Inflation + Saving Math
Quick Picks >>> May 2021
Inflation is Back:
Shout-out to everyone who told me ~6 months ago not to be worried about inflation because software is eating the world and pooping out productivity gains. You guys forgot that we still build stuff with wood
We’ve gone from “Economists love to disagree, but almost all of them will tell you that inflation is dead…” to “Everything Screams Inflation”
One meta-investing-thing that interests me about this is that we have not seen serious inflation for a long time. As it relates to professional investing, a lot of investors in decision making seats have never invested through a big inflationary cycle. It will be interesting to see how that plays out
Calculus is Cancelled:
California’s DOE dropped an absurd mathematics education framework
I majored in math in college (huge numbers guy) and I am passionate about educational equity (see: the Go Project) so this news caught my eye. I find the moving of the goalposts (pushing algebra out of middle school, pushing calculus out of high school) in the name of “equity” bewildering at best.
Also, this extreme coddling Math “Rainbows” exercise published in the framework just gets a huge “???” from me:
Vignette (from Wei & Gargroetzi, 2019)
Math Identity Rainbows
Purpose: To reflect on and share the strengths that you and your teammates bring to the group
Each person will get six different colored strings. Each color represents a different math practice
Your task is to arrange the cords according to your relative strengths and weaknesses.
Math Identity Rainbow Cords and Identification
Pink is persevering: “I try my best and don’t give up, even when I face challenges.”
Orange is numerical reasoning: “I have good number sense and use numbers flexibly.”
Yellow is communicating: “I can explain my reasoning clearly to others.”
Blue is modeling: “I can use methods and tools to arrive to solutions.”
Purple is pattern recognizing: “I can generalize patterns and see connections between concepts.”
White is reflecting: “I know what I’ve learned and what I still need to learn.”
Directions: Arrange the cords in the order of your strengths (strongest practices on top)…
…Students reflected individually and then shared their top strength with their partner. Students then discussed the strengths each group member brought to their mathematical work. In doing so, students had the opportunity to notice that together they were part of a mathematical community in which each member offered different, important strengths.
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