Often, I hear exactly that… “well, two negatives make a positive….”, the students say. Sometimes they’re right. And sometimes, they’re wrong. Can you follow my vague, barely-told story and fill in the details? When would they be right? When would they be wrong?

I started thinking about math songs today… and it kinda spiraled… I’m working on writing notation for the skip-count songs I learned in elementary school, and it made me realize—everyone has their own version of these. Like the Quadratic Formula song… mine is a call-and-response to the tune of Frere Jacques! Now I’m curious— What sounds or songs come to mind when you think of math? Is it: • a song you learned? • a rhythm or pattern? • complete silence and confusion? 😅 I wanna hear all of it.

Mine just finished. My son’s is this week. How’s everyone celebrating?

When I think about things I find interesting in math, I keep circling back to 1. In some ways, it’s the simplest number—just one thing. And yet, 1 wears so many disguises. The invisible 1 trips students up all the time: in 3x + x, in x^1, in coefficients that are “there but not written.” When we simplify fractions, rationalize denominators, or even dividing by a complex number, we handle the problem by multiplying by one—just not the obvious one. We choose a form of 1 that changes everything while changing nothing I’m curious—what’s a concept like this for you? Something small or “obvious” that turns out to be doing a ton of hidden work in math?

Georgia’s getting cold again this weekend. I don’t know about you, but seasonal blues have hit me hard this year. Share pics of your favorite flowers and spring-inspired things?