I am really struggling to focus on needed work. It’s the last Saturday of “Spring break” and I am trying to get enough posted to my course management system to publish the second course that I am teaching beginning Monday. Instead I want to talk with friends on the phone, zoom, nap, or watch “TigerContinue reading “March 28 Day 20: Struggling to Focus”
Category Archives: community
March 27 Day 19: Applying a Growth Mindset to Survive
What a week! Thank you to Duong Rita Than, Ruth Vanderpool, and Erik Tou for brainstorming, problem solving, and material sharing. I am closer to being prepared for the first day of spring quarter classes Monday but it will be a long weekend. Reflections on the transition: I have always loved gizmos, gadgets, and tech.Continue reading “March 27 Day 19: Applying a Growth Mindset to Survive”
March 26 Day 18: Welcome to New Students Spring Quarter
It starts: “It’s Spring quarter. Flowers are blooming, rain is falling, and we are following Governor Inslee’s “Stay-at-Home” order. Unlike last quarter when we unexpectedly went to online classes in week 10, we are starting anew with the expectation that the entire quarter will be delivered virtually.”
March 25 Days 16-17: Making Space
Hoping we can all maintain the human connections that nourish our lives during this wild and exhausting adventure.
March 19 Day 11: Math Majors Class of 2020
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”
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 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.
Sunday, March 8 Day 0: Not the First Time
Not the first time apparently.
Math Belongs to All of Us 