Leveraging Learning

One of my goals for the year was to build confidence in and appreciation of math . As a high school and college student of math, I was able to build confidence, but not appreciation for, math. I understood the procedures, but not really the why. I was able to use algorithms, but lacked an appreciation for the beauty of math. It wasn't until my own children shared their love of math with me that I began to appreciate the allure and artistry of math. They loved patterns from an early age, taught themselves how to multiply and one even threw himself a math themed party. When my younger son reached high school, he complained that the humanities were required for all four years, whereas math was only required for three. I wanted math to be an experience that kids enjoyed and helped them appreciate the beauty of math. Most of what we did in Pathfinder Math this year was to focus on process . Kids were praised for effort, for trying strategies and for using what they knew to help u...

I had always assumed I’d have an amicable divorce. My wasband and I maintained a friendship of sorts throughout our protracted separation. He’s not a bad guy and he was fighting some bad demons. We remained connected and chatted about the kids, work, families and life in general on a regular basis, even after I asked him to move out. Some of the ways in which I continued to support his career were to remain the primary caregiver of the kids, only asking for help when I really needed it. This worked. He pulled some weight when he could and I was ok with what he offered. Other ways I offered support were more personal, more unique to him. Battling depression isn’t easy, so I cut him lots of slack and helped when I could. This was more awkward, for both of us, I’m sure. But he was a decent guy, the father of my kids and a friend of nearly two decades. I was unprepared for what would eventually become a hideous divorce. My sister always said, “if you want to know what someone is rea...