On Edspresso, “John Dewey,” a baby boomer studying for a second career as a math teacher, complains his ed school prof always agrees with whatever’s said since there can be no wrong answers.

Students — four of five future math teachers are baby boomers — are learning that math anxiety is the biggest hurdle in teaching. “Problems with only one correct answer limit students’ critical thinking skills,” professors say.

“Open-ended” problems with many answers, on the other hand, reduce math anxiety because it relieves the pressure to produce THE correct answer. Students are thus liberated to be creative and use “higher order thinking skills.”

. . . One student said that the scratch-on-the-floor problem actually made her more anxious because she wasn’t sure what she was doing wrong. The teacher said “Yes, I agree,” and concluded that perhaps the best way is to tell the students at the outset that there is more than one right answer. I suggested asking the students what additional information should be provided to make the problem well defined. “I agree,” he agreed again.

Dewey thinks teaching students math fundamentals would help them tackle harder problems with less anxiety. His professor agrees.

Veterans are proving themselves in the classroom, notes an AP story in the Boston Globe.

BOISE, Idaho — Within a year, Luke Miller went from raiding insurgent strongholds in Iraq’s volatile Anbar province to preparing math final exams for seventh- and eighth-graders at West Junior High School.

During a pre-algebra class before school broke for the summer, Miller drew on his Iraqexperiences to demonstrate the calculation for rate-of-speed, using the example of a soldier lost in the desert who must accelerate his pace to reunite with his platoon.

Some veterans take advantage of Troops to Teachers, which helps them become certified as teachers and provides a $5,000 stipend, plus another $10,000 for those who teach in high-need areas.

The program has produced 9,000 teachers nationally. More than 75 percent are still teaching — a rate that far outpaces traditional teacher retention of less than 50 percent, according to a 2002 University of Pennsylvania study cited by the group.

While men and minorities are underrepresented in the national applicant pool of teachers — only 18 percent male, and 15 percent minority — military teachers placed by Troops to Teachers are overwhelmingly men; about 37 percent are minorities.

Veterans bring maturity and “effective discipline techniques,” school officials say.

Of course, some military veterans find today’s schools maddeningly undisciplined. I know from e-mails I’ve received.

Darren at Right on the Left Coast, a high school math teacher, is a vet. I’m not sure about other teacher-bloggers.

Via This Week in Education.

Al Gore’s global warming film is getting great reviews and Mike Petrilli of Gadfly wonders why teachers don’t have the same media tools for use in the classroom.

If “computerized charts, photos, archival footage, even cartoons” are helpful to Al Gore, why don’t millions of teachers routinely deploy them in our K-12 classrooms?

Wouldn’t this help schools connect with a generation that has been immersed in digital media since birth? Imagine a middle school science teacher weaving film, graphics, cartoons, even interactive video games into her lessons. Along with her own knowledge of the subject and passion for helping children learn, this could create a breakthrough learning experience. Why, twenty years into the “information age,” isn’t such instruction the norm?

Individual teachers don’t have the time to put together mini-documentaries.

Why doesn’t someone—a private company, maybe the government—create an online library of full-blown media-enhanced lessons that any teacher could tap? Maybe even with video clips of master teachers giving lessons before a real-live class?

Petrilli writes about the barriers. it will take a big investment to develop lessons, even more to customize for different state standards. But “our education system is allergic to spending money on this type of R&D and capital investment, choosing instead to allocate the vast majority of resources to teacher salaries and benefits.”

The trickle of money that does flow into instructional materials is locked up by the textbook companies—the fourth barrier. While they are well-positioned to create digital content for the classroom (producing educational content, after all, is what they do), to date they have moved glacially into this arena. Why? Mostly because they haven’t yet figured out how to make the kind of money from multi-media content that they can from old-fashioned books. In the meantime, they are trying their hardest to use their political muscle, extensive distribution channels, and state-adoption procedures to block upstarts from becoming a threat.

Finally, teachers’ unions are hostile to any innovation that might reduce the demand for teachers or the pressure to raise salaries. Petrilli doesn’t see this as a real threat, but I’m not so sure. Instead of raising all salaries to attract more qualified physics teachers, schools might buy a media course taught by a master teacher and let a modestly paid teaching assistant run discussions, supervise projects and give tests. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it could be better than putting the class completely under the control of a teacher who doesn’t know physics.

Investor Warren Buffett is giving away 85 percent of his fortune, estimated at $44 billion to five foundations, Fortune reports Five-sixths of the money will go to the $30 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Gateses credit Buffett, says Bill, with having “inspired” their thinking about giving money back to society. Their foundation’s activities, internationally famous, are focused on world health — fighting such diseases as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis — and on improving U.S. libraries and high schools.

That’s a huge increase in funding for education. It represents the largest gift in philanthropic history. Buffett had said for years he’d give most of his fortune to philanthropy after his death, but decided to do it while he’s still alive.

My father knew Buffett many years ago — they’re both from Omaha — and had a chance to invest in one of Buffett’s first funds. My father said, “No thanks, Warren. I’ve got a family to support. I don’t have any extra money right now.” Oh, well.

The Exponential Curve is a new blog by Dan Greene, a math teacher at Downtown College Prep, the charter school in my book, Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea and the School That Beat the Odds. Dan hopes to “generate and share ideas for teaching high school math concepts to students whose skills are below grade level.” Typical DCP students enter with fifth-grade math (and reading) skills. All graduates go on to college, so they need to master the college-prep math sequence.

Dan starts by asking: What’s the best way to get students to take notes they’ll actually use? He also wants advice on teaching an intensive geometry class in the summer.

Chastity hasn’t vanished from college campuses, reports the Christian Science Monitor. A “confident minority” is rejecting the sexual culture and waiting for marriage — or, at least, for true love.

You won’t find Cristina Barba’s shorts advertising “JUICY” across the backside. Nor will her necklines plunge or her belly button make an appearance. And when she dates, the 22-year-old Penn State grad may part with a simple kiss. But that’s it. She’s saving herself for marriage and doing whatever it takes to hold true to her intentions.

Ms. Barba is an alien, it seems, in a culture draped in ever more aggressive layers of sexuality. By many accounts, the random hookup has become this generation’s peck on the cheek.

About 70 percent of 19-year-olds have had sexual intercourse says a researcher quoted in the story.

I’m back home after spending the last few days writing an obit for my father, searching through dozens of albums for photos for the memorial slide show, looking for phone numbers of people my mother needs to notify, visiting the mortuary . . . Well, the photos were fun. There’s a photo of my father in his Army uniform looking a lot like Cary Grant, a picture of him taking a hula lesson on the honeymoon. Of course, like a typical Dad, he usually was the one taking the photos so we had to hunt for travel and family pictures with him in the frame.

We’ve already been turned down for an LA Times obit. He wasn’t enough of a “newsmaker” according to the form letter. He built an Omaha ad agency into a big national agency — but it was bought out after he retired and is now part of a giant conglomerate. He was involved in the Jewish humanist movement, the Philharmonic Society, United Way and UC Irvine’s Humanities Program. He even served on a board with an LA Times honcho — but she’s retired.

Well, newspapers don’t run many free obits these days. And they make a fortune from paid obits.

We’re doing the memorial service in two weeks so we can get the word out and old friends can come. It was weird looking for a site for the service. A few months ago, I was running around with John looking for a site for the wedding reception. This time, we don’t need a dance floor.

We’re going ahead with our plans for a small ceremony at my parents’ house on July 29. A number of people have said in the comments that my father will be there in spirit. I think that’s true. Actually, he’ll be with me in spirit always and everywhere.

My mother had a lot of strawberries in the house. Maybe someone sent them. I can’t see a bowl of strawberries without hearing my father say, “Comes the revolution we’ll all eat strawberries and cream!” Then, he’d make sure to tell us that the Russian revolution hadn’t raised living standards; it had taken strawberries and cream from the rich without benefitting the poor.

If we complained, he’d say, “You’re a regular Christian martyr!” It cut down on complaining.

If we offered a half-hearted apology, he’d say, “Bruno Hauptman was sorry!” My mother would say, “No, he wasn’t. He never confessed (to kidnapping and murdering the Lindbergh baby), so how could he be sorry?” Then my father would say, in a louder voice, “Bruno Hauptman was sorry!” My mother would say, “No, he wasn’t!” And my father would say, still louder, “BRUNO HAUPTMAN WAS SORRY!” I guess it was good preparation for the blogosphere.

Anyhow, thank you to all of you who sent your condolences. It does help. I’ll get back to blogging tomorrow.

My father died today. Dad had been in very poor health for quite awhile, but he never gave up. I think he wanted to make it to my wedding, which will be in five weeks at my parents’ house in Southern California. But there’s a limit to what willpower can do. He stopped breathing this afternoon at home. Anyhow, blogging will be light or nonexistent for the next few days.

Education Week’s Diplomas Count report concludes 1.2 million U.S. students — about 30 percent of the class of 2006 — failed to graduate this month. Most of those who didn’t earn a diploma with their classmates are black and Hispanic. In Detroit, the nation’s 11th largest school district, only 21.7 percent of students graduated on time.

The report includes breakdowns of graduation rates by state and by race, ethnicity and gender.

Sometimes, a news story can be heartening and depressing at the same time. At Detroit’s Southeastern High School, a ‘success academy’ for ninth graders cut the dropout rate dramatically: 56 percent of students moved on to 10th grade compared to 41 percent the year before. Most of those who failed to move on are still in school and some may be able to make up failed classes in summer school or through a special enrichment program.

“Some data suggests they drop out academically in the fourth grade, but their parents keep pushing and they physically drop out in ninth grade,” (Principal Brenda) Gatlin said. “We have to save them.”

The academy’s goal is to take advantage of the smaller setting: This year, teachers got to know freshmen by name. Students were able to focus on their studies rather than deal with peer pressure from upper classmen. And new classes, such as pre-engineering, were offered to challenge them.

Southeastern enrolled 689 students in ninth grade last fall and hopes 400 will graduate in 2009. This month, the class of ’06 was down to 250 students and that was one of the largest graduating classes in years. “Seven years ago, only 60 of about 500 students graduated,” reports the Free Press.