Speaking my mind . . .

Watch here for periodic opinion pieces about current issues in mathematics, assessment, education, and related policy and leadership issues. I’m ramping up my determination to share thoughts here, and I plan on publishing at least monthly if I can from now on.

People ask me where I get inspiration for the pieces (“messages”) I write. It hasn’t been too difficult to find topics so far — every time something happens that appears to me to be ill-conceived or harmful to students or dragging teachers back to ineffective or inhumane practices or just plain stupid, I seem to find a spark for a new message.

I’m really excited about the second edition (2015) of my first non-textbook book, Faster Isn’t Smarter that was originally published in 2009. The new expanded and updated second edition just came out this spring (a year after my second book, Smarter Than We Think, was published). I had a great time updating all 41 of the original messages and adding introductory quotes and several appendices. I especially enjoyed creating four new messages, for a total of 45. I found lots of possibilities for topics for those new messages, but I ended up selecting:

• Girls Count, Too–Does Gender Still Matter in Math Class?
• Are Math Teachers Obsolete? The Human Factor in High-Tech Learning
• Who’s Driving? Students Taking the Wheel in the Mathematics Classroom
• Math is Supposed to Make Sense! The Most Important Mathematical Habit of Mind

Meanwhile, I’m working on a new piece for the fall issue National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Newsletter. Maybe I’ll post a hint about that one in a week or two . . .

Have a great summer! And please check back to see what’s on my mind (and maybe share your reaction).