About this Blog
Learning more about life than math…
I spend most of my time building mental models of student thinking, and constructing logical arguments, yet I know that the forces that kept me teaching and pushed me from the profession were largely beyond logical description. Due to the unexpected death of a young friend and a subsequent reconsideration of myself, I’ve realized that logic only explains half of my life and by focusing on it almost exclusively I’ve missed some major insights into who I am and why I struggle in particular aspects of my life.
Given the difficulty of implementing reform instruction in mathematics classrooms and the dismal teacher retention rates, studying emotion as an explanatory construct for the state of affairs seems reasonable. (There, I go again, juxtaposing emotion and reason.)
Here is the story of constructivism and my emotions. I entered math education because I realized through tutoring that students didn’t understand why math was true and…
I know that there is no mathematical proof that everything happens for a reason, but if I strive to make meaning, I can reimagine the low moments of my life as gifts that took a long time to unwrap and comprehend. Three and a half years ago one cleat of a junior track racer came…
read more »Confirmation of my math education dreams came in an unexpected place last weekend. I sat cross legged in the doorway of my niece’s dance studio, thinking that she had grown up so much since my last visit home. Six years old, and dressed in pink leggings and leotard, she tried to coordinate her legs while…
read more »The comments made about minority voters and women by people who are disappointed that Romney lost are likely to further distance these groups from the Republican Party. They make me think about my students who are, to me, the faces of minority voters. I believe that my students, despite their critics, do want to grow…
read more »As I read comments on stories about Hurricane Sandy, I see people understanding that even hard-working people can be thrust into situations that they need help to resolve. My favorite comment pointed out that even “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” Republican’s along the wealthy Jersey Shore have asked the federal government for help because…
read more »Ahh… October. The month that I lost my voice and was delighted to stay at home and read, and relax and ride my bike because my classroom was such a disaster. October, the month I wished that I would get mono so that I’d have an excuse to give up for more than a few…
read more »My mom sent me a note saying “Being in the right place at the right time is Karma.” The following photo was enclosed. This afternoon I stopped to listen to a man asking for donations for refugees in Somalia. After I agreed to contribute I was blessed with a story that resolved some of my…
read more »I want to write a book. My adviser says to finish my dissertation first. And that would be safe, and prudent and probably it will get done before a book will be polished. But part of me thinks that now, in graduate school, with control of my schedule, is the time to do it. But,…
read more »It appears that the public’s interest in explosive, dramatic winners, almost guaranteed that the best known cycling legend of our time would also be a doper and a liar. I can’t imagine a scenario where a cyclist could have become as well loved as Lance with a charity as successful as Lance’s without the expectation-defying…
read more »I keep putting off homework to read more news on Lance Armstrong. I’m not surprised by the doping evidence so I think that the story interests me because it wrestles with some of the big questions I’ve asked again and again as a cyclist and as a educator. Is ambition good? Does it always come…
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