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Blogs on Math Teaching
Category Archives: regular
Penwald: human algorithm
A friend just sent me a video of Tony Orrico, whose Penwald series seems to be gaining some steam in certain art/dance circles. Here’s a sample: Essentially, we have an artist who devotes his body to an algorithm. He takes … Continue reading
Posted in photo, regular, video
Tagged calculators, chaos, computers, grok, laser, Orrico, Penwald, reflections, star polygons
2 Comments
Bottlenecking
Another guest post from Katherine Cook. Enjoy! “Your brain manages a vast information highway–yet a simple math problem can create a traffic jam that brings everything to a halt.” So begins an article on the The Brain by Carl Zimmer … Continue reading
Posted in guest, photo, quote, regular
Tagged algorithms, bottleneck, bottlenecking, creativity, Discover
6 Comments
A Physical Game for Factoring and Primes: Groups! (Plus: Math for Love grows)
I’ve been out of touch on the old web-log lately, but after a three week hiatus, I’m back! If you glance at the rest of the site, you might notice that there’s another person working with me. I haven’t officially … Continue reading
Two classes in January at the Robinson Center
I’ll be teaching two classes at the Robinson Center starting in January, for 4-5th graders and for 8-12th graders. If you know kids in the right cohorts, these will be really exciting looks at infinity and its applications. I’ve invited … Continue reading
Posted in link, regular
Tagged Don Finkel, infinity, Katherine, robinson center, teaching with your mouth shut, turtles
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Student Proof: connect a point on a circle to the two endpoints of a diameter, and you to get a right triangle
A few weeks ago a student and I noticed that if connect a point on a circle to the two endpoints of a diameter, you seem to get a right triangle. After working for a bit, we came up with … Continue reading
Post Salon Contentment
Back from the math salon and feeling great. I’ve been able to make some minor adjustments since the last one: I added a challenge problem, a group game after people have mostly arrived to break the ice, a little discussion … Continue reading
Write it down! (When talent becomes a hurdle)
I met with an older student this evening, who’s story is classic. He excelled in math effortlessly; everything was obvious. This until he hit college level abstract algebra, and then… failure. This is a ridiculously common story among students with … Continue reading
Posted in audio, link, regular, Uncategorized
Tagged abstract algebra, genius, love, Malcolm Gladwell, NaNoWriMo, quantity over quality, Radiolab, talent, writing
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What do the best classrooms do, and who are they, anyway?
Here’s a news flash: go into the best classrooms in the world and you won’t see too many computers. “In most of the highest-performing systems, technology is remarkably absent from classrooms,” says Andreas Schleicher, a veteran education analyst for the … Continue reading
What do you want in a curriculum?
As you may have noticed, I just added an email subscription box and rss feed subscription button in the column to the right. You can now enjoy the blog from the comfort of your own email account or reader! On … Continue reading
The power of student questions (and the admiration of strangers)
I had two unsolicited, impressed comments from strangers who heard my tutoring sessions yesterday. It’s very gratifying: they’re more for my students than for me, but what teacher isn’t proud of the work their students do? In the morning, I … Continue reading
Posted in photo, regular, Uncategorized
Tagged algebra, dividing fractions, fractions, infinite sums, light, mirrors, non-Euclidean geometry, questions, relativity, teaching
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