The Year of Speaking Internationally…and how to get me to your school next year for less
February 13, 2015 by
Invitations to overseas schools seem to come in ocean waves. Some years I have none, but in other years (like this one), I have many. I’m writing from Korea, where I have just completed two weeks of visits to seven schools, and I’ll be going back to Asia two more times before the end of spring, with visits to schools in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and – get this – Uzbekistan. Last fall, I went to schools in Switzerland and Romania. And in November, without leaving the USA I went to an exotic place: Hawaii, where I was draped with leis before every presentation.
If, in 2015-16, you would like to host a David Schwartz author extravaganza complete with exponentially growing bags of popcorn, proportionally hopping frogs, subtracting crabs, stories galore, a million laughs, and kids who get more excited about math and books than they (or their teachers) ever thought possible . . . there are ways to get me to your school for less stress on your budget:
- Piggyback onto a trip I’m already making. Send me an email to see if I’m going to be nearby. If I can add your school to my trip, it saves considerably on travel expenses. My speaking itinerary is on my website but, frankly, it’s not always up to date. It also does not include speaking tours being discussed but not yet confirmed; it can help both of us if I know of your possible interest in joining a tour-in-the-making.
- Help me get multiple days in your area by doing outreach to other schools. I am willing to discount my rate if you can help add efficiency and subtract stress from my life by letting me stay put for several days of school visits in one place.
Most of my 2015-16 school year travels are still in the planning stages but it looks like there’s a strong possibility of visiting schools in VA, CT, VT, AL, SC and southern CA (as well as northern CA, where I live) in the fall. Overseas trips are looking to include the Middle East, Mexico and possibly Central America. Don’t hesitate to contact me about other areas in the US or overseas because I will no doubt be adding more destinations to the list.
My website has my speaking schedule but I admit it isn’t always up to date, so feel free to write to me to request an update or details on what is listed. Use the “Contact David” link on my site. When you write, please tell me where you are located.
Real World, Unreal School
October 31, 2011 by
When I walked into Masha Albrecht’s geometry class at Berkeley High School last week, her students were holding hands. It wasn’t budding romance. It was math. Before I explain, I have to tell you about Masha.
I met her when I was a senior at Cornell in the 1970s. I decided to do an independent study that involved working with students in an elementary school classroom and she was the most eager, bright-eyed fourth grader in the class. Masha’s brother Bobby was in an adjacent room and the two classes were team-taught. I hit it off with both siblings, and before the end of the semester I had been to their house several times, met their parents, and spent some enjoyable after-school hours together—doing math. The three of us had delved into Harold Jacobs’s masterful Mathematics: A Human Endeavor, then in its first edition, and we tackled the mind-stretching, often funny, problem sets with gusto. “This is how math should be taught in school,” exclaimed Mrs. Albrecht. [Read more…]
Lightweight Summertime Musings
June 30, 2011 by
Deer Mom and Dad…. whoops, wrong musing. That was my letter from camp when I was seven years old, in which I described my excitement at catching a “forg” in the pond.
This summer, just a few years after that incident, my summertime musings begin by recalling my final school visit tour of 2010-11, which took place in late May in rural Gallia County, Ohio. It’s in southeastern Ohio, near the charming small city of Gallipolis (pronounced nothing like Gallipoli, the peninsula in Turkey, but more like “Galley-Police”). This part of Ohio is in Appalachia, across the river from West Virginia, and just as scenic. Economically similar as well, I believe. I hadn’t realized Appalachia extends into Ohio. [Read more…]
A Temple to the Glory of Knowledge and the Written Word
April 25, 2011 by
Two weeks ago, I spoke for three days at elementary schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, and for the next five days I played unabashed tourist in Washington, DC. It was Spring Break for many school districts and, as far as I could tell, 25% of the nation’s school children were spending the week in the nation’s capital. Museums, monuments and other federal buildings were bursting at the pilasters. In some cases, queues for limited admission tickets began at 6:30 am. As a result I didn’t even cross the porticos of many of the sights on my list. Just the same, my visit had a clear highlight and I cannot imagine any other attraction having surpassed it.
I refer to our nation’s temple of learning, dedicated to the glorification of knowledge and exaltation of the printed word. I refer to the Library of Congress.
What If
March 28, 2011 by
Esteemed non-fiction author Elizabeth Partridge recently wrote in her blog, Hot Tea and a Pencil, that she had just learned about an ancestor of the same name as herself who, in 1846, had been transported from England to Australia.
Contemporary Elizabeth asked,
“What did this Elizabeth Partridge do that got her ten years in jail, swapped off for being sent to Australia? What was it like for her once she got there?”
What if….
and a seed is planted. I don’t know that I would ever take this any further, but it is exhilarating to have my mind tumble in a new direction.
What kind of random things have been making you think ‘What if….?'”
Here is what I wrote as a comment: