I Saw Mathematics Education Future and Its Name Is Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer

Some thinkers/innovators and their ideas are simply too good for even the media to miss. Dan Meyer is one such thinker. He happens to be, amongst other things, a high school mathematics teacher in Felton, CA, barely a stone's throw from Santa Cruz. He teaches geometry to kids he describes in ways that makes them sound like non-enthusiasts in mathematics, at least when they enter his classes in the fall. 

Dan blogs at dy/dan on a variety of issues related to teaching mathematics, but his most innovative contribution thus far, in my view, has been a series of problems, lessons, and pedagogical experiments collected under the label "What Can You Do With This? (WCYDWT?)

Rather than offer my lame description of what Dan is up to with this ideal, I think readers would do far better to see for themselves. Towards that end, I've done you the favor of collecting links to all of the WCYDWT? blog entries thus far, along with the dates on which they appeared and the (sometimes cryptic) titles. Because it is currently only possible to go backwards chronologically, I took the trouble to arrange what follows in ascending chronological order so that interested readers can see the evolution of the WCYDWT? approach.

New readers are encouraged to look at the comments as well as Dan's entries. He is a polite and frequent respondent to those of his readers who offer useful alternatives, refinements, criticisms, and departure-points for further entries. So, much may be lost if the comments are skipped. 

WCYDWT? The Story Thus Far

2007

6/8/07 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=255 "I Need Another Blog

7/9/07 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=284 "Bizarro Blog: [title redacted]"

8/10/07 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=311 "Science Owes Me A Beer"

2008

10/4/08 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1220 "Pilot"

10/4/08 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1526 "License Plates"

10/6/08 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1565 "Out of Control"

10/8/08 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1510 "The Bone Collector"

10/21/08 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1680 "Schrute Bucks"

11/23/08 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1896 "EXIF"

2009

1/14/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=2783 "How Can We Break This?"

1/16/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=2796 "ELA Edition"

2/16/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3001 "Becky Blessing"

2/17/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=2992 "The Woman Who Didn't Swim Across the Atlantic"

3/11/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3159 "YouTube URLs"

3/23/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3243 "2008 World Series of Poker"

3/23/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3251 "Projectile Motion"

4/7/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3467 "Global Math Geeks"

4/19/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3622 "What You Can?t Do With This: NLOS Cannon Challenge"

4/20/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3667 "Yes We Can, Etc"

4/21/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3624 "The Door Lock" part 1

4/23/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3675 "The Door Lock" part 2

4/29/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3732 "Flight Control"

5/14/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3826 "Other People"

6/4/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=3905 "Glassware" part 1

6/10/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4018 "Glassware" part 2

7/22/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4255 "Club Soda"

7/24/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4276 "Don't Forget Answers, Iteration"

9/6/09  http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4636 "Groceries" part 1

9/8/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4646 "Groceries" part 2

9/14/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4472 "Excellent Math Blogging"

9/19/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4778 "Check For Understanding"

10/5/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4838 "What I?m Trying To Say:"

10/7/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4893 "Pocket Change" part 1

10/8/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4905 "Pocket Change" part 2

10/29/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5046 "Redesigned: Kyle Webb"

11/19/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5260 "Dan & Chris

12/28/09 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5394 "The $6400 Question"


2010

1/6/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5633 "How Do You Turn Something Interesting Into Something Challenging?"

1/16/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5674 "This Blog Is Counterproductive"

2/7/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5903 "The Weak WCYDWT Brand"

2/9/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5945 "Two Excellent Entries For The WCYDWT Course Catalog"

2/9/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5789 "Will It Hit The Corner?"

2/11/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5954 "Follow Up: Will It Hit The Corner?"

2/13/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=6007 "Nick Hershman?s Follow Up: Will It Hit The Corner?"

2/22/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5990 "Water Tank"

2/23/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=6110 "Check For Understanding"

2/25/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=5983 "Math curriculum makeover"

2/25/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=6132 "Who cares?"

3/23/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=6339 "The Italian Job"

3/23/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=6383 "The WCYDWT Workflow"

3/24/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=6404 "Dy/Dan Teacher Prep Academy ? Certification Exam Question #42"

4/5/10 http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=255 "Gimme Friction / Taberinos"