http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Jessie+Mathisen Education Jessie Mathisen Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=465249&ca=Education I was recently introduced to The Art of Problem Solving, which is a series of math textbooks aimed at gifted middle and high school students, especially those who are interested in math competitions. I only looked through one of the books, Introduction to Algebra, by Richard Rusczyk , and this revie... Education Jessie Mathisen Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=465258&ca=Education Last year, I worked with a particularly gifted student applying to Hunter College High School (she got in, by the way). She was only 11 years old, but she had a fully adult level of reading comprehension and a desire to tackle interesting, sophisticated, and challenging material. At the same time, s... Education Jessie Mathisen Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=465274&ca=Education Traditionally, physics has been considered the most difficult science, which should only be attempted by mature students with a strong mathematical background. There is some truth to this- being comfortable with advanced math can certainly open up some areas of physics and there are topics in a soli... Education Jessie Mathisen Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=465291&ca=Education I was always a dutiful student. I did those things kids are supposed to do: pay attention in class, complete homework assignments, study for tests, read. For the most part I did pretty well: I got into a gifted and talented public middle school program and went on to be accepted to Stuyvesant High S... Education Jessie Mathisen Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=456162&ca=Education Piles and piles of research show that students learn better when they are fully and actively engaged in what they are learning, rather than attempting to passively absorb information. That is why good teachers in all subjects and at all levels find ways to get students fully involved. In science cla... Education Jessie Mathisen Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=442177&ca=Education The most essential tool any student needs to study for the SHSAT is high quality practice tests. There are quite a few sample SHSATs available, but they were not all created equal. Some are easier than the actual exam and a few are riddled with errors. Others are very high quality. There are four br... Education Jessie Mathisen Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=417562&ca=Education The New York Times published an article called “Students Get New Assignment: Pick Books You Like” by Motoko Rich (8/29/09) about an approach to reading instruction that reduces or even eliminates class books and replaces them with books that the students choose for themselves. In essence, this metho... Education Jessie Mathisen Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=417565&ca=Education Of all of the work I have done as a tutor, I am perhaps most proud of the work I did with Cassandra (of course, not her real name). Cassandra was in the seventh grade when we first met, and she had always scored either a one or a two on her New York State language arts tests. (A one is the lowest po... Education Jessie Mathisen Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=417547&ca=Education Brain Maths, by Tan Thoo Liang, is a supplemental math book associated with Singapore Math. It is a two volume series, and this review is about Volume 1. It is aimed at students 8 years old and older. On the back cover, it states that “Brain Maths is a series of two volumes which have been written t... Education Jessie Mathisen Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=407098&ca=Education My scientific background is primarily in biology, with a good dollop of chemistry and a fair bit of geology thrown in. Physics was never really part of the mix for me, so when I had the opportunity to take a couple of conceptual physics classes in graduate school as part of my teacher training, I wa...