object?… Read More ›

• Is this an offensive slur?

  By ljd42 on June 28, 2020

  

  QOTD: Is it OK for a young Jewish woman to call another young Jewish woman a JAP, or is it an offensive slur? Here’s the three-part context behind that question: A friend (Jewish and female) replied to my post about… Read More ›

• Finally venturing out to a restaurant (outdoors, of course)

  By ljd42 on June 26, 2020

  

  Yesterday evening was the first time since the shutdown began that we actually went out to a restaurant to dine, instead of getting takeout or delivery! Strictly outdoors, of course, at dbar on the patio. All in all, it was an… Read More ›

• Eye chart

  By ljd42 on June 24, 2020

  

  Stand 20 feet away. Good luck!  

• Resources for non-linguists

  By ljd42 on June 22, 2020

  

  So you want to dip your toe into the waters of linguistics, but you don’t want to take a linguistics course? A course would be full-body immersion, after all, not just dipping a toe. So what do you do? There… Read More ›

• Beautiful trigonometry

  By ljd42 on June 21, 2020

  

  You would be forgiven if you had the misimpression that I don’t like trigonometry, because I hadn’t been clear, as I pointed out the very next day. I definitely do like trig. In fact, I love trig! To see one… Read More ›

• Move to Strike

  By ljd42 on June 20, 2020

  

  Partly a courtroom drama, partly a mystery, partly a suspense thriller, this novel by Perri O’Shaughnessy (a pseudonym for sisters Pamela and Mary O’Shaughnessy) is a great choice when you’re stuck at home, as most of us are right now…. Read More ›

• Zia Gianna (and a bonus visit from William)

  By ljd42 on June 19, 2020

  

  Delicious caprese pasta takeout tonight from Zia Gianna: cavatappi with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and nut-free pesto — all prepared by the owner and founder, native Sicilian and new American citizen Nino Barbalace. Also a bottle of Nero D’Avola. As a… Read More ›

• Karen

  By ljd42 on June 18, 2020

  

  Who is Karen? As Gretchen McCulloch explains, language changes more rapidly today than in the past, because internet. One current meaning of Karen is new. According to Wikipedia: Karen is a term used in the United States for a person perceived to… Read More ›

• Minority languages

  By ljd42 on June 16, 2020

  

  Simon Agre says: Speakers of majority languages often belittle them, claim they are not proper languages, that they don’t have their own grammar, and/or that they are ‘just’ dialects, patois, or distorted / corrupted versions of a majority language, and… Read More ›

• Grim fairytales

  By ljd42 on June 15, 2020

  

  That’s grim, not Grimm. Well, both, actually. As some Americans — and all Germans — know, the Grimm fairytales can be quite grim. Some of us have gained a particular perspective on this point from Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful musical, Into the… Read More ›

• Special dinner from Tavolo

  By ljd42 on June 14, 2020

  

  Example of unaware white privilege: A middle-class white guy complains that meals during the shutdown have included too much pasta, too much pizza, too many casseroles. I’m not going to be that guy. We’re not complaining. Still, it was great… Read More ›

• What does “defund” really mean?

  By ljd42 on June 13, 2020

  

  “Defund the police.” That means… what? Does it mean eliminate police departments? Does it mean reduce their funding? Does it mean anarchy? Here are three posts I saw on Facebook yesterday — one posted by a friend, two from a… Read More ›

• Ἅρειος Ποτῆρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Φιλοσόφου Λίθος

  By ljd42 on June 12, 2020

  

  No cheating now: Based on the Greek letters that you’ve learned from math and science, can you figure out what the title of this post says? If you can’t figure out any complete words, try sounding them out. There are… Read More ›

• Because Language

  By ljd42 on June 10, 2020

  

  Just over a year ago, I published a blog post in which I added Talk the Talk to my short list of favorite linguistics podcasts. The bad news is that Talk the Talk is no more. The good news is… Read More ›

• The Mathematics of COVID-19

  By ljd42 on June 8, 2020

  

  As you know from my recent post, my colleague Joyce and I will be co-teaching a short unit on the mathematics of COVID-19 this summer. But what topics should it include, and in what order, and how will students learn… Read More ›

• A Moroccan teen blogs about linguistics (and other matters…).

  By ljd42 on June 6, 2020

  

  How many Americans know that Morocco is in Africa? Probably not very many. I’m guessing 4%. And half of those know Morocco’s location only because they’ve seen the world’s best movie (Casablanca, of course) and have paid attention to the geography…. Read More ›

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