Links for 2009-10-19

"My students knew intuitively that the reason they were lagging academically had nothing to do with race, which is the too-handy explanation for the achievement gap in Alexandria. And it wasn't because the school system had failed them. They knew that excuses about a lack of resources and access just didn't wash at the new, state-of-the-art, $100 million T.C. Williams, where every student is given a laptop and where there is open enrollment in Advanced Placement and honors courses. Rather, it was because their parents just weren't there for them -- at least not in the same way that parents of kids who were doing well tended to be. "

"For two weeks, the rocks sat on a beige plastic table outside the Garchinskis' front door. It wasn't until she watched the news a couple of weeks later that Ms. Garchinski connected the object to the bright fireball that lit up the night sky the evening before the windshield was smashed."

"So I walked out [after an opera] tonight saying "Wow, I solved so many equations tonight!" while everybody else was critiquing the vocalists. But it's true, I did solve some equations. In fact, I think I may be very close to a major result in my research, a result that will settle a lot of issues. This was so good for me that my wife and I have resolved to start going to musical performances a lot more often. "

"The Invisible man is a specular optical illusion. Unlike the original invisible man this guy actually painted himself using body paint to match his surrounding. The first one below is one of my favorites, at a glance you would completely miss him!"