Teaching as Self-Sacrifice

But in all this, we risk painting the choice to teach as an act of self-sacrifice. And I believe that view harms our schools more than it helps them.

Mailbag #3: Quadratic Poems, Perfect Teachers, and the Controversial Equation of Ugly-Funny

Q: poem of quadratic formula using metaphor? A: Challenge accepted!

How to Talk to a Mathematician

In an email, Bonny Becker asks: How do I go about gaining a better understanding of what my math PhD-seeking son is talking about?

Scary Statistics

Unemployment has more than DOUBLED since a time when it was less than HALF what it is now.

Who Cheating Hurts

To lay it plain: Why should I treat my own education as a journey of intellectual discovery, when you just admitted that it’s all about making more money down the road?

Why I Don’t Trust Anyone’s “Perfect” School Model

We believe in a traditional education. No cell phones. No iPads. No cellular biology. No post-Aristotelian physics.

Permu-Combi-What-Now? (Or, the Mathematics of My Wedding Playlist)

The hardest part of mathematics is counting. I don’t mean 1-2-3-4-can-I-have-a-little-more counting. I mean counting groups. Collections. Possibilities.

The Loneliest Number

No way is 1 the loneliest number. It's probably 2. That's the only even prime.

Confessions of a Math Major

I majored in math because I wanted people to think I was smart. I chose the math major as a status symbol, a résumé-topper. But that's not my confession.