Pandemic Math Teaching

I wanted to gather up all the wonderful resources that came my way via Twitter in one place for myself and anyone else who may find it useful. These resources are useful not just for teaching during a pandemic, but even in normal times.

We took humanity and community for granted for a long time and all of a sudden we have to think about how to humanize a face or a voice on Zoom and how to build community with just these abstractions of a human being.

I've written a few posts on the Zoom/Ipad set up which works very well for remote instruction.

• Thoughts on final exam and the curve dominating our lives

• Remote instruction versus online instruction

• Virtual classes going as well as possible

• Virtual Math Instruction

This is a new type of remote instruction made possible only because of Zoom (and similar platforms). With Zoom, it is possible to very closely duplicate the classroom experience especially when using an Ipad and writing with apple pencil on the screen. It totally duplicates (1) the pencil experience and (2) the whiteboard experience, both at the same time. Moreover, (3) all notes are captured. If needed (4) the whole thing can be recorded and made available to students. Four improvements in one fell swoop, what's not to like? I would use this set-up even when we go back to in-person teaching.

But these are not ordinary times and the pandemic is dominating our lives. In addition to getting the mechanics of remote teaching sorted out, more is needed. This is where the wisdom of the Twitter hive comes in. So here are some links, more or less in the order of my "likes" page divided into two categories: Teaching mathematics and mathematics. They are not the same and we would all do well by our students if we spent at least some time thinking about how we teach mathematics.

As for mathematics talks -- a very large number of talks are rapidly appearing on YouTube, especially research seminar talks, which is terrific. However, on this page I am only cataloging course materials i.e. lectures I can point undergraduates an Masters level students to and expect them to understand more or less. I'm planning to catalog research talks on another page.

Teaching Mathematics

1. Conversations for the Math Community on Inclusiveness, diversity, equity. This is a weekly webinar worth a listen.

2. The Bright Mirror: On the classrooms we suddenly left behind.

3. Burnout is coming.

4. Hector Rosario's book "Mathematical Outreach: Explorations of Social Justice Around the World"

5. By Francis Su

   • Mathematics for Human Flourishing (book)

   • Writing math well (for lower division students)

   • Guidelines for good mathematical writing (for upper division students)

   • 7 exam questions for a pandemic (or any other time)

6. By Federico Ardila's

   • Todxs cuentan: building community and welcoming humanity from the first day of class.

   • CAT(0) Geometry, Robots, and Society

7. Multiple talks from the excellent zoom seminar series "Talk Math with your friends"

8. Eugenia Chang's "x+y: A Mathematician's Manifesto for Rethinking Gender". I heard her Simons Institute talk on Sep 20, 2020 and loved it. It gave me language to describe myself as a person and a mathematician. I am a congressive person and function better in a congressive environment. I couldn't find it on the web. If you can get a hold of it and listen to it, it is fantastic.

9. Pamela Harris' Advocating for Students of Color - a virtual professional development experience for higher education faculty and administrators who are actively engaged in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion within the mathematical sciences.

10. Pamela Harris and Aris Winger's Mathematically Uncensored Podcast

11. Jennifer Quinn's blog "Math in the time of corona" on maintaining humanity and building community in isolation.

Mathematics

Multiple talks from the excellent zoom seminar series "Talk Math with your friends" This seminar has both teaching related talks and math talks aimed at a broad audience including students.

MathProf's pinterest board links to a very large number of lectures, and other lecture boards, all very useful during a pandemic especially.

Timothy Gowers' Combinatorics lectures.

Joel David Hamkins Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics. (I'm teaching History of Mathematics this semester and this is the perfect complement to our chronological study of the history of mathematics.)

Richard E. Borcherds YouTube channel with lectures on various math topics.