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”
Category Archives: mathematics
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 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 10 Day 63: A Grading Travelogue
It’s the weekend and that means serious grading. Today’s task: the Matrix Theory midterm that I gave on Thursday. Twenty four students, six pages each. I vowed to grade each page in a different location. Before I begin, a kudos to my technology. I downloaded the exams to a folder in my iCloud and canContinue reading “May 10 Day 63: A Grading Travelogue”
May 6 Day 59: Interaction Achievement Unlocked
Online remote teaching days that feel the most successful have lots of positive interaction between me and my students. Today was perhaps one of the best in a long while. My students are agile and moved with me as I switch between technologies. Here is today’s inventory: Google slide where students indicated standards they mostContinue reading “May 6 Day 59: Interaction Achievement Unlocked”
May 5 Day 58: First Approximation
The puzzle presented on May 2, Day 55: Small Start gives a first approximation to the participant placement algorithm in a Zoom meeting room. Provided all participants use their cameras, placement seems dependent on the order in which we signed into the meeting except that each person appears in the “second” position of their ownContinue reading “May 5 Day 58: First Approximation”
May 4 Day 57: A Golden Moment
For one perfect moment, the number of visitors and the number of views to this blog were consecutive Fibonacci numbers, making the views per visitor a rational approximation to the golden ratio.
May 2 Day 55: Start Small
Who hasn’t attended a virtual meetings lately? I have wondered what the zoom algorithm is for placing faces in the photo grid. I know I could probably look it up but that would take all the fun out of the question. As a first principle of puzzle solving, if you can’t see the general answer,Continue reading “May 2 Day 55: Start Small”
April 30 Day 53: Commitment Day
May first is Commitment Day. Tomorrow, college-bound seniors are supposed to have pledged themselves (and their family’s money) to the next step in their educational journeys. It’s exciting to think about new horizons, new discoveries, new friends, and new adventures. That first year of college is a chance to reinvent yourself–to leave your mistakes behind,Continue reading “April 30 Day 53: Commitment Day”
April 26 Day 49: Love Letters
Dear Mathematics, I am more grateful than you can know that you are a part of my life. You make my pulse race when a solution is revealed. You inspire me towards creativity and persistence. You provided the foundation upon which I built my career. And you bring comfort—even when I don’t know that isContinue reading “April 26 Day 49: Love Letters”
Math Belongs to All of Us 