Deb Brandon: Living in Radiant Color

Teach the Children

I paused, took a deep breath, then read through the problem again. It still looked like a tangle of black yarn with no beginning and no end. Okay, okay, I can do this. Line by line. Sentence by sentence. I read the first sentence: “An island is 2 miles due north of its closest point … Read more

Testing Testing

It was my son’s idea to add bonus problems to my tests. “Have them draw an octopus. That’s what one of my professors had us do.” I loved the idea—the students, many of whom are subject to math anxiety, could use some comic relief during the test. I added a problem: “Draw a picture of … Read more

Teaching or Learning?

In my previous life as a teacher, I had little to no doubt how to present the material in class. I recognized the fact that students have different learning styles, and knew that it was up to me to give a couple of different explanations. But I stopped there. After the brain surgeries, my ability … Read more