reflections – Page 13 – Math Belongs to All of Us

March 25 Days 16-17: Making Space

Hoping we can all maintain the human connections that nourish our lives during this wild and exhausting adventure.

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 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 13 Day 5: Upside Down and Inside Out

Each new announcement starts another ripple of panic. I still haven’t bought toilet paper! Another professional conference cancelled! Plane tickets to change! The repeating stress is exhausting; The information sharing, overwhelming. The academic world has turned upside down and inside out.

March 12 Day 4: No More Black Name Tags, Please

This was my last “teaching day” of winter quarter. The senior seminar again proved to be inspirational. The students modeled how to move forward in uncertainty. They adapted what they knew to this time and place. We had Google slides, Beamer, and PowerPoint, zoomed live or streamed recordings. I am looking forward to two moreContinue reading “March 12 Day 4: No More Black Name Tags, Please”

March 9 Day 1: Where Were the Students?

Reflections on the first day teaching but not in face-to-face classes: Where were the students? Less than half the enrolled students zoomed in. I post the recording online later but still…do they interpret cancelling f2f =cancelling class entirely? Even after I messaged them on Friday and again this morning? That being said, I think thoseContinue reading “March 9 Day 1: Where Were the Students?”

Saturday, March 7. Day -1: It Begins

Written sometime in the afternoon. Posted to MAA Connect Monday March 9, 9:40 am. Yesterday was a whirlwind in Washington State. In-person classes were suspended at many institutions including the entire UW system for the rest of winter quarter. Alternatives to in-class final exams are needed in one week. Thankfully, I regularly use a ZoomContinue reading “Saturday, March 7. Day -1: It Begins”