Category Archives: post-pandemic?

February 17 Day 711: Turning Point?

When all is said and done and the “Great Pandemic of 2020” is a distant memory, do we point to February 17, 2022 and say “we turned the corner and everything steadily improved from this moment forward?” Dear God, I hope so. What is my evidence? The first daffodil. Nature’s indication of Spring. A signContinue reading “February 17 Day 711: Turning Point?”

December 22 Day 654: Not Again

Omicron, COVID’s pawn, stops us cold. can’t be controlled. spreads like fire. I am so tired of not knowing when it’s going to end. Boosters, masks, health forecasts, protocols try to forestall COVID’s spread. Stay home instead. Those plans you made are now delayed again, my friend. Yesterday, I learned that the University of WashingtonContinue reading “December 22 Day 654: Not Again”

December 13 Day 645: Interview Marathon Part 1

I spent 7 hours (plus a few breaks) administering interviews for individual final oral assessments today. I’m halfway done and will complete the rest in another marathon session tomorrow. Every term has one or two students that just give up. The stress and pressure from school, family, and work take their toll. Today, I feltContinue reading “December 13 Day 645: Interview Marathon Part 1”

November 20 Day 622: Movie Theater Popcorn

My husband and I went back to the local movie theater for the first time since December 20, 2019 when we saw StarWars: Rise of Skywalker. Things have changed. The theater still has large reclining seats but there are frequent signs ‘Do not use your own seat wipes.’ Apparently they are worried about harming theContinue reading “November 20 Day 622: Movie Theater Popcorn”

November 10 Day 612: Have You Asked? The Answer(s) Might Surprise You.

I am forever impressed by the grit and perseverance of my students. In a reflection following the oral assessment, I asked how they were doing—both numerically and free response. The numerical range was -5 to 5 where 5=absolutely fantastic 0=meh -5= truly terrible. The average was 1.2–so more positive than the Autumn 2020 score ofContinue reading “November 10 Day 612: Have You Asked? The Answer(s) Might Surprise You.”

November 8 Day 610: Oral Assessment Redux

Oral assessment was something I adopted during remote teaching mostly to reduce the adversarial relationship between me and my students. By giving the problems in advance and allowing all resources (including Chegg and other online services) for preparation, no one was violating academic conduct rules. However, each student must individually present solutions to a smallContinue reading “November 8 Day 610: Oral Assessment Redux”

November 7 Day 609: The Key to an Active Hyflex Meeting

Let’s be honest, there are lots of things I like about Zoom meetings—like dropping links into the chat, visibly random breakout rooms, and having the system keep track of raised hands. There are lots of things I like about in-person meetings—like informal chats during breaks, the shared sense of purpose, and easy transitions for groupContinue reading “November 7 Day 609: The Key to an Active Hyflex Meeting”

October 31 Day 602: Goodbye AMATYC

I’m feel very lucky. I get to go home. Several of my AMATYC friends are affected by the American Airlines cancellation of more than 1700 flights since Friday. They are scrambling to find new hotels and extending child care for another day (or two.) Being in the last presentation slot of the meeting, I expectedContinue reading “October 31 Day 602: Goodbye AMATYC”

October 28 Day 599: ΦNIX

Mathematical friends know I have a “thing” for the golden ratio Φ (pronounced “fee”). So I enjoyed the fact that on the AMATYC 2021 conference advertisement, Phoenix was written as ΦNIX. It is my first time attending the AMATYC conference ever and it is the first in-person conference since the Louisiana/Mississippi MAA Section Meeting FebruaryContinue reading “October 28 Day 599: ΦNIX”