I’m always thinking ahead, which made me a decent student, helps me travel, and keeps me moving. But thinking ahead has its drawbacks. Most obviously, I don’t always live in the moment. I have to remind myself to enjoy the moment for which I spent month planning. Take the time, smile at my children, tell […]
Before Pushing Forward Read More »
Ancient mathematicians are a unique tribe. Exploring the works of Nicomachus in Algebra shows us that he and his comrades were thinking deeply, discussing thoroughly, and contributing consistently. Take the simple mean. Most students learn the calculation of the mean of a group of numbers as the sum of the group divided by the quantity
Nicomachus Ratios & Harmony Read More »
Although we may want to pursue the wonder of the world and open the beauty of creation with mathematics, we often find ourselves in the weeds. We teach our children to identify numbers, patterns, and symbols. We teach them to compute sums and products as though the calculator didn’t exist. In short, we teach arithmetic.
Nicomachus Revisited Read More »
Admissions tests like the SAT, CLT, and ACT have been historically required for students wanting to enter college. Not only did the tests give the colleges an idea of a student’s abilities, but they also helped colleges find students and students find scholarships. In the past 10 years, there have been multiple studies showing the
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My algebra 2 class started rubbing elbows with Calculus this past month. Do the students know how close they got to the infinite God? Do they see that their discovery of an asymptote of a rational function is the beginning of the study of calculus? No. Except that I told them. I cannot let an
