And writing about it, which, because it’s Kate, means she’s writing about what makes it hard, which means she’s putting into words the core of maybe the biggest obstacle I can see to the improvement of math education in this country.
I haven’t used the Regents exam as a threat, not one time. I casually mentioned it on day 1. I’m doing my best to ignore it.
Problems like Solve: x + |2x – 4| = 4x – 8 just piss me off to an alarming degree. Only if you tell me what x represents and what relationship those expressions describe and why you think they are equivalent, NYSED. Then maybe I’ll solve your equation, but right now I think it’s too uninteresting.
Nothing about what I just wrote does not provoke anxiety.
And then she’s tying her thoughts together with a nautical metaphor?
Oh right. She used to be in the navy.
* * * * *
I am working on the Talent Lie series but I don’t think I’ll have anything up for a good long while. I’m teaching two courses for teachers this fall, one for inservice folks and one for preservice folks, and I foresee a need to actively reflect on those courses, so if you hear anything from me in the next month it’ll probably be about that.
Research in Practice 
Shah is dope and I’m a MF Bad*ss. I win at Internet. 🙂 🙂 🙂
And I can haz cheezburger!
wait, I don’t get it…
At this stage of the game, if Kate is a MF badass and Sam Shah is dope, then I am definitely the LOLcat of math blogging (i.e., I can haz cheeseburger?).
Elizabeth (aka @cheesemonkeysf on Twitter)