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”
Category Archives: mathematics
July 14 Day 493: Always Learning
I have been editing videos for the #TacomaMath workgroup of the STEAM Learning Network of Graduate Tacoma for 5 months. We released the first video on February 5, 2021 and with few exceptions, created a Math Around Town recording every week since. I’ve learned a lot over these five months. I seem to learn somethingContinue reading “July 14 Day 493: Always Learning”
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”
April 21 Day 409: An Eleven Hour Whirlwind
It’s crunch time. My youngest needs to make his college decision. But because of the pandemic, the only college visits he had were three years ago when he was dragged along on his brother’s tour. I promised before he made his final choice, we would visit the campuses he was considering. I can neither confirmContinue reading “April 21 Day 409: An Eleven Hour Whirlwind”
April 2 Day 390: Math and Stats Awareness Month
Sometimes I get to do cool things. To read the entire interview visit: https://www.onlineengineeringprograms.com/features/math-awareness-month. To learn more about Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month visit https://ww2.amstat.org/mathstatmonth/.
March 24 Day 381: Small World
Some days the world is smaller than others. I was cold-called by a group in the UK about the possibility of recording some math lectures for their start-up enterprise. This felt like a legit inquiry and I responded. Today’s conversation was a delight. Amber, the person who contacted me, grew up ~11 blocks from whereContinue reading “March 24 Day 381: Small World”
March 16 Day 373: Finally Got It Figured
No teacher likes to wait in office hours for students to show up and ask questions. This quarter I instituted a rule that if no one arrived with questions in the first 15 minutes, I was not obligated to stay. Tonight was my last evening drop-in hour for Winter Quarter 2021. The oral final examContinue reading “March 16 Day 373: Finally Got It Figured”
March 3 Day 360: Success!
Sometimes, things work out better than imagined. Now that the talk has been given, I am a Desmos Teacher convert. So much so, that I am wondering how to incorporate it into future talks (and classrooms activities) when we return to in-person interactions. The planned activities went smoothly. Each person individually selected an item thatContinue reading “March 3 Day 360: Success!”
Math Belongs to All of Us 