Category Archives: Pandemic

March 23, Day 15: The Third Wave

Many of my mathematical friends are in the vanguard of the third wave, starting their transitions to online teaching today. For many, their institutions were on spring break when the pandemic broke. Then granted an extra week for preparations, they are now making things happen for their students. I felt a social-media sigh as worries about “what to do” transformed into realities that they really “could do” this work. Creativity, caring, and resilience. I see it everywhere.

March 21 Day 13: Checklist

Grading final projects? In progress. Household trendsetter with copper door knobs? Check. Zooming for connections? Indeed. Today a brief check in with my thesis advisor Richard A. Brualdi; tomorrow a family meeting (across the 4 times zones of in the Continental USA). What I remember most? Sleeping with the window open and breathing fresh airContinue reading “March 21 Day 13: Checklist”

March 20 Day 12: Geek Squad Cred

I know my response to stress is to sleep. As I try to grade 15 twenty-page capstone papers, all my eyes want to do is close. I set a daily goal of grading five papers to ensure that I will be ready to compute final grades by Monday and assign them before Tuesday’s 5 pmContinue reading “March 20 Day 12: Geek Squad Cred”

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 18 Day 10: Swallowed by Black Hole

Day 10 of Math in the Time of Corona.  I was just swallowed by that black hole.  The uncertainty has been removed (2 days before the deadline) and Spring quarter will be entirely online. I quote from  President Cauce’s email: “Shortly, we will notify all students that spring quarter will begin with remote instruction onContinue reading “March 18 Day 10: Swallowed by Black Hole”

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”