A Classroom has a Soul
When I was in seminary, I had planned my master’s thesis around the title “Psyche and Spirit in the Classroom.” I see now that this was a skew...
Tag: education
the construction of knowledge
On listening in math
I met with a student for extra help. Call her K. K is in 9th grade this year, is new to the school, and has returned her last two math quizzes blank. To her cre...
Confronting Whiteness with White Students
In January of 2020, I co-facilitated a two-day workshop on whiteness, race, and racism with a group of white high school students. I had designed the workshop w...
Anxiety and Frustration in the Math Classroom: My NCTM Presentation, Fall 2018
It’s been a while! Playing a little catch up. First: Below is the slideshow I presented at the NCTM Regional Conference this past November in Seattle. It&...
Math as Witness: who counts? who doesn’t?
I ended the school year with a surprising burst of energy after the students left for the summer. I slogged my way through two straight days of comment-writing....
Social and Emotional Factors in the Math Classroom (a few initial notes)
I’m trying this thing where I write a quick blog post after an energizing conversation. Wish me luck! This year at open school night, I gave my students&#...
Skillful means for math students and showing up for teacher work
Dear Reader, it is late August! School is beginning soon! For me, that means it’s time to reflect on my goals while I still have the bandwidth to do so. I...
Teaching and Skillful Means
The end of the school year is the best time to think about the next school year, since obviously I’ve got nothing else going on. I’m working on a fe...
Math Class for America
So the election happened. Today, the students at my school felt scared, sad, angry, anxious, and confused, but gave such energetic and clear expression to so ma...
Theological values in secular math education
Before continuing to look at math education in the light of, on one hand, a drastically uncertain future, and on the other, values inherent in that work that we...