Spring!

Madaba, Jordan
Friday, February 21, 2014

Reports say that the winter and spring rains have not been plentiful enough here in Jordan. Nonetheless, spring flowers are starting to emerge from the stony earth. Here are tiny irises with more varieties to come...

Polynomial Press proudly presents...

Madaba, Jordan
Saturday, February 15, 2014

"Polynomial Press proudly presents the premiere of 'Polynomial Primers', a progression of pamphlets planned to promote polynomial proficiency among primary pupils! Pure pleasure promised! Please peruse the list and plan your purchases…"

For the culmination of the chapter on polynomials, my students were required to write a "Polynomial Primer." They were supposed to write a story for children 6 to 9 years old. Some of the results were outstanding--funny, sweet, and full of good math references/puns. Other stories were pretty mundane, but all students got a chance to practice graphing polynomials. And learn what alliteration is...

Here's one of the best examples, complete with pictures. Nice job, S!

The Arabian Horse Club

Amman, Jordan
Friday, February 14, 2014

The best part of the week as far as A is concerned are Friday mornings: up we get and off we go to the Arabian Horse Club. For 30 minutes, A gets a riding lesson, and we all get to admire the lovely beasts. It's one of those weird things about travel: finally I get it. Arabian horses come from Arabia, right?

Henna reimagined

Madaba, Jordan
Sunday, February 9, 2014

Yesterday our students held a carnival for refugee students (both Iraqi and Syrian) here on campus. There were games, an obstacle course, face painting, henna, and more. As we cleaned up afterwards, I found a partially used tube of henna and was inspired to give myself a (temporary) henna tattoo.

This week in Algebra 2 we start exponential functions!

Tea with mint

Amman, Jordan
Friday, February 7, 2014

Today we were invited by a colleague for a very special lunch at her home. The kids played, we ate wonderful food, the adults discussed a wide range of topics, and we finished the afternoon with tea with fresh mint leaves.

Want to make someone really happy? Invite a foreign colleague home for a meal. It's a wonderful gift.