Michael Pershan
@mpershan.bsky.social
math teacher, writer
teaching blog: pershmail.substack.com
reading/writing blog: michaelpershan.substack.com
website with links to publications etc: michaelpershan.com
teaching blog: pershmail.substack.com
reading/writing blog: michaelpershan.substack.com
website with links to publications etc: michaelpershan.com
Ugh typo I meant bassetball.
November 13, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Ugh typo I meant bassetball.
I want to highlight this from my post. There are lots of perfectly good explanations for "why" are tied to the particulars of the specific case. I think an important part of teaching any subject is pushing everyone to step towards generalization.
pershmail.substack.com/p/understand...
pershmail.substack.com/p/understand...
November 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
I want to highlight this from my post. There are lots of perfectly good explanations for "why" are tied to the particulars of the specific case. I think an important part of teaching any subject is pushing everyone to step towards generalization.
pershmail.substack.com/p/understand...
pershmail.substack.com/p/understand...
In other literary news this book is very short and very good. (Reminds me of Labatut and Red Plenty.) In the afterward Sjon describes coming up with new rules for each book, which I found very interesting.
November 11, 2025 at 10:21 PM
In other literary news this book is very short and very good. (Reminds me of Labatut and Red Plenty.) In the afterward Sjon describes coming up with new rules for each book, which I found very interesting.
The fact that chips or a number line are present doesn't mean that "conceptual understanding" is being developed. You can follow a rote procedure with integer chips or number blocks.
November 6, 2025 at 8:29 PM
The fact that chips or a number line are present doesn't mean that "conceptual understanding" is being developed. You can follow a rote procedure with integer chips or number blocks.
I love when a story starts by asking for a story. (From Amy Stuber!)
November 6, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I love when a story starts by asking for a story. (From Amy Stuber!)
Now that "Sons and Daughters" is out, next Grade priority needs to be reprinting "The Yeshiva," my copy is literally torn in half in a plastic bag.
November 5, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Now that "Sons and Daughters" is out, next Grade priority needs to be reprinting "The Yeshiva," my copy is literally torn in half in a plastic bag.
Ran into a mirror cabinet outside of work today and stood there like an idiot trying to figure out how to take a picture of it.
November 5, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Ran into a mirror cabinet outside of work today and stood there like an idiot trying to figure out how to take a picture of it.
This is a bad idea.
November 4, 2025 at 5:18 PM
This is a bad idea.
Something that bugs me every time I teach calc is why holes (like at x = 4 in this graph) couldn't have a derivative since the limit of the slopes converges on either side of the hole. Feels like a choice?
November 4, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Something that bugs me every time I teach calc is why holes (like at x = 4 in this graph) couldn't have a derivative since the limit of the slopes converges on either side of the hole. Feels like a choice?
His photos are amazing.
November 3, 2025 at 11:04 PM
His photos are amazing.
Lewis Hine, back in 1911. "I found two boys under twelve whose hands had been mutiliated in the mill...Is it any wonder, therefore, that I found a whole family, mother and five children, the oldest seventeen, of which not one could write his name?"
November 3, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Lewis Hine, back in 1911. "I found two boys under twelve whose hands had been mutiliated in the mill...Is it any wonder, therefore, that I found a whole family, mother and five children, the oldest seventeen, of which not one could write his name?"
Our home is full of these sort of surprises.
November 2, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Our home is full of these sort of surprises.
I love these shikaku puzzles, my 3rd graders do too. www.puzzle-shikaku.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:36 AM
I love these shikaku puzzles, my 3rd graders do too. www.puzzle-shikaku.com
It’s Shirley Jackson season, let’s get spooky.
October 30, 2025 at 10:13 PM
It’s Shirley Jackson season, let’s get spooky.
Mixing poetry and prose goes way back, I think it's cool.
October 30, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Mixing poetry and prose goes way back, I think it's cool.
Really into Dan Chaon's "One of Us," and especially charmed by the way certain intense moments force the story to reach beyond prose.
October 30, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Really into Dan Chaon's "One of Us," and especially charmed by the way certain intense moments force the story to reach beyond prose.
"A wonderwall can be anything. It's just a beautiful word."
October 29, 2025 at 11:32 PM
"A wonderwall can be anything. It's just a beautiful word."
Good lines from Tom Breihan on wild self-confidence. www.stereogum.com/2327906/the-...
October 29, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Good lines from Tom Breihan on wild self-confidence. www.stereogum.com/2327906/the-...
Night City, from Elizabeth Bishop, love a poem that sounds like a wild vision.
October 29, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Night City, from Elizabeth Bishop, love a poem that sounds like a wild vision.
I have become aware (finally) that Elizabeth Bishop kicks ass.
October 29, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I have become aware (finally) that Elizabeth Bishop kicks ass.
This fellow is levitating.
October 28, 2025 at 12:05 PM
This fellow is levitating.
In the "Tower of Babel" that's in the actual text the tower is not destroyed, I was surprised to learn. All it says is "and they stopped building the city."
And God doesn't seem upset by the tower. The issue seems to be...the productive capacity of cooperating humans united in a single city?
And God doesn't seem upset by the tower. The issue seems to be...the productive capacity of cooperating humans united in a single city?
October 26, 2025 at 12:07 AM
In the "Tower of Babel" that's in the actual text the tower is not destroyed, I was surprised to learn. All it says is "and they stopped building the city."
And God doesn't seem upset by the tower. The issue seems to be...the productive capacity of cooperating humans united in a single city?
And God doesn't seem upset by the tower. The issue seems to be...the productive capacity of cooperating humans united in a single city?
By Leyvik Halpern, translated by Cynthia Ozick. shevazucker.com/week-2-b/
October 24, 2025 at 12:58 PM
By Leyvik Halpern, translated by Cynthia Ozick. shevazucker.com/week-2-b/
OPINION: The "Big Ideas" textbooks by Larson et al. are solid.
October 23, 2025 at 8:34 PM
OPINION: The "Big Ideas" textbooks by Larson et al. are solid.
Read 'Glass-Lung,' the 2nd story in this collection. It's about an immigrant factory worker at Andrew Carnegie's factory, also Egyptian archaeology, also your kids growing up. Tons of movement and feeling, has that novel-in-20-pages feel. Really confident storytelling! I'm excited to read on.
October 22, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Read 'Glass-Lung,' the 2nd story in this collection. It's about an immigrant factory worker at Andrew Carnegie's factory, also Egyptian archaeology, also your kids growing up. Tons of movement and feeling, has that novel-in-20-pages feel. Really confident storytelling! I'm excited to read on.