Category Archives: Uncategorized

Several years ago, I almost got into a fistfight with a friend while attending a speech by Malcolm Gladwell at the NCTM annual conference in Salt Lake City. What began this near melee was Gladwell’s assertion that Pablo Picasso’s innovations … Continue reading →

There seems to be no shortage of “expert” advice when it comes to the “flipped classroom,” (which you can read about here, here and here) and as I read the enduring hoopola about classrooms that are adopting this style of … Continue reading →

Note: I am revisiting this post after viewing this completely sad video of students sitting in front of computers day after day, year after year, at something called the “Cornerstone Charter School” in Detroit. What kind of fond memories of … Continue reading →

As my loyal readers have probably caught on to by now, I am a die-hard skeptic of any curriculum that seeks to make math “fun and easy.” Actually, I have no problem with the fun part (although it is debatable … Continue reading →

As many of you may (or may not) know, I have an exhibit on Governors Island in New York Harbor that will be on view until the end of September. For those of you not familiar with Governors Island, it … Continue reading →

Why does it take a former political science professor to tell us what is patently obvious in the field of mathematics education? Andrew Hacker, a professor emeritus at Queens College and co-author of the “Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting … Continue reading →

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 →

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 →