Yesterday was proclaimed a day of hope because of rainbow magic. And that meteorological phenomena of reflection, refraction, and dispersion came through for me. Let me explain. How can you not find hope in your heart when you learn about the expansion of two families. The birth of a sweet girl yesterday and a babyContinue reading “November 20 Day 257: Heart-work”
Category Archives: mathematics
November 14 Day 251: Being Festive
We played. We explored. We laughed. And at the end of it all, we lined up on the stage for the “festival photograph” you see above. Today’s Julia Robinson Math Festival (JRMF) at the University of Washington Tacoma was a great success. Postponed from spring 2020, public health considerations did not allow for an in-personContinue reading “November 14 Day 251: Being Festive”
November 12 Day 249: Anti-symmetry
Worked with colleague. Hopeful for understanding. Combinatorialized. Generalized. Determinants. Motzkin numbers.
November 9 Day 246: Empty
I got nothin. There are 13 more assessments to grade and I promised myself that I would get them completed today. But my eyes will not stay open. I have been staying up late almost every night to work, grade, or write. As someone who loves her sleep, it is unheard of for me toContinue reading “November 9 Day 246: Empty”
November 7 Day 244: Creative Challenge Unlocked
On November 4, I promised my students an alternate path to success that did not require them to complete this week’s timed online assessment because, let’s face it…this was quite a week. Tonight I finally wrapped my head around my promise and came up with four options: Becoming Sal KhanI assigned a variation of aContinue reading “November 7 Day 244: Creative Challenge Unlocked”
November 5 Day 242: Just What I Needed
Somedays make everything seem worthwhile. I was fortunate that today was one of those days. I had the opportunity to think mathematical thoughts, to connect with former students, to do good work with good people, and to be recognized for my efforts. My 7 am PST Zoom meeting went off without a hitch because IContinue reading “November 5 Day 242: Just What I Needed”
October 30 Day 236. “Everything is Terrible But I Guess That’s Okay”
Friday evening. Hallelujah. It’s been… a week. Again. Let’s talk about oral assessments. I finished interviews for the second group oral assessment of the quarter. There were 21 small group interviews over the week with the final interview concluding this evening at 6:30 pm. Today was a marathon; I completed thirteen 25-minutes interviews—for a totalContinue reading “October 30 Day 236. “Everything is Terrible But I Guess That’s Okay””
October 29 Day 235: In the Spirit
Halloween is fast approaching. This year there will be no Trick-or-Treating and for Tacoma’s North End, no Proctor Treats. I will miss the tradition where my math colleagues and I dress up as each other for our costumes. We do this in even numbered years: Thankfully, the COVID resurgence doesn’t stop us from celebrating withContinue reading “October 29 Day 235: In the Spirit”
October 28 Day 234: Flummoxed
For the second time this week, my Wi-Fi has let me down. During my second afternoon class, my iPad was incapable of connecting to my Zoom meeting. I tried everything I could think of. Screen sharing the iPad through the laptop directly; Having the iPad join the Zoom meeting as a guest user; Connecting theContinue reading “October 28 Day 234: Flummoxed”
October 27 Day 233: Talking about Revolution
I panicked just a little when I realized that tomorrow in Calculus II class we will be starting volumes of solids of revolution and all my visual aids are in the office. What’s a mathematician to do? Thankfully, mathgrrl (AKA Dr. Laura Taalman at James Madison University) has several 3D models available in Thingiverse thatContinue reading “October 27 Day 233: Talking about Revolution”
Math Belongs to All of Us 