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October 13, 2022

Upscale Pattern Block Provocation

Here’s an Upscale Pattern Block provocation to try in a classroom or at home, with your own set of blocks. It take 4 small triangles to build a medium [...]

Posted In : , Making and Breaking Conjectures, Math at Home, Math Musings, One Minute Math, Pedagogy, Photo, Problem, Problem of the Moment
March 29, 2012

Julia Robinson Festival Retrospective

It was the culmination of a lot of work, and now it’s over. The conclusion: Seattle’s first Julia Robinson Festival was amazing. We had 150 students and 50 [...]

Posted In : , Announcement, Photo
October 11, 2011

Carpentry and fencebuilding problems

Katherine and I are back in Seattle after a summer away, exploring the mathematics of  activities not normally associated with math: building a kitchen, [...]

Posted In : , Photo
July 12, 2011

How to Appreciate the Arts

When I was in high school, I went through an experimental phase of essay writing. The standard essay form was too dry, too monotonous to express everything [...]

Posted In : , Link, Photo, Quote, Video
May 16, 2011

Squares of Differences II: Changing Direction

[Note: this is a continuation to the first Squares of Differences post. Read that before continuing.] A week after introducing her class to squares of [...]

Posted In : , Classes, Game, Lesson, Link, Photo, Video
May 9, 2011

Billiard Balls and Laser Beams: Talk, Slides, and Videos

I had the opportunity to speak at the University of Washington Monthly Math Hour on April 17. Following my talk a six and a half year old named Rebekah gave [...]

Posted In : , Link, Photo, Video