Don't Forget Sometimes
Hi there! Here are some things for you:
Two new posts on the worked examples site. First, some faded-out practice with equations of lines. Second, I turned a mistake into an example we could use for giving feedback.
In college a political science professor played the song "A Man Like Putin" for us during a lecture. I forget why. Something something, security dilemma? Anyway, the video explains absolutely nothing and also maybe something about the world.
This week a young student looked distressed and walked away in the middle of the lesson. When I caught up with him, he told me he was stressed out about death -- no reason, "it's just something I've been thinking about lately." (He's OK.) What I desperately wanted to do was play him Jeff Tweedy's "Don't Forget": "don't forget // sometimes // we all // think about dying // don't let it kill ya'."
Class size is one of those things that, if you're a teacher, I think you know that it obviously matters a great deal. And, good news! Research basically supports that. Though, as always, keep an eye on the tradeoffs.
How many self-aware numbers can you find?
And what two-digit number has the greatest persistence?
This made me laugh so hard. Joe Pera and Dan Licata cover Neil Young's "Harvest Moon."
Book recommendations: Tom Rachman's "The Imperfectionists," Ken Jennings' "Planet Funny."
Army Man was a short-lived humor zine that ended when a bunch of the writers were hired to go write for a new animated comedy called "The Simpsons." It is bonkers, and has been posted on Tumblr.
Your Old Droog is a Ukranian-born Jewish rapper from Brooklyn. He is technically proficient and funny and the video for "BDE" is bonkers and extremely Jewish. RIP MF Doom who guests on the track.
I hope you're doing well,
Michael