That’s not just an intriguing question, it’s also the title of a very interesting book. I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in math.
But I also think it would be good for those of you who say you are not a “math person”. Offering a little insight into why school soured you on the subject.
Earlier this summer, New Yorker magazine published an opinion piece with the title The Case Against Travel.
As someone who loves to travel, I was intrigued.
I still don’t think much of January 1 as a starting point for a new calendar. But that doesn’t matter since, whenever the dividing line occurs, it provides a good excuse to pause, reflect on the recent past, and plan for the near future.
Although I don’t do the reflection thing very well, I’m pretty good at looking forward. Especially during the physical isolation of this pandemic, as we all dream of returning to some version of a “normal” existence.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, as the realization sunk in that this was going to be a major disruption to normal life in this country, I’ve been reading articles, essays, and posts about how life will change when we come out the other side. Since many of the people I follow are educators, much of that speculation has been related to schooling in K12 and after graduation.
While doing research for something totally unrelated, I came across this wonderful quote by Eric Hoffer.1
In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
In this time of drastic change, are we helping our students to become learners?
Or are we training them to be learned, for a world that’s gone and never coming back?