Long and Short of It

We are so thankful this year to have been able to take up once again our Thanksgiving tradition of camping at Pismo. It was just a few weeks before our planned trip last year that David had his stroke. Instead of being in Pismo on Thanksgiving Day, David was wheeled into church in a wheelchair. The picture above was posted to contrast that with the wheels he has this year!Our campsite was beautiful - lots of neat flora and fauna - lots of good times!This woodpecker sure had a smart idea for getting water! His home was in a tree just above this faucet.The butterflies are always migrating through this area at this time of year. They love the eucalyptus, and when their wings are closed they are quite well camouflaged. What could be better than a campfire?Jacob improvised a way to read even in the dark! He is really enjoying the Pendragon series - can't stop reading!The boys love the beach and the dunes. Caleb was fully immersed as often as possible - the only person on the beach IN the water! Apparently Caleb also likes being immersed in sand! We took a side trip to Cambria on our way home - to look for cool rocks! Until next year!

Our trip was shorter than usual and shorter than we would have liked, BUT it was longer than it might have been. Pismo is such a popular place to camp at Thanksgiving that you need to get reservations well in advance (7 months in advance!). We could not do that this year since we didn't know if David would be able to do this, so we took our chances and went without reservations in the hopes someone had canceled theirs and we could get in. David and Caleb left EARLY Wednesday morning, but what should have been a 4-hour drive became a 7-hour drive due to holiday traffic and accidents. When they pulled in there was ONE site left, and we had to go on a day-by-day basis - hoping each day a cancelation would occur so we could keep our site. When Caleb and David arrived it was pouring, and all the sites were filled not just with puddles but with ponds! They did set up camp, though, even knowing they might have to take it down the next morning! Anthony and Jacob and I left mid-afternoon, after school got out for them, and for us too it was nearly a 7-hour trip - same reasons - different accident. David got up early Thanksgiving morning, and we were able to give thanks that we could have the campsite yet that day and night. We were hoping to stay on, but the next morning the news was different, so we only got one full day to camp. But, as you can see from the photos above all of this was all well-worth it!

The Joy of Percent (aka Chapter 7b)

This post is intended for my students :-)Well guys, I am learning AT LEAST as much about taping and uploading video as you will be learning about percent, and I am certainly learning the hard way!! I hope that this will be a useful experiment in teaching and helpful to you in the learning process!

(If nothing else you'll probably get a good laugh out of parts of this!)

Unfortunately, as part of my learning process I have had as many things fail as succeed (how many times did Edison have to try before coming up with a working lightbulb? - same sort of thing!).

UPDATE: Yea! As of 10am Wednesday morning I can change what my next sentences had been! THANKFULLY, it is the case that 4 clips are now up. All of section 7.4 is in the form of YouTube clips. They should open up for you here. If not, go to the address given below the clip; that will take you to the YouTube site. The last clip wouldn't upload to YouTube, so it is straight from this site. Notice that with the YouTube clips you can click on a button (second to the right) to make it full screen so you can see the work more clearly. Wow! Have I ever learned A LOT!! If you learn as much about decimals as I learned in figuring this out, you'll do GREAT!

. . . and now, HERE WE GO!

Section 7.4a Percent, Decimals & Fractions (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXAOvT1jiKc

Section 7.4b Percent, Decimals & Fractions (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=186rCTCwY1k

Section 7.4c Percent, Decimals & Fractions (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2y-bp9Hds

Section 7.5 Solving Percent Problems

Section 7.6 Applications of Percent: We will take this on on Monday. The learning curve was just too steep for me to get this all filmed and uploaded this fast. Your homework is to watch the clips that are up, try any practice problems given (and select your choice of a handful of odd-numbered problems from section 7.5 to try and check your answers), and do section 7.4 as listed in the syllabus. I'll see you Monday!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Don't Miss the Holiday!

Donald wonders what all these images have in common and why today is a holiday. Can you help him figure this out before he misses out on all the fun?

Luckily for Donald the spirit of Disney brought him to Mathemagic Land where his curiousity was able to be assuaged!There he learned about the Golden Ratio and the fact that all of these images display it in some way. The Golden Ratio is intimately related to the Fibonacci Sequence, which begins with the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, and yesterday was . . .

FIBONACCI DAY because the date was November 23 or 1123. I'm sure you're glad to know that and will make a point of celebrating next year by going out hiking and then coming back and watching Donald in Mathemagic Land!

My Time

Well, I may not have time to try to create anything like what's in my last post (nor the talent either!), but I did take time to draft with Anthony tonight. We were paired in the first round, which was kind of a bummer since it is single elimination. He beat me, BUT he won the draft. I guess it's not so bad losing to the person who won overall - especially not when he's my son. And I got a card I've been wanting since the set came out (see image) so I'm happy.

Now I'd better stay up most of the rest of the night! I usually finish grading mid-terms the day they are taken (yesterday in this case) so I can give IMMEDIATE feedback, even before class meets again, but it has been non-stop over here - mostly meetings all day, one right to the next, and stuff going on last night. I have a lot of email messages from students asking how they did. In case any of you reading this are my students, sorry - needed some mother/son bonding time - and couldn't get out of the rest of the busyness! NOW back to the tests!

More Time Than I!

Sometimes I am glad there are people who have more time than I do!

(If you can't see high quality click here and click on "watch in high quality" in the lower right.)

Hardest Hue to Hold

Poet Robert Frost once said that nature's first green is gold, but I'm finding nature's last green is gold too! For a few days I arrived home under a golden canopy. It was lovely! Sadly, as Frost tells us, nothing gold can stay.Going . . . . . . going . . . . . . gone. :-(Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost(1874-1963)

Nurturing the Kernel

The topic of yesterday's post - along with MANY other recent experiences in the same vein but in different areas of life - have made me negative, lacking in hope for society, education, the economy, the USA, the world, human integrity, justice, the future . . . well, that pretty much covers it!! So I needed to find a poem about hope. I think maybe it's still in there echoing against the shadows that are currently in my heart. I'll work on tending it.

A KERNAL OF HOPE

A kernel of hope
Lives
Deep inside
Protected
Against the pain
The struggle

Grows
When tended
Memories ignite
Nurture
Reward

Fades
When tested
Hurt
Discarded
For graven choices

Echoes
In the dark
Against the shadows
In my heart

Raymond A. Foss (b. 1960)

Quoteworthy

Cheating and drugs are the same thing but opposite. With drugs, DOING something affects you later in life; with cheating NOT DOING something affects you later in life.

Anthony made this statement Monday on the way home from school, and I thought it sounded quoteworthy. It was a frustrating day for him. There'd been a sub in advocacy class, and other kids spent their time talking about methods they use for cheating on tests. Later in the day he had a quiz on the first 11 chapters of Huckleberry Finn, which he was to read over the weekend and which he spent a lot of time on. After class another student, one who got 6 out of 5 on the quiz, told Anthony he had skipped the reading assignment and just read the "SparkNotes" summary. There's another student in his AP (Advanced Placement = college level) Chemistry class who cheats on everything and BRAGS about the fact that he KNOWS NOTHING about Chemistry, a class in which he has an A. Then there's the kid who calls Anthony regularly asking him for answers to homework. Anthony offers to HELP him figure things out, but this kid just wants answers. Anthony says "no;" the kid asks "why?" Anthony answers, "Because it's cheating, and it's wrong." Yet although he gets the same answer every time, this kid keeps boldly calling and trying again!

For lots of reasons this is REALLY frustrating Anthony. He is putting in a lot of time and effort, and others are not but there are no consquences (at least not immediate consequences). Anthony will be competing for spots in colleges with these kids, and if they all have similar GPA's there is nothing to distinguish the kids who EARNED the grades from the ones who cheated, so he may lose a spot to someone with the same GPA who didn't earn it. He's also just disappointed because, at the AP level, Anthony thought he was among peers who shared his vision and values and interest in learning and is saddened to see more and more that this is not the case.

SO as we drove home we had the classic talk about how cheaters are really cheating themselves and how his life is now and will later be RICHER for the work he is doing - both through what he is learning and due to what this hard work now is training him for in terms of life in general - and how it's just important to do the right thing no matter what, which he will. (Being who I am I extended this to the current economic conditions of our country having come from greed and selfishness and - let's be honest - stupidity, and living for the moment instead of considering long-term consequences). That's when Anthony made the statement above, which I thought was quoteworthy.

I know cheating has been going on as long as there has been something to cheat on, and I'm just deluding myself if I think that's going to change, but that doesn't make it OK. Not only as a mother but as a fellow teacher I give this CHALLENGE to other teachers. Make it harder for kids to cheat: give frequent short pop quizzes on the basic concepts (and watch the kids while they take the quiz), make up questions on quizzes and tests that could only be answered by having read the book and not just the "SparkNotes" . . . and then be gutsy enough to do something about it if it becomes clear cheating is going on! If a kid acing your class fails every little pop quiz on the basics . . . uh . . . hmm . . .

AS A TEACHER, I PUT OUT THIS CHALLENGE TO OTHER TEACHERS.

ANECDOTE: I think a lot of people don't think this is a big deal - that it's just expected - a rite of passage - something "everybody" does. (Although I have to wonder how they would feel about having a doctor who cheating in order to pass his medical board test!) As a child I attended a Christian school. I remember one occasion in which students were caught cheating. The teacher sternly lectured the class about that being wrong, and the students were actually bold enough to answer back and even supported their "position" using scripture. They said, "The Bible says to love your neighbor as yourself. Isn't it more important that we help other people than it is not to cheat?" They used THE BIBLE to justify cheating! If that can happen, maybe my "challenge" is hopeless, but I need to put it out there anyway.

EXTRA CREDIT!

Consider the thickness of a piece of standard binder paper - pretty thin - about 3/1000 (or 0.003) of an inch thick. Imagine tearing it in half and stacking up the two halves; now it's twice as thick but still pretty thin. Now tear it in half a second time and stack up the four pieces - then imagine tearing and stacking again and again until you have done so 50 times. IF you could do this 50 times how thick would the stack be?

This is the extra credit my students are working on this weekend.

In class I had them make a guess; their guesses ranged from 1 inch to 1 foot. They were being so conservative that I said, "I submit to you that it will be 5 million miles thick." After getting looks of shock I said, "Your extra credit assignment is to prove me wrong - or prove me right. It's due Monday."

What do you think the answer is? Was I just lying to get them interested? Am I right or wrong? If I'm wrong, by how much?

Unknown Annversary

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
Tireless traveler
Like the beam of a lightless star

Then I will no longer
Find myself in life as in a strange garment
Surprised at the earth
And the love of one woman
And the shamelessness of men
As today writing after three days of rain
Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease
And bowing not knowing to what

M.S. Merwin (1993)

Modern Tyranny

"Political correctness is tyranny with manners."

-Charlton Heston (b. 1924)

Upside-Down Math Education

The conference was GREAT! (As well as getting fired up again for teaching, which I find conferences always do for me, and as well as learning about math and education, I played roulette for the first time. I did so because a student of mine left class Wednesday saying, "Bet on black." Had I placed only one bet I would have been fine!)

Anyway, a while back I "promised" to post reasons to learn math. While I did write this up for my students I found it too long to post here. Now, however, I have a whole different vision.

At one session Edward Burger (pictured above) turned everything upside-down for me with regard to this question in a very exciting way that makes a lot of sense. He asked:

WHAT WILL YOUR STUDENTS REMEMBER FROM YOUR CLASS IN 10 YEARS; WHAT WILL THEY TAKE FROM YOU FOR LIFE?

He went on to list 10 life skills that are also at the heart of learning mathematics:

1) Just do it.
2) Make mistakes and fail but never give up.
3) Keep an open mind.
4) Explore the consequences of new ideas.
5) Seek the essential.
6) Understand the issue.
7) Understand simple things deeply.
8) Break a difficult problem into easier ones.
9) Examine issues from several points of view.
10) Look for patterns and similarities.

I wish I could expand on every one of these, but I try not to get TOO long-winded on here. I will include some related quotes of his, though:

A teacher's goal is to touch lives, to change them, empowering students to think more effectively and to have them see and understand thier lives in a clearer more focused way.

As a community we don't teach our students the greatest lesson mathematics has to offer: HOW TO FAIL (and how to learn from failure).

Five percent of the grade in my class is failing well. If someone says something wrong it moves us forward, and the student doesn't have to be embarrassed about a mistake because it has contributed to the discussion.

Creativity can be taught. Teach students to look at the world, to think, to create . . .

POST SCRIPT: Part of the upside-down aspect of this is his suggestion to invert homework and classwork - for instance by having the lecture online so students take notes outside of class but THINK in class (rather than "recording minutes"). In class we should provide "opportunities for anxiety" - something that can prepare students for tests better than doing homework in relaxed situations. He had lots of suggestions for what to do in class: 1) STOP LECTURING, 2) Use activities like: "Speed Rounds," "Show No Work," "Round Robin," and "The Shuffle." 3) Provide opportunities for students to fail (safely) and show them how to learn from that failure - what specific lessons that failure teaches about what path not to take and why.

WOW - Many Thanks!

David and I are so humbled and grateful for the prayers that continue to be said for him and us. Our prayer pager has been going off more in the last few days - since his one-year anniversary - than it had in a while (although we had still typically been getting one or two pages a day). It's been buzzing like crazy! More people must read our blog than I had realized! It brings tears to our eyes to be upheld in this way. It also challenges us to be as faithful in prayer for others as we are seeing done for us.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Aside: This is going to be an all-male household for a few days. I leave tomorrow immediately after work for a math conference in Reno, Nevada. I'm kind of shocked that a gambling town like Reno would welcome a huge math conference. I would think they'd be worried about people being too good with probablility and statistics in that sort of group. Hmm . . .

Anyway, for those of you that are used to hearing from me regularly by email, don't worry when you don't see anything from me in your inbox for a few days (or if I don't reply right away as usual). I'm OK - just out of town and learning more math! :-)

I'm hoping there won't be snow issues in the Sierra Nevada as I make the trek over the mountains there and back. I'm not so fond of driving with chains - or in the snow for that matter.

Year of Thanks

Today is the one year anniversary of David's stroke. Before saying anything else, I want to thank all those who have prayed for him and our family this past year and to thank those who continue praying as he continues to work hard at therapy and to hold out hope for full recovery.

We have so much to be thankful for! We had so many reminders this morning. Last year I was driving David's grey van - following an ambulance on a damp early morning - not knowing how to turn on the lights or the windshield wipers and not having enough light to figure it out! Thankfully that morning not many vehicles were on the road yet as I drove without lights and with my head stuck out the window to see! This morning David was driving the van on a bright morning as we all set out for church dressed up in our Sunday best - very different scenes!!

I hope to write more later, and David is planning to write on his page too, but right now we are busy with the normal things of everyday life - getting the Sunday noon meal ready. It's a miracle that we are in a position to be busy with the normal things of everyday life!

As I get on to write again, it is the end of the day - actually it is technically "tomorrow." Rather than writing more of my words about how David is doing, I will let the words David wrote of his own experience on his page stand for themselves - what it is like to be him one year after a major stroke. Tomorrow night - I mean later today! - he and I will go out to eat at Johnny Carino's to celebrate life! Today we celebrated with a game of Settlers of Catan. David's favorite way to celebrate is playing games.

Forever Friends

We are having a special reunion today with friends who moved across the country about a year ago. It's like the kids were never apart. Two of the boys (the two in the middle) were born about an hour apart on the same day in the same hospital, so we call them twins. I interrupted their "Lava Monster" game for a quick pose (click on images to enlarge).And then for a hearty meal of pizza after a long day of outdoor play:

Astronomical Hope

Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought-- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things.

Woody Allen (b. 1935)

I am yet seeking to find this hope and comfort, as although the volume of my house is "trivial" (as we say in mathematics) we can still never find the remote! What's up with that?!

Seasons of Life

This has always been one of my favorite seasons. I love autumn, the crunch of the leaves, the colors of the trees, the crisp coolness in the air. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it is soon approaching, and Reformation Day (which was this past Sunday) is one of my favorite church services, because it contains such powerful, meaningful music - often accompanied by brass or organ.

As life goes on, seasons keep having more meaning and memories added to them - happy and sad. We soon will mark the one year point after David's stroke (November 2). What has become part of this season now too is that it is also the time of year when we remember Dad going home to be with Jesus, October 28, 2004 - the joy he is experiencing there and the fact that we will be reunited with him someday, but the sadness of all that he and his family are missing out on by not getting to be here together anymore. Sixty-seven is far too young to lose a husband, dad and grandpa - so many years and events yet to come that we'd sure love him to be here for - high school graduations, college graduations, weddings, great-grandkids, family times. We were so privileged to be able to have him perform our wedding ceremony and the baptisms of all our children.

It's hard to believe it's been 4 years. It's VERY hard to believe it's been 4 years.

Dad was a pastor and had a pastor's heart. Next to that he was most well known for his sense of humor, which you can see in the picture I'm including, and which I hear (for better or for worse) in my husband and my children multiple times EVERY day. The humor gene must run deep (the pun-humor gene). In that way, as in many others he certainly lives on!!Dad always had something to teach us - like hanging spoons off our noses!The Michigan grandkids at Dad's gravesite 2 years ago.The California grandkids.

it Must be your

"though your sorrows not
any tongue may name,
three i'll give you sweet
joys for each of them
But it must be your"
whispers that flower

murmurs eager this
"i will give you five
hopes for any fear,
but it Must be your"
perfectly alive
blossom of a bliss

"seven heavens for
just one dying,i'll
give you" silently
cries the(whom we call
rose a)mystery
"but it must be Your"

e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

Getting The Word Out!

POST SCRIPT: You night want to bring a calculator to try to beat him at calculations - or to do some tricks along with him.

DON'T MISS OUT!!

If you live in my area, this is for you! (If you don't but ever hear this is coming to your area, don't miss it!) There is a REALLY COOL thing happening in town THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, but it was published incorrectly in the paper today - making it sound like it was for tonight.

The performer is SO GOOD that the last time he was in town late-comers to the event had to watch from another room via live video feed because there was no seating left. He has presented his high energy talk on over a thousand occasions to audiences throughout the world. He has appeared on many television and radio programs, including: The Today Show, CNN, Amazing Discoveries!, and National Public Radio. He has been profiled in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Scientific American, Discover Magazine, Omni Magazine, Esquire Magazine, People Magazine, and Reader's Digest. That's quite a diverse set of periodicals! And yet, this performance is FREE!

Dr. Arthur Benjamin is a mathemagician, but don't let the first four letters of that word turn you off. (Yes, it has been point out to me that "math" is a 4-letter word.)

This man is AMAZING! He talks about how ADHD actually helped him as a student, and he is certainly STILL ADHD - and amazing just to watch perform - very high energy. It's fun. It's entertaining. And you might just learn something if you're not careful - but it won't be painful, I promise!

This show is for people of all ages, so come on out and bring the fam! If you can't make it but know someone who might enjoy it, please send on the info. I'd hate for people to miss out due to a newspaper error. It is taking place at MJC WEST Campus - the campus by the highway and Briggsmore - in the Mary Stuart Rogers building (the space-age-lookin' building with a flag pole on top.) Just follow the crowds if you're not sure where that is. It starts at 7:30 and should last until about 8:45. You'll be glad you came!

I'm hesitant to do the following, because it does not do justice to what he is like in person nor the wide variety of things he does, but if you cannot make it due to time or distance, you can see a clip of him performing here. For more mathemagic fun, click here or here!

After initially posting this I found a map of campus. The Mary Stuart Rogers Building is number 33.

PB

Anthony has been achieving a new personal best meet after meet in cross country. That's his goal each time he goes out. Today his time was 19:40 for the 3-mile, each mile being pretty consistent today right around 6:30. These are pictures from his season. When I get a chance I hope to post a few more pictures below these three of things relating to the meets. Yea Anthony! I'm a proud momma!

Immortality 2

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work . . . I want to achieve it through not dying.

-Woody Allen (b. 1935)

Immortality 1

Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not. "Immortality" may be a silly word, but probably a mathematician has the best chance of whatever it may mean.

G. H. Hardy (1877-1947)

Favorite Organ Pieces (Top 3)

1) Fanfare (Allegro non troppo) in D major
by J.N. Lemmens (1823-1881)

2) Nun danket alle Gott (Now Thank We All Our God)
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

3) Toccata and Fugue in D minor
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

RUNNERS UP:

Sinfonia Cantata 29
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Salmo XVIII (I've always heard this called Psalm 19)
by Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739)

MOST Frequently Asked Question

A few years back Mattel got in big trouble for one of the statements its "Teen Talk Barbie" made: "Math class is tough."

Historically women are under-represented in mathematical fields. Often I've heard female students of mine who are coming back to school in their 30's say that when they were in high school a counselor told them not to worry about math - that girls aren't good at it and don't need it. That comment terrified them and kept them from taking math, which barred them from many professions and put their lives on hold to some degree until they were able to overcome that fear and return to school (and nearly all of these women did very well - typically scoring at or near the top of the class.)

So, anyway, of course Barbie's message is not the one we want to send out. This is not just a problem for females, though. I have found through 22 years of teaching mathematics that many (or most) people, BOTH male and female DO think "math class is tough." When things get particularly tough the following INVARIABLY happens. A hand goes up; I call on the person; the question comes: "Why do we have to learn math; when am I going to use this in my real life?" as if on cue.

This is so predictable I can almost tell what week of the semester we are in by when this question comes up. It is interesting to me that it never comes up at the beginning when we are doing review, and the material is relatively easy. It seems people don't care how something is going to be useful to them as long as it is not too hard, but when it gets hard that is the MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION. (I have actually begun addressing that question during the first week of class since I know it is going to come up, but I'm finding people seem to forget by week 7 what I said during week 1). What I share with them is this FANTASTIC one-page article written by a middle-school math teacher.

SO, after 22 years, I have finally decided to handle this (M)FAQ by WRITING the answer and putting it up on the internet rather than answering it on the fly each time I get the question.

Please check in again soon. I will have MY answer up and hyperlinked within the next couple of days as to WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN MATH. (I'm not being sarcastic. I do see it as a legitimate question, and it makes sense that people would ask this of something into which they are investing a lot of time and effort. And it is because I see this as a legitimate question that I want to give a substantial legitimate answer.)

Synonym

God is a distant -- stately Lover --
Woos, as He states us -- by His Son --
Verily, a Vicarious Courtship --
"Miles", and "Priscilla", were such an One --

But, lest the Soul -- like fair "Priscilla"
Choose the Envoy -- and spurn the Groom --
Vouches, with hyperbolic archness --
"Miles", and "John Alden" were Synonym --

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

There is an update on DAVID at his link at right.

Bedside Books

Here is a list of some of the books by the side of my bed - within easy reach in case I get time to read! - and the reason each book is there.

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is ON TOP of the stack. Although I don't have time right now to read this 1168-page tome, I must have it at my bedside right now to at least dip into. It is a voice of clarity and reason amid the economic craziness in the US and now the world. If I could make one book mandatory reading for every politician and everyone involved in finance, this would be it. Had they all read it, we would not be in the mess we are in right now!!

I always have a book about math or a mathematician nearby- because like Pascal I find math clears my mind and heals me with its purity and logic. This one I am currently reading because it is light and fun and because I am giving a conference talk at the end of the month on making math fun for elementary students, and this book contains material that will tie into my talk really well.

The Shack too I have already read, but it, like Atlas Shrugged, is one I need to go back to and will go back to over and over again. I know there is a big hoopla over this book right now - pro and con. I'm thankful I read it the first time before hearing any of that. I don't use the phrase "life changing" lightly, but I put this book in that category for myself.

The reading for my next Inklings Book Club meeting is in here: Leaf by Niggle - a shorter work by Tolkien than the familiar Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien is ALWAYS good.

I have this one by the side of my bed because a good friend is a fan of John Piper and recommended this book to me. I haven't made much progress, but it remains by the side of my bed.

I chose to post this today because I LOVE books AND because in my first post I wrote that my blog would probably consist of lots of lists (I like lists), but it turns out it hasn't, so there you have it - a list!

The Mother's (or Teacher's) Curse

There’s something called The Mother’s Curse, which goes like this, “When you grow up, I hope you get children just like you!” This is typically said by a mother when a child is having a temper tantrum in the grocery store.

I don’t think my mom cursed me. I don’t remember ever hearing those words. In fact, I think I’ve been very blessed in terms of my children. Of course, I may find out about things later in life as my parents are finding out about now - at times when their adult children sit around and reminisce!

No, it wasn’t my mom.

I think it was my piano teacher who cursed me.

I love to play pieces on the piano that I know well and that sound beautiful, but I hated practicing. This is really sad to be admitting as a math teacher, but I particularly resisted learning to count. Oh, I know how – I know HOW to count in music (one-ee-and-a-two-ee-and-a-three-ee-and-a . . .). I just never did it. I would ask my teacher to play the new piece for me before I went home so I could hear it. I had a very good ear, and I would piece together the notes I saw with what I’d heard, and I’d basically play by ear.

That made life easy.

That also crippled me.

Now I would like to play the piano really well, and I can play, but I sound just like I did in junior high, and I am limited in that I can only play songs that I’ve heard before and can play partly by ear. (I do plan to rectify this soon and begin lessons again and break my bad habits, which is going to be harder than it would have been to put in the work and do it right the first time around!)

OK, here’s where I lose all my readers, I fear.

TODAY AS I WAS TEACHING MATH . . .

(Anybody still with me?)

I was trying with all my heart, soul and guts to impress upon my students how important it is to learn the MEANING rather than a random assortment of rules. Some (though not all) want to say to me, “Just give me the steps; just show me how (and leave me alone).”

We are working with adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers. As I’ve walked around the class over the last few days checking their work, I see that some of them know just enough to be dangerous (kind of like me on the piano). They’ve learned a random assortment of steps but not what they mean or when to apply them.

I am there ready, willing AND ABLE to make sense of this WITH them. I’m basically doing gymnastics and turning myself inside out in front of the class to explain WHY, but I can see in their eyes and body language that they (SOME - not all! - of them) just want to be left alone to stumble through with what they’ve got - hoping that a random guess, like a roll of the die, is going to miraculously be correct (and possibly fearing that digging deeper will make it more confusing instead of less - I understand that).

I DO understand that math is something that many people fear more than public speaking, snakes or death. I DO understand the aversion. I just wish I could have gotten them sooner before they got enough tricks to feel they can (should?) tune out now and hang onto the patchwork they've got and be OK.

The thing is, this is college, and they are in my class because they have a goal, whether it is graduation, transfer, a specific vocation . . . by their own choice of direction in life at this point they HAVE TO get through not only this class but 2 or 3 succeeding math classes that all BUILD on THIS material before they can get to their goal, and I want to help them reach those goals! BUT I can't want it FOR them and make it happen any more than my parents could want piano skills FOR me and make it happen.

Today I shared with them my story of piano lessons (and 2 other similar stories). I'm not a teacher who tells personal stories in class, so this was WAY out the ordinary. I shared that learning STEPS is easy, but steps are just as easy to forget as they are to learn. Learning meaning is hard, but once you have it, it stays with you, and you can even apply it to new concepts you hadn’t seen before (just like I would be able to play piano pieces I’d never heard before if I’d taken the right route instead of the easy route as a piano student).

So, now I'm the "adult" saying, "PLEASE believe me. I know what is in front of you." As you can imagine, this is going over as well with SOME of my students now as it did with me 30+ years ago to be told that if I quit taking piano I would regret it later. (I do). I didn’t believe the adults then; what child does?! SOME of my adult students don’t believe me now either – but SOME do. Kudos to them‼ They are going to make it!

(The first time!!)

And now back to me and fixing the error of MY ways:

"One-ee-and-a-two-ee-and-a-"

Notice of Correction

I am told Saturday Evening Post (Part 2) contains an error.
This has now been corrected.

Billboards vs. Trees

"I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all."

-Ogden Nash (1902-1971)

With obvious apologies to Joyce Kilmer