Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Jul 12

So how much money upfront is that, truly, the math teacher in me asks. Still $0, says everyone

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Jun 18

The youth are an unstoppable force and I love every second watching them flourish

Reposted by Scott Westwell

Gabrielle Huston @talktogabrielle.bsky.social · Jun 16

After Elizabeth Yao's valedictorian speech last Thursday - in which she discussed the children killed in the war in Gaza - her principal called and told her not to come back to school on Monday.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Valedictorian told to stay home after making pro-Palestinian remarks in grad speech | CBC News

Elizabeth Yao, the graduating valedictorian at Bell High School in west Ottawa, was told not to go to school on Monday after she made pro-Palestinian remarks during a speech at her commencement ceremo...

www.cbc.ca

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Jun 7

Leaving school tonight, about 25 mins after the bell, I see two grade 9 students from my classes walking around…

Me: it’s Friday after the bell! It’s the weekend, you’re allowed to go home
A: This /is/ our home

a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face while sitting in front of a window .

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face while sitting in front of a window .

media.tenor.com

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · May 16

Watch your heart grow three sizes as you read the letter below 💜🩵🩷

Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · May 16

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...

Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, recently used my second-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, and that of my teammate in the 800-meter run, to malign Soren Stark-Chessa, the trans-identified athlete who finished first.

One of the reasons I chose to run cross-country and track is the community: Teammates cheering each other on, athletes from different schools coming together, and the fact that personal improvement is valued as much as, if not more than, the place we finish.

Last Friday, I ran the fastest 1,600-meter race I have ever run in middle school or high school track and earned varsity status by my school’s standards. I am extremely proud of the effort I put into the race and the time that I achieved. The fact that someone else finished in front of me didn’t diminish the happiness I felt after finishing that race. I don’t feel like first place was taken from me. Instead, I feel like a happy day was turned ugly by a bully who is using children to make political points.

We are all just kids trying to make our way through high school. Participating in sports is the highlight of high school for some kids. No one was harmed by Soren’s participation in the girls’ track meet, but we are all harmed by the hateful rhetoric of bullies, like Rep. Libby, who want to take sports away from some kids just because of who they are.

Anelise Feldman
Freshman, Yarmouth High School
Yarmouth

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · May 13

Round 3: roll a die, place the number in a square. Goal is to get as close to 2000 as possible though multiplication without going over. Wrinkle: two throwaway boxes, so you can opt out of two rolls. 6 rolls total.

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · May 13

The activity:

Round 1: roll a die, place the number in a square. Add the numbers. Goal is to get as close to 800 without going over. 6 rolls total.

Round 2: roll a die, place the number in a square. Subtract the numbers. Goal is to get as close to 200 without going under. 6 rolls total.

A paper handout to record numbers provided by a die to get near a desired result

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · May 13

Led a warmup activity at a staff meeting tonight. Gave a handout, offered pencils to those who needed them. Went pretty well.

What will stick with me though is the negative.

“Do we have to do math? Ugh”

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Reposted by Scott Westwell

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · May 9

260 4.2K 22K

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · May 3

Thanks for this, Dan! A colleague of mine adjusted the plans slightly to cut down the creation time (took about 6 hours for our printer to make this green one). Looking forward to extending the lives of these!

A photo of a 5x5 Expo marker holder to store them vertically

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 25

Cost was about the same, so do I choose one hardcover copy or five paperbacks? Easy decision. Might as well spread the math love ☺️
cc. @triangleman.bsky.social

Five copies of the book “how did you count?”

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 25

I agree and feel like it’s by design too. This came as news to us about a month ago, and it sounded like surprising news to our admin too. Too much fine print, not enough transparency.

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 22

Ss can opt out of their e-learning requirement, but we found out that schools aren’t funded for the courses they opt out of. Schools are then allocated a number of e-learning classes the Ts at that site must pick up, leading to fewer classes offered at their schools and higher class sizes 😢

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 18

“Speaking freely” is not the same as “speaking truthfully” and that is worth noting.

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 5

Severance brings a whole new meaning to “I’m my own worst enemy”

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 1

2/2 here’s a link to some publicly available handouts I made if you’re interested in trying some out yourself: drive.google.com/drive/folder...

Heads Day - Number Line Handouts - Google Drive

drive.google.com

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Apr 1

1/2 Last Friday at our math-specific PD day I nervously offered a session on solving linear equations with a double open number line. It went better than I expected! Thanks to @pwharris.bsky.social for the inspo, @mathigon.bsky.social for the platform, and everyone who attended :)

Image from Polypad, solving equations on a double open number line

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Mar 7

Ultimate tic-tac-toe art school edition, bunnies vs cyndaquils

Rather than traditional Xs and Os, bunnies and the Pokémon character Cyndaquils fill the board

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Mar 4

Yesterday's talk with my #MEL4E class about last week's Ontario election and the:
➡️ importance of being engaged citizens
➡️ probability of winners in the days leading up to the election
➡️ non-proportionality of votes vs. seats won in our current electoral system
Big thanks to @338canada.bsky.social

Screenshot from https://338canada.com/ontario/, showing the popular vote from each of the four main political parties in Ontario and their seats in provincial parliament

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Feb 24

The unusual baker strikes again. The discard pile (along with only three piles for students to get new Qs from) was a good move #MTH1W #ThinkingClassrooms

A pile of discarded slips of paper that students added to once finished with that question

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Feb 17

I appreciate your advocacy and am only partway through your book — looking forward to more positive change as the year goes on!

Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Feb 17

Working through the negative experiences and trying to create as many positive ones as possible is a great way to describe the complex work you speak of. Love that it fuels you to do right by them.

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Feb 15

I gave students the autobiography as well as a questionnaire (see below) at the end of the first week, after they experienced a few non-curricular tasks and got a sense of what the classroom structure was.

Build community, dig deeper about who is in your community, then start to grow together.

Student questionnaire handout that has the following questions:

First and Last Name:
Birthday:
Pronouns:
Please use these pronouns when (check all that apply):
• speaking with me directly
• discussing with the class as a whole
• contacting home
Please share any relevant medical, education, or personal information, if applicable, here
How has your first week of the semester been?
Three non-math related topics I know a lot about are…..
One thing I'm looking forward to this semester is...
Draw a mathematician in this box.
I feel _____ about this class because...
Someone I met this week that I didn't know before is..
A question I have for the teacher is...
Write the largest mumber you can in this box.

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Feb 15

If you believe students don’t have math trauma, test that theory by having them write a mathematical autobiography. I learned so much about who they are and what they bring to the classroom. BTC as math therapy, merging the work of @themathguru.bsky.social and @pgliljedahl.bsky.social this semester

Photo of a student handout about their math autobiography

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Scott Westwell @scottwestwell.bsky.social · Feb 12

If the heart of your pitch is “math sucks”, maybe you shouldn’t be in the math ed space

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