First Blog

  How many can balance their emotional and rational thoughts?   I cannot. I do know that when I think I can, this is mostly emotion.   When I think I can’t, this is more rational.   A new Paradox, perhaps.

  Everyone seems to think this pandemic will make big changes, especially in education. Not so. In education, most students need in person teaching*, partly because they can't read, and can't think, and can't focus, and can't evaluate. In business, those dreaming of an at-home career will be passed over for advancement. In social life, those dreaming of chat rooms will be chatting with themselves. A life of hiding will distort humanity in no good way I can think of. People want to get back to their lives, the lives they liked. People are outrageously social. * I can speak with authority as I've taught 20 years online courses.

  How is math used in everyday life? This is a big question requiring a big answer.   It is amazing at just how many uses are significant.   Math is everywhere, all the time, and constant as we move on.   Yet, few of us actually need to do any calculations beyond the basics. Knowing is has invaded almost everything is important to know.  A. Medicine. CAT scans and MRI scans require deep math at their basis. Modeling of DNA and sequencing of genes use much math. The origin was with SONAR, where the computer was the human brain, i.e. operator. It is well past that now. The mathematics is called tomography. It takes the scans and uses them to reconstruct the complex images within the brain or body. B. Transportation. Routing of vehicles (trucks and aircraft, etc) to maximize efficiency of costs use deep math. Involves one of the most difficult math problems called “The Traveling Salesman Problem.” It is still open, i.e. unsolved. C. Electronics. Use the math of all of electromagneti

  It’s all we ever hear these days.  But did you hear the one about the fellow who was thinking so far outside of the box he got lost ? It happens. Leave behind what you know for too long and you may never recover. So what is it, this thinking outside the box?   A brilliant insight at just the right moment?   A clever explanation served up quickly? A cowboy tap-dance on a difficult problem with the perfect solution, like from outta nowhere?   A new idea to treat some disease? A clever new routing strategy. Figuring who the criminal actually is? All of these? Basically, it is thinking beyond, differently, unconventionally, inferentially, intuitively, or creatively.   Albert Einstein begged the question with this: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." The “difficulty” happens because we are boxed-in.   The opportunity comes when thinking outside the box.   It has been suggested the term “outside the box” came from the nine-dot puzzle.   Connect all nine dots by

  You know you're an experienced (and good) math teacher when A. You can take a student from their attempt to solve the problem to the solution without starting over. B. classroom management issues are more of an annoyance than a source of anxiety. C. You haven't heard a new excuse in years. D. You know why algebra is quite difficult for some students to learn. E. you can teach the standards and the EOS test at the same time. F. You truly delight in seeing real talent, though it may exceed your own. G. You know what kind of problems that will stimulate most, even though the problem is challenging. H. You know Vacations from teaching are both needed and necessary. I. You still get excited at the beginning of a school year. J. You read a lot about math because you like it. K. You know when group work helps and when it doesn't. M. New math teachers come to you with their teaching problems. N. You know that the "A" students make you look good

  On the job, I wasted much time. In retirement, time is wasting me. 😉