July, 2011
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How I Teach Calculus: A Comedy (The Tragedy of Optimization)
Oh, optimization. The self-proclaimed application of differential calculus. You know, finding the most or least of something, very useful I should say, very useful. Want to know how many employees to employ? Optimization! Want to know how much area some arbitrary amount of fence (cough, budget) can enclose? Optimization! Want to know the dimensions of [...]
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Standards-Based Grading: Reassessment Policy Smorgasbord!
Close your eyes. Imagine a mature field of wheat. The wind blows suggestions of patterns that move like waves on the ocean. You can smell the dried chaff rising in the welcome heat of a harvest morning. MRCORNALLYCANIGETSOMEPOINTSBACKONMYQUIZITOOKYESTERDAYANDTOTALLYFAILED?! Ruined. If the goal is the pleasant wheat field of assessment, where students and teachers work like [...]
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Virtual Conference on Core Values: Suplexes For Everyone!
Shooting my mouth off used to be my forte, I’ve since learned a modicum of tact. I once had a shouting match with a particle physicist–me being a in plasmas at the time–about the standard model of particle physics. I ended up saying something mildly pejorative about reductionism, shovels, and misuse of the term “god [...]
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Ampere’s Law
Go to Walmart, Target, or any other store that still processes 35mm film. Ask them for the disposable cameras they’ve already processed. Remove the innards of one camera, leaving the circuit board intact. Cut the wires to the flash bulb. Hook up a bunch of the other cameras’ capacitors in parallel with the first camera’s [...]