Last night we went to see Cowboy Mouth at The Magic Bag in Ferndale. It inspired a lot of thoughts in my head. Cowboy Mouth is about letting anxiety go and just having fun. That’s not really how my brain works, but it’s a solid message. I know I cling too much to things. That’s…
Author: Clio
On the “cis” controversy
In my parent’s generation, being left-handed was seen as wrong and actively suppressed. Even as a child, I was often looked at skeptically. I was a “Southpaw”, a term I can now go years without hearing. As a teacher, some of my immigrant students have looked askance at me, but other than that, it’s just…
“Answer”
I see or hear some variation of this often from mathematics teachers: “The answer to 4+5 is 9.” “So if we’re given (5+3)/2, that means we add five and three, then divide the result by two, and that gives us the answer.” In regular plain English, answers are coupled with questions. Expressions, though, aren’t questions,…
On the Proper Pronunciation of Non-English Words
Lacroix, Detroit, axolotl, karaoke: All of these are pronounced differently in English than in the languages of their origin. I used to get quite pedantic about “karaoke”. Our pronunciation originates from a place of linguistic indifference (at best) or racism (at worst): We had a tendency to take Japanese words and give them a childish,…
Squaring Two-Digit Numbers (Redux)
If you want to square a two-digit number, you could just use a calculator, or you could use the traditional algorithm. I’m going to talk about a different method here, but not because I think this is a particularly useful method. The point of this discussion is to look at how numbers are interrelated; if…
Squaring Two Digit Numbers
Math fun: If you want to square any two digit number more quickly than the traditional algorithm, here’s a strategy. It does require you to know the squares of all the single-digit numbers, as well as a bit of mental juggling. First, if the number ends in a zero, square the first digit and put…
Mathematics and Mnemonics
I’m currently reading “Why Don’t Students Like School?” (second edition) by Daniel T. Willingham. While there is a lot of good stuff in this book and I’m feeling fired out about setting my educational train back on its tracks, I winced at his cheerleading for mnemonics. And then: I reframed. He suggests the use of…
Diary 030924
Some random thoughts of the morning: My brain likes to keep me from writing. One strategy is to convince me that whatever I’m writing right now is keeping me from whatever it is I would rather be writing. I want to write fiction, I want to write math stuff, I want to write personal reflections,…
Birthday Thought
Birthday wishes are weird, especially with PDA and RSD. If I GET them, I feel obliged to thank people individually, which I rarely do, and then I feel guilty; that’s the PDA. If I DON’T GET them, I feel ignored and abandoned; that’s the RSD. But they’re silly, really. Why should I expect anyone else…
Green pens
When I was a tween, I used to write in green ink. At the time, there were only four colors generally available, at least from Bic, at least at the drug store that was within biking distance. Those were blue, black, red, and green. I couldn’t write in red for obvious reasons, and I didn’t…