Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 80

• Common Core State Standards: Ten colossal errors?

  By ljd42 on September 28, 2014

  How can I possibly digest the gigantic amount of material that has been written about the controversial Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? Like it or not, these standards are about to have a big impact on my professional life, so… Read More ›

• The Year of Living Biblically

  By ljd42 on September 27, 2014

  I approached this book with some trepidation. The premise was intriguing: A.J. Jacobs,  a moderately well-known writer for Esquire, would attempt to go for a year literally following all the rules in the Bible. I knew that Jacobs wasn’t a… Read More ›

• Mollie and Vincent

  By ljd42 on September 26, 2014

   

• Free haircuts for straight A’s?

  By ljd42 on September 25, 2014

  

  I don’t know why this sign on a barber shop in Dorchester Lower Mills rubs me the wrong way, but it does:  

• Mimi, Cole, & Abby

  By ljd42 on September 24, 2014

  In early June, Barbara and I decided to celebrate our upcoming June 23 anniversary by having dinner at Abby Park, since Barbara’s friend Mimi McCaffrey would be performing with her band, The Blue Hotel. The dinner was surprisingly good (after three… Read More ›

• Beauty Queens

  By ljd42 on September 23, 2014

  Why do so many people have trouble with satire? I guess it’s because you have to approach it on two levels at once: the literal and the figurative. That can be difficult. So don’t read Libba Bray’s novel, Beauty Queens, if you… Read More ›

• iPhone 6

  By ljd42 on September 22, 2014

  Do I want an iPhone 6 (or 6 Plus)? Do I need an iPhone 6 (or 6 Plus)?

• Why?

  By ljd42 on September 21, 2014

  

  Several of my colleagues are wearing buttons that say “Why?” — and you may well wonder why. No, they’re not disaffected teachers who are questioning authority. Au contraire, they are the authority…and they want us to help each kid understand why s/he is doing what… Read More ›

• Can math skills arise from a brain injury?

  By ljd42 on September 20, 2014

  “A man became a math wiz after suffering brain injuries,” claimed the Washington Post. Hard to believe, isn’t it? We all know that brain injury can have a harmful effect on one’s mathematical abilities, but how could it possibility turn someone with… Read More ›

• Explore mathematics

  By ljd42 on September 19, 2014

  

  Sam Shah is always worth reading. (I think I’ve said that before. That’s OK. It’s still true.) Back on February 12 he published a post called “Explore Mathematics” — a good title, since isn’t that what we all want our… Read More ›

• Plato at the Googleplex

  By ljd42 on September 18, 2014

  Some people like to read bestsellers. In fact, lots of people must like to read bestsellers. Otherwise they wouldn’t be bestsellers — right? And then, at the other extreme, there are many people who don’t like to read at all…. Read More ›

• The South Korean education system

  By ljd42 on September 16, 2014

  South Korea has one of the best education systems in the world, right? After all, even President Obama thinks so. But not so fast. Read the “rest of the story” in an excerpt from Amanda Ripley’s book, The Smartest Kids… Read More ›

• Worcester

  By ljd42 on September 15, 2014

  “Worcester????” That was the reaction of almost everybody when they heard that Barbara and I were going to Worcester for a micro-vacation a few weeks ago. Not anyone’s idea of a vacation spot, after all. But we had a great… Read More ›

• Louise Penny

  By ljd42 on September 14, 2014

  By this point I’ve read Louise Penny’s entire oeuvre to date. Obviously I like what I’m reading, or I wouldn’t continue. You can get a full list of her novels at her website, or you can just pick one up at random… Read More ›

• The importance of letting students stumble

  By ljd42 on September 13, 2014

  One consequence of being away from blogging for over six months is that I’ve let some interesting posts from other bloggers just lie hanging without commenting on them. So, let’s look at two KQED essays on almost the same topic,… Read More ›

• Back from the void

  By ljd42 on September 12, 2014

  So…it’s been months and months, and I’ve totally gotten out of the habit of blogging. Time to resume! My new goal is five posts per week for the next n weeks (value of n to be discovered).  

• 88 Wharf revisited

  By ljd42 on February 28, 2014

  

  A little over a year ago, I wrote a post in which I speculated about whether 88 Wharf was going out of business. I had liked this Milton restaurant a lot back in 2009–2011, but by 2012 it had gone downhill…. Read More ›

• “Off-track geometry”

  By ljd42 on February 27, 2014

  JD2718 is always worth reading. I used to know his real name, but I’ve lost track of it. No matter; he teaches geometry, studies cryptography, and just turned 50, so we know he’s a good guy. A few months ago… Read More ›

• Voynich

  By ljd42 on February 25, 2014

  “A mysterious document that has bedeviled scholars and top cryptographers for more than a century,” says the Boston Globe. Is it written in code? Is it art? How old is it? Read the article for some tantalizing information — and lack of… Read More ›

• What do teachers do?

  By ljd42 on February 23, 2014

  Must reading: The Teachers, by Sarah Blaine. Click on the link. Go read it before you get any further in this post…. … Finished? Read Blaine’s last paragraph again: The problem with teaching as a profession is that every single… Read More ›

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