A bittersweet virtual goodbye to the senior math majors. Our sixth and final day of capstone presentations went smoothly. The students dressed to impress and made me proud. I learned that in a Zoom conference, we can all turn our microphones on and clap to create real applause. The UWT Math community is strongly connectedContinue reading “March 19 Day 11: Math Majors Class of 2020”
Author Archives: Jenny Quinn
March 18 Day 10: Swallowed by Black Hole
Day 10 of Math in the Time of Corona. I was just swallowed by that black hole. The uncertainty has been removed (2 days before the deadline) and Spring quarter will be entirely online. I quote from President Cauce’s email: “Shortly, we will notify all students that spring quarter will begin with remote instruction onContinue reading “March 18 Day 10: Swallowed by Black Hole”
March 17 Day 9: Not a rollercoaster. Black hole.
Day 9 in the Year of the Plague. It’s not a rollercoaster but a black hole sucking us toward an uncertain future. We may not be able to see beyond the event horizon, but we can help each other on this perilous journey. Each day brings new challenges. Yes, we are bringing our oldest homeContinue reading “March 17 Day 9: Not a rollercoaster. Black hole.”
March 16 Day 8: Personal Mantra and the Second Wave
Worry less about the integrity of online examinations and quality of online content. Worry more about the people. Assume best intentions. Think about your learning goals: to enable students to be critical thinkers? problem solvers? to have flexible minds and be able to adapt? They will get all that through the experience you provide and more. Will it really matter if your Calculus I class doesn’t get to L’Hopital’s rule or your Calculus II class doesn’t get to partial fraction decomposition? I doubt it. For those that need it, there will be time later. For now, congratulate yourself on getting through the first day (or the first week or planning for a future week) and just
March 15 Day 7: Early Adopters
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. You brought a ray of sunshine to my day. I tried to count the number of institutions of higher learning that have gone to online classes or extended Spring breaks with subsequent online classes, but lost count after 550. Then I started to wonder how many institutions ofContinue reading “March 15 Day 7: Early Adopters”
March 14 Day 6: A Different Kind of Celebration
Yes my birthday is on Pi Day but I don’t feel much like celebrating.
March 13 Day 5: Upside Down and Inside Out
Each new announcement starts another ripple of panic. I still haven’t bought toilet paper! Another professional conference cancelled! Plane tickets to change! The repeating stress is exhausting; The information sharing, overwhelming. The academic world has turned upside down and inside out.
March 12 Day 4: No More Black Name Tags, Please
This was my last “teaching day” of winter quarter. The senior seminar again proved to be inspirational. The students modeled how to move forward in uncertainty. They adapted what they knew to this time and place. We had Google slides, Beamer, and PowerPoint, zoomed live or streamed recordings. I am looking forward to two moreContinue reading “March 12 Day 4: No More Black Name Tags, Please”
March 11 Day 3: Bitter Sweet End
Reflections on day three teaching but not in face-to-face classes: last day of Calculus 2 for the quarter. More students participated than Monday but still less than half the number of registered students. I wonder if they are OK. It was bitter sweet. I really enjoyed this class and regret not being able to sayContinue reading “March 11 Day 3: Bitter Sweet End”
March 10 Day 2: Campus Ghost Town
On MAA Connect: This week we have seen many universities and colleges choose social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel corona virus COVID-19. At the time of this writing the number has risen past 120 institutions of higher learning. This means faculty are scrambling to transition to different teaching practices very quickly. TheContinue reading “March 10 Day 2: Campus Ghost Town”
Math in the Time of Corona 