claypigeon-alleg

Thanks for your AMA, and for saying a number of very sensible things! I have an MS in Math, and I'm about to start my 19th year teaching math in [primarily] public high schools. I usually perk up when people start talking about curricula!

Are you[r students] under the same Common Core mandates as those at a public school? What I'm REALLY asking is whether your curriculum could be successfully applied under the constraints of a public school classroom?

I can't speak for all secondary math teachers everywhere, but my colleagues would LOVE to be able to teach students to love and see math how we love and see math. However, we feel boxed in by outside constraints.

That said, certain elements and guiding principles of my curriculum could probably be applied in any classroom setting.

Maybe :)

I'm hedging because, to be honest, that's exactly what we've been hearing ever since NCLB testing came into play. It's the pedagogical equivalent to "This exercise has been left to the reader." Integrating guiding principles into a curriculum is precisely what writing a curriculum is all about, while everyone keeps saying that it can be done, I've yet to see it done comprehensively (beyond a handful of toy lessons).

Anyway, those are my burdens, not yours. Soak in that freedom all you can! You're doing great things in your classroom.

In the US, there's no active campaigning allowed within a certain distance (100' in my state) of the polling station. That includes signage, pamphlets, t-shirts, whatever.

This coming election promises to have an onslaught of campaign observers, activists, and operatives at polling stations, mucking up the works. The Romney campaign wants to track people as they enter the polling place, so they can starting making phone calls later in the day if people aren't showing. There's a group called "True the Vote" that's campaigning against voter fraud, and is planning on showing up at polling stations (in mostly democratic areas) to warn people about the consequences of voter fraud.

Sometimes I think the goal of some of these activists is to cause enough confusion that the outcome of the vote ultimately goes to the Supreme Court.

edit: fixed distance

My family and I are spending a week on the eastern half of the Gulf coast this summer. What places can you recommend outside of the "tourism dining" establishments like Lulu's and Lambert's?