Mr. Hermann’s Update

Greetings! We’re just wrapping up our tenth day of home-based instruction, and I have to say that it’s going more smoothly than I predicted. I’m seeing good attendance, almost as much student engagement as we get in a real classroom, and in some cases much greater productivity. That said, I really miss teaching in person. I’m looking forward to doing it again when it’s the safe and responsible thing to do, which I know might be quite some time away.

What have we been up to, you ask?

Calculus BC: The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus! We’re kind of going out of order, but seeing why Sir Isaac Newton is accounted perhaps the finest mathematical mind who ever lived is just too much fun to resist.

Precalculus: We’re warming up for some trigonometric heavy lifting by reviewing the Pythagorean Theorem, radical arithmetic, and (in one of the precalc classes) prime factorizations.

Calculus AB: We’re neck deep in limits. That’s the one really big new idea that turns an innocent looking bunch of algebra and geometry into calculus.

Math For Mathematicians: Area. You wouldn’t think there’s all that much fun to be had from figuring out the area of shapes, but you’d be wrong. We’ve got area puzzles for the folks taking the class for the first time, and we’ve got area puzzles for the folks taking the class for the third time! Area: good times.

Stay happy and healthy!
Mr. Hermann