In Liberation Math, the class, the students and I are wrapping up the semester by writing and writing some more. Students are (slowly) getting content up on a website the class has organized, and over the next couple of weeks our writings will be collected into the form of print zines focusing on different topics. …
There’s a growing interest out in the world in making cool things, particularly with technology. Commonly called the “maker movement,” this trend has its roots in tinkering with technology and computing in ways that move the creation of things out of the hands of manufacturers and into the hands of real people. There is a …
There are problems with math education, and there is no lack of suggestions for how to change things for the better. Some of those suggestions have great potential, but the solutions come from the people who have made their careers in mathematics and math education — from people who love math. We need a different …
The Prezi below was given at the Joint Math Meetings. It reviews the concept of shame, explores how it impacts mathematics teaching and learning, and discusses what we can do about it. You can also view this prezi at prezi.com. Please get in touch if you like it, hate it, or just want to talk …
Shame is an painful and disruptive emotion in which a person feels a deep-seated failure or flaw in their core self. It can be characterized as feeling unworthy of human connection.Shaming experiences can happen in all school learning, but students learning mathematics may be particularly vulnerable to such experiences.
Last week I had a paper published in the journal Rationality and Society, “Division of Labor in Child Care: A Game-Theoretic Approach” . You might like the paper — it’s pretty interesting actually. But the first thing that’s interesting about this paper is that it did not occur to me to announce it here. For … Continue reading »
In just a couple of weeks, I’ll be officially finished with the spring semester and officially on sabbatical. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do on sabbatical, what goals I have, how to use it for rest as well as for work, and how to use it to create something new. … Continue reading »
A little over a week ago, I was fortunate to participate in Ladies Rock Camp Boston, which is a shortened version of Girls Rock Camp Boston, a summer camp for girls 8 to 17. Ladies Rock Camp lasted three days, and in those three days participants formed bands, learned a new instrument, wrote a song, … Continue reading »
Last Monday in Liberation Math, the class, we had a great conversation about Logan LaPlante’s “hackschooling” TED talk. It’s a great talk, and I highly recommend checking it out. LaPlante is a winner and is doing great things with his education. He makes it all look easy, but extraordinary resources go into making his hackschooling … Continue reading »
I can see the end of Liberation Math, the course. As we near the end, I want to both slow down to enjoy the last bit, and to ask “What next?” As I slow down, I start to ask myself this course actually is. Specifically, what is this course Liberation Math, but more broadly, what … Continue reading »
Today and tomorrow, I’m trying to get people to fill in this sentence: “Math is [fill in here].” Feel free to give your own answer in the comments below or on twitter. Once I get the blank filled in, I’m trying to prompt people to ask why or probe a little deeper. In part, this … Continue reading »
I have a tendency to make things hard, and I wonder if you have the same issue. Almost everyone in an academic environment gets behind at some point during the semester. I have watched students do this for years. Typically a student starts to get behind, feels bad about themselves, and the bad feeling makes … Continue reading »
