Author Archives: rmberkman

About rmberkman

This blog is the sole musings of one Robert M. Berkman, an educator who has taught math, science and technology for the past 30 years in New York. You can react to all his posts by emailing him at rants@bltm.com.

Why Bill Gates Loves Sal Khan….

If you’ve been reading all the hoopla and criticisms of Khan Academy, you’ll know that Bill Gates referred to Khan as “the best teacher he’s ever seen.” This quote can be interpreted a couple of ways. Perhaps, it is a … Continue reading

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“You’re too young to be bad at this….”

A teacher asked me to bring pentominoes to her class, for they were reading a book that involved a character who walked around with pentominoes in his pocket. As one of the students was working on arranging the 12 pentominoes … Continue reading

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Math, Art, West Coast: Brilliant!

During my travels, I love to take in the local art scene (no matter if it isn’t quite local….) Many people ask why art, if my work is in mathematics. Well, the truth is that before I was in mathematics, … Continue reading

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Math Anxiety in Seattle

I’m back in Seattle for year 3 of my annual West Coast tour, which consists of visiting my sister and her brood in Seattle, and giving a workshop at Pacific Science Center (note there is no “The” at the beginning of … Continue reading

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Cheap Ways To Improve Girls’ Achievement in Mathematics

New readers will see that out of my first 3 posts, 2 of them have been harrangues about the current state of mathematics education, where people will flail around for anything ANYTHING to improve their child’s improvement. I’m a research … Continue reading

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Even the Times can’t get the math right….

You can bet that whenever there is a slow news week, an article will turn up in the New York Times on some new educational “breakthrough” that will finally help all children learn math. This week’s entry into the “miraculous … Continue reading

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What Would Mario Say?

Mario Salvadori: 1907 – 1997 The late Mario Salvadori was an engineer, educator, and (I use this word rarely) visionary, who lived what most of us would consider a very colorful life: born in Rome, Italy, Salvadori earned doctoral degrees … Continue reading

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….and two to take him.

Wasn’t it P.T. Barnum who stated that there was a sucker born every minute, and two to part him with his money? The latest iteration of this comes from Body & Mind Builders, a company in Manhattan that provides yoga, … Continue reading

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