Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield, MA, has been committed to a single-sex (girl) small boarding school environment for over a century.

1. What other activities and/or duties do you have at your school other than teaching?

When I’m not teaching, most of my time is spent developing an entire high school mathematics curriculum online, with dynamic randomly-generated web exercises that display the math correctly using Math Markup Language (MathML). There are currently about 200 web exercises in Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. The web address is: http://www.onemathematicalcat.org.

2. What has been one of your most memorable teaching experiences at the school?

Actually, there’s a recurrent phenomenon that always makes me smile. People are not always ready to “receive” an idea. Often I’ll say something, literally dozens of times, in exactly the same way (yes, after more than two decades of teaching, you tend to converge on a favorite way of saying things). Then, I’ll be talking to a student about a homework problem, and say it again---and the student will look at me and say “Wow! That makes perfect sense! Why haven’t you said that before?” I just smile and realize that they were finally ready to hear the idea.

3. Describe one of your most interesting personal experiences at the school?

There’s a particular moment that changed my life thereafter. HTML (HyperText Markup Language, the language of the World Wide Web) is not equipped to display mathematics, and can’t even display something as simple as a horizontal fraction (as opposed to a “diagonal” fraction like a/b ). I remember the first time I was able to display a horizontal fraction, using MathML (Math Markup Language). I went running to the Head of School (Jeannie Norris) and said “May I show you something?” (She was very gracious and let me show her.) I realized that with that simple fraction, I now had the power to display any mathematics that I need!

4. If you were able to teach any subject you want, what would that be and why?

I am able to teach the subject I want---mathematics! Also, the wonderful flexibility of a small school allows its faculty to offer elective courses that complement their special interests, so I was able to develop and teach an online HTML course, which will “graduate” to a future XHTML course (to keep current in the ever-changing computer world).

5. What do you feel is your school’s most positive asset?

Everything that this school does is focused on how best to educate the whole girl, and the administration’s support of its faculty is unparalleled.

6. What advice would you give a new student at your school?

Don’t get involved in too many extracurricular activities; choose a couple that are meaningful to you and make a significant contribution to these. By not over-extending yourself, you allow yourself the time needed to savor new ideas in your classes---understanding difficult concepts takes time, for which there is no substitute.

7. If you weren’t teaching, what would you like to be doing?

I can’t imagine not teaching---“talking mathematics” gives the greatest joy, purpose, and meaning to my life. However, if I were teaching less, then I’d likely have more time to be a “MathML Evangelist”---MathML (Math Markup Language), once it catches on, is going to change the way that mathematics (both research and educational) is done in this world.

8. Any Additional Comments?

If you want to learn a bit more about MathML, the history of mathematical typesetting, the language of mathematics (and lots more), you can take a stroll through my online “slide show”, starting with this page: http://www.onemathematicalcat.org/CAT_TALK/talk1.htm