why I ask students to write me an email
Dear Student, You may be wondering why I gave you the assignment to compose an email to me that included a little bit about yourself as well as a few key ingredients in the message….
amazing Grace
You can’t fool me; I saw you when you came out. B. Folds, Gracie I remember certain features of the night you were born with complete clarity. I know the view our hospital window faced;…
in summary
I’m giving a the weekly public seminar in my own physics department on Wednesday. 1 This talk is particularly hard for me to construct, in large part because I haven’t figured out what it’s about….
learning to see: my racism
I grew up with a fundamental idea that all people are equal. At least, that’s what we would say out loud, and I know that we believed ourselves. It’s easy to believe this when there’s…
learning to see: geology
I got back from a trip up into the mountains with a question about geology, because this is what always happens to me after a trek with cliff faces and talus and high elevation. I…
learning to see: a preface
Observing comes naturally to us. Maybe it’s so natural to us that we take it for granted, our eyes and ears and noses just consuming surroundings so automatically that we’re seldom consciously aware of the…
excursion in uncertainty
Anna and I went out into the mountains on Sunday, the first weekend in May as a big thaw transpires. Last month was dry and warm, and even though there’s still plenty of snow yet…
formal education, the fun they had, and plan B
School isn’t the same right now, and we shouldn’t expect it to be. Let’s use this experience to remember what schools and our teachers create for us; and let’s not pretend that there are easy replacements.
remembering Maggie
There’s a lot going on these days: pandemics and earthquakes and societal collapse and generalized widespread anxiety. Also, online homeschool. But there’s been this other dark cloud in our home for over a month, and I realized a while ago that I wasn’t making progress on any other writing because I really needed to write about my dog.
It’s hard to write and re-write something that you know you’ll never get right.