Ability Grouping, Foreign Language, and Math

I see a lot of writing in the math education community against homogeneous ability grouping, tracking, etc. It’s a difficult topic for me. I recognize the biases that often go into those things and the inequity they promote while also feeling like there are times and situations in which some students need something like grouping/tracking. I’ve been puzzling over these conversations, not sure how to feel or think, for at least a year now.

I’m still in that place, but I also have a story to tell about experience with a mix of heterogeneous and homogeneous ability grouping. It’s actually a story I’ve had all along, but I didn’t realize it.

Geostrophic Balance

This is the first post in a series in which I’ll explain key concepts in atmospheric science and geophysical fluid dynamics. I’m starting off with geostrophic balance, one of the two main balances between forces that we assume in geophysical fluid dynamics.

My Favorite Theorem: Liouville’s Theorem

Evelyn Lamb and Kevin Knudson have started a new podcast called My Favorite Theorem. In each episode, they have a mathematician as a guest, and that guest talks about their favorite theorem. They also have to pair that theorem with something, often a food. This inspired me to think about which theorem is my favorite (not difficult) and what food I would pair with it (more difficult).