Category Archives: MAA

August 20 Day 530: Affirmations in Focus

I admit, I was grumpy and feeling down yesterday. But I bounced back after seeing the newest issue of MAA Focus released online. The President’s message that I wrote was about using affirmations to help students address mathematical anxiety, especially associated with assessments. Reading it again, helped relieve my own anxiety of the moment. EvenContinue reading “August 20 Day 530: Affirmations in Focus”

August 17 Day 527: A Picture and a Word

I just participated in an inspiring panel called “My Journey in STEM.” The target audience was young women who had performed well in the American Mathematics Competitions. The other panelists were MAA colleagues April Ström, Hortensia Soto, and Emille Davie Lawrence. We each shared a picture that represented our mathematical journey and a word thatContinue reading “August 17 Day 527: A Picture and a Word”

August 6 Day 516: Analogy

I remember practicing analogies when studying for the SATs many years ago. My students don’t seem to have experience with them. So my mathematical analogies like chain rule : substitution :: product rule : parts gain no purchase in their understanding. Today, I was struck by a new analogy: Selfie : Francis Su :: ScreenshotContinue reading “August 6 Day 516: Analogy”

August 3 Day 513: Raise Your Hand If…

I got the nicest compliment today. The opening warm-up activity of MAA Congress was organized by Emille Lawrence. It was versatile in that it worked beautifully in the virtual environment and will translate nicely to an in-person space (even with masks on.) As Emille revealed each line in the slide above, representatives in Congress raisedContinue reading “August 3 Day 513: Raise Your Hand If…”

August 2 Day 512: Going for Gold

For me, today was the first day (of six) for MathFest 2021 activities with a meeting of the MAA Congress and a welcome to the 2021 Gold Project NExT Fellows. Congress started on the meeting platform HopIn. It seems great for curating sessions and broadcasting presentations but I believe in active engagement (whether in theContinue reading “August 2 Day 512: Going for Gold”

June 29 Day 478: Just a Glimpse

June’s MAA Social Hour was a grand experiment into new technology. And while it was fun (for those that got the technology to work), there were lessons to be learned for sure. It was my first foray into “speed networking. ” I used Glimpse paired with a Zoom meeting as recommended by the post HowContinue reading “June 29 Day 478: Just a Glimpse”

June 2 Day 451: Virtual Math Encounters

Today was the last teaching day for Spring quarter 2021 at UW Tacoma. I could tell by the posts of my friends that this has been one tough term. Perhaps the Facebook quote by Peter Selkin says it best: What if you had your last class Zoom meeting of the year and NOBODY CAME? (IContinue reading “June 2 Day 451: Virtual Math Encounters”

May 25 Day 443: We Escaped

More than forty of my MAA friends joined in the Virtual Escape Adventure this evening planned by Julie Barnes, Shih-Wei Chao, Rachel Epstein, Kerri Jamerson, Wei-Kai (Bryan) Lai, Allie Ray, and Laura Steil. Julie and her team have been creating mathematical treasure hunts for the Southeastern MAA Section Meeting for many years. During the SpringContinue reading “May 25 Day 443: We Escaped”

May 7 Day 425: What I Miss About Meetings in Person

I have just completed two days of virtual board meetings, the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) today and Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) yesterday. Prior to that I participated in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) annual meeting virtually over eight days. What do all these events have in common?Continue reading “May 7 Day 425: What I Miss About Meetings in Person”