One of the features of the Common Core content standards in secondary school is a change in the foundations of geometry. Instead of basing everything on congruence and similarity postulates, as is traditional, the idea is to build on a basis of geometric transformations: translation, rotation, reflection, and dilation. This is an interesting change, but… Continue reading Transformational Geometry
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Common Core and "Assessment"
I attended a the Critical Issues in Math Education (CIME) meeting in Berkeley (my home town) a few weeks ago. It was a decent mix of math ed researchers, mathematicians, teachers, and people who work for various nonprofits connected to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). I was pleased to see they did involve some… Continue reading Common Core and "Assessment"
Working with Pentominoes
Much of this information is outdated. See an updated post here. Didax just published my book Working with Pentominoes. It is geared to grades 4-8, though I use some of the content in high school. Pentominoes are a geometric puzzle, a staple of recreational mathematics. This is what they look like: You can read… Continue reading Working with Pentominoes
March 19 in Palo Alto
Once again, I will be presenting function diagrams to a math circle for teachers, this time for the American Institute of Mathematics Circle for Teachers. This will happen on March 19, at 340 Portage Ave. Palo Alto, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. There is no charge, and in fact a free dinner is provided. Here… Continue reading March 19 in Palo Alto
Dialogue (continued)
Here is the continuation of my conversation with Mike Thayer.The quotes are from this post on his blog.I am curious about what you mean by "teach better, not less"I have discovered a truly remarkable approach to teaching which this post is too small to contain. See for example: Nothing Works For a Tool-Rich PedagogyAnd… Continue reading Dialogue (continued)
Algebra for all?
Mike:Before responding to your post let me go on with the train of thought I started last week in my post about All of high school math in one year?Teaching math to students who'd rather not be there is not anyone's idea of a good time. Can anything be done about that? One solution is… Continue reading Algebra for all?
All of high school math in one year?
In my previous post, I responded to Michael Thayer's comments about my Mathematics Overview. In this post I will respond to Mike's proposal for a one-year course to replace all of high school math.Mike and I largely agree about the failings and shortcomings of traditional curriculum and pedagogy, but I don't agree with his solution.… Continue reading All of high school math in one year?
More on the Mathematics Overview
In his Hyperbolic Guitars blog, Michael Thayer writes:I've been mulling over the one-year course idea some more. And what to my wondering eyes did appear (thank you, @tieandjeans) but this really spectacularly well-thought-out and well-organized course outline created by Henri Picciotto. It's got everything, really, that I'd love to see in the course I'd proposed, and it… Continue reading More on the Mathematics Overview
e-mail list
You can now get on my e-mail list by going to a new page on my Web site. If you're not yet on my list, get on now!I intend to send out a mailing every six weeks or so, to notify subscribers of my workshops and presentations, and of any new posts here and new… Continue reading e-mail list
Linear Programming
Linear programming is not really programming. It is a method for minimizing or maximizing a linear function in two variables, when the values taken by the variables are enclosed in a polygon on the Cartesian plane. There is no shortage of good sources of problems of this type. I've been happy with the ones in… Continue reading Linear Programming
Henri's Math Education Blog 