My Math Story
July 22, 2019Why do all good (significant) memories have a story? Stories create the connections we cling to. They create the fabric that makes the memories come alive and that make the words real. My math story probably started when I was in 4th grade. I remember that the teacher had a multiplication “tracker” on the wall. It listed every student’s name and the facts that they had mastered. Usually the mastery got a gold star. So we watched each other’s progress. It was significant, but it wasn’t. We quietly competed to be at the top of the pack. Not necessarily the…
Be Real not Perfect
This was not the way that I was going to start writing, but its appropriate and the sudden memory made me laugh. Several months ago at my high school reunion, a vaguely familiar face reminisced that she’d told her husband…
Make a Wish
It’s my birthday, or it was a few days ago. Do you still make wishes when you blow out the candle? I found myself savoring the flame and meanwhile my panicked mind was thinking, “I’ve got to get this wish just…
How assessments are like weeds and why can’t seem to stop fertilizing them?
How is academic assessment like weeds? Academic assessment. It’s infiltrated the news and caused quite a stir over the last 15 years. When my youngest daughter was in first grade, I remember her coming home filled with anxiety. “Mom. We…
Disruption
What do you do when you have a gazillion ideas and you can’t pick the ONE? You know, the one right one… And you are already supposedly successful in your “chosen field” because you’ve been doing it for about a…
Demons
My wish for you is that your demons don’t run deep. I’m in the process for looking for a new place to live. Timing is far from the best. It is the end of the semester. I have grading I…
Why I Bother!
I have considered all sorts of rationalizations about writing this post. I have had a lot of other things on my mind: career options, money, bills, daylight savings time (why I’m so tired), weight, weight-loss (or lack thereof), a…
Not Bad doesn’t mean Good
Over the last two days I have heard two different people talk about the value of clarity in defining goals. It suddenly struck me, as though I’d had my head in the sand, that I have been about the least…
The Blessing in Broken
Broken. It doesn’t seem that it would be a good thing. But when you turn around the way you look at it… When something is broken, you face the decision. Can I or should I repair it? Or has its…
Anyone Home?
Hello? Hi! How are you? (Siiigggghhhhh)! Well let me tell you about what’s going on (going wrong) now. xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx OK, well I’ve got to go. Talk to you later. Uhm (click) Ok, bye? I’ve been thinking a lot about…
Love yourself – even your messy bits!
So, true picture. This is my closet. Or at least it was a week ago. It looks better now – kind of – a little! Lol!!! But this isn’t about my closet or getting things in order. I know that…
