Today was the first day of an MAA Board of Directors quarterly meeting. I tried to get a screenshot to share but honestly, our resting zoom faces didn’t show us in the best light. I fixed it! Now everyone has a smile. What do you think? For MAA friends, can you match the pictures toContinue reading “May 21 Day 74: Resting Zoom Face”
Monthly Archives: May 2020
May 20 Day 73: Time Expansion
Have you ever noticed that projects expand to fill the time available? Today I only had one hard deadline and several soft ones. The hard deadline? Teaching from 3:40-5:40 pm. I thought I was ready to go this morning—just a few minor adjustments to the learning management system and it would be on to biggerContinue reading “May 20 Day 73: Time Expansion”
May 19 Day 72: For Math and Love
This week has a lot due dates and deadlines converging. I’ve spent a fair few too many late nights trying to get ahead of regular work so that I can add in the special requests. I’m not complaining. It is a privilege to participate in these ways: Working with colleagues to create a special awardContinue reading “May 19 Day 72: For Math and Love”
May 18 Day 71: Did It!
If you are keeping track—it’s after midnight but I cleared my grading queue to zero. It won’t last long so I wanted to take this moment to celebrate! Now to sleep. Sweet dreams.
May 17 Day 70: Small Celebrations
Sometimes I need to celebrate little things. Rather than rising early to start work, I stayed snuggled under my covers and began grading. Finishing the first of three Matrix Algebra assignments before ever getting up, pushed away the gloom and burden of grading—tricking me into feeling optimistic about work for the rest of the day.Continue reading “May 17 Day 70: Small Celebrations”
May 16 Day 69: To Do
For those of you not familiar with the Canvas Teacher app, the 114 in the red oval represents the number of items in need of grading this weekend. Some are quick check-offs: complete or incomplete. About half are assessments from my mastery-based precalculus course. The rest come from my writing intensive matrix theory course (soContinue reading “May 16 Day 69: To Do”
May 15 Day 68: Powering Through
Today marks the tenth Friday since the start of remote teaching. We are at the point of this journey that each day feels the same and every class gets just a little bit harder to find motivation. Student participation is lagging too. I hear the wisdom of Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman in ArrestedContinue reading “May 15 Day 68: Powering Through”
May 14 Day 67: Streaking
Did the title make you look? WordPress would have me believe that a compelling title is all I need to make it in the blog-o-sphere. So let’s test that hypothesis. What were you thinking when you read the title? Petri dishes and inoculating loops? Lights across the sky? Naked runners? Hair highlights? DuoLingo? Honestly, it’sContinue reading “May 14 Day 67: Streaking”
May 13 Day 66: Synchronicity
Access, community and MAA Connect were apparently on several people’s minds and for some reason they decided to find me today. First was an email query from a long time member, asking about why the Mathematical Association of America has moved away from listserves in favor of MAA Connect, the association equivalent of a courseContinue reading “May 13 Day 66: Synchronicity”
May 12 Day 65: The Smell of Rain
There is something comforting about the smell of rain through the bedroom window, especially on a day filled with teaching and zoom obligations. Yes, I know there is a word to describe the smell, petrichor. As my microbiologist husband reminds me, I should be thanking the soil bacteria, Streptomyces, for producing geosmin, the molecule thatContinue reading “May 12 Day 65: The Smell of Rain”
Math Belongs to All of Us 