Another Year

As I sit here contemplating the passing of another birthday, I am reminded of the fact that I ought to be working on at least 1 of 10 projects currently on my plate.  However, working doesn't leave much time for contemplating.

Even though I had been thinking about today constantly for the past 12 months, somehow when I woke up this morning it was still a surprise to realize it was my birthday.  I tried not to think about it too hard because then I would try to come up with reasons why I didn't really need to go to the office and would much rather have spent the entire day watching movies in my pjs while eating popcorn.

However, now that I've slowed down from the hectic rush of morning meetings, one-on-ones with staff, and a brief video chat with family I can feel the sound passage of time.  Comparing the way I feel now to the way I felt 10 years ago is a bit daunting and intimidating.  Trying to see if the goals I set for myself are anywhere near accomplished.  Thinking about how I'll feel in 10 more years...

Maybe it's time to stop contemplating and get back to work.

Just putting it out there

I think the most important thing about posting something online is not losing site of the fact that anyone who wants to can read it.  Every once in a while, I will remember the crazy rants that I have put on this that someone has stumbled across and this idea is brought home to me afresh.

Black Canadian History Month?

The other night I was talking to my precocious 10-year old nephew about Black History Month. We were trying to out do each other concerning who knew more about the achievement of black Americans. I think I won, by one question. He didn't know who Thurgood Marshall was, but I have to say it was a hollow victory considering the huge gap in our age and education. It was encouraging to talk to him about all the advancements and contributions that our people have made to this country, persevering through such adverse circumstances. An amazing example of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.

Sometimes it's easy for me to think that the struggles of black people were limited to the United States, because that's the way it was taught to me in my history classes growing up. However, this morning I was reading an interesting article about the struggle of the black people in Canada and how they were celebrating black history month as well.

For some reason it never occurred to me that while many slaves were escaping the south to seek freedom in the north of the country, quite a few of them also crossed the border into Canada in hopes of completely escaping the racial prejudices and injustices that were common practice in the United States. Although these were not the only black people to settle in Canada, many blacks who went to Canada seeking freedom quickly found that this wasn't the case. Although not similar to the American south during the time, there was still racism and discrimination because of the native Canadian perception of black people.

There was actually a point when the prime minister of Canada baned any negro person from immigrating. Although this only lasted a year it was symptomatic of the treatment of black people in the country. I started reading about the migratory history of black people into Canada which was fascinating. I also learned about the tension between those of direct African descent and those of Caribbean ancestry.

I decided to take a look at the famous Black Canadians after reading this article and was surprised at what I found. It's weird, but I started feeling a strange kinship with my Canadian brothers and sisters that I never had before.

I decided to devote this blactoid to them. As always have a good day and enjoy.

Blactoid (Canadian Edition): Josiah Henson was a slave born in Maryland who later fled to Ontario, Canada, a refuge for fugitive slaves. As a young boy he was whipped by his father for standing up to a slave owner. Later he was sold away from his family in an estate sale, although was later bought back by the same owner. He saved up $350 over the years in order to buy back his freedom only to find out that that price had been raised to $1000. With little hope of reaching that goal and with the threat of being sold again he fled to Canada in 1830. He founded a settlement and school for fugitive slaves in Dawn, Canada West. He bought a 200-acre piece of land on which to start his settlement and they were quite prosperous for many years.

After working as a farmer he eventual returned to the states as a Methodist preacher and abolitionist, preaching from Ontario down to Tennessee.

Blactoids are Black....I mean Back!

For those of you eagerly awaiting the return of the blactoid, wait no more. I'm here to share those funny insights as only I can. Each year during the month of February as all the rest of the country celebrates black history, I like to make a contribution as well, that both informs and entertains.

Well I was volunteering for a game night at a local private school a few weeks ago. It was for grades K-3 so most of the kids were under the age of 8. The kids were going around to the different game stations. For some reason the same kids mostly girls kept coming over to my table, I'd like to think it was my winning personality but I'm sure it was the games and the prizes they were winning. One little girl (probably aged 6) was just standing beside me for a long time watching the game. So in a lull between games I asked her what she was learning about in school. She said they were learning about black heroes and Martin Luther King, Jr. and that we had MLK day on January 18. I said yes that's true.

Then I asked her what did Martin Luther do. She said that ...

Rosa parks wanted to sit on the bus, but they wouldn't let her so Martin Luther King started boycotting because there wasn't any freedom. Then because he had a dream that everyone could be treated the same and be free he helped everyone. Now we have freedom all over the world.

She looked to me and said was that right? I said pretty much. I figured I was giving her freedom for poetic license.

I remember when I was a kid and I attended schools where more often that not I was the only ethnic minority in class, so it went without saying I was the only black kid. Whenever we got to black history month everyone in the class would turn their heads and look at me. Like I represented all the black people on earth. I am pretty dark, but still.

I remember reading the glossed over versions of American history in our textbooks and trying to figure out how in the world they got that out of what I already knew to be the truth. I later realized the importance of age appropriate material and understanding truth in stages, but it didn't help at the time.

Blactoid: The movie Song of the South has been a controversial film since it's release on November 2, 1946. However, because most people haven't seen the movie few know exactly why it's considered controversial. A few reasons are because it downplays race relations in the south during the reconstruction era, portraying slavery in a favorable light. It has also been said that the main character Remus is too "Uncle Tom-ish". I could of course go on, but that's enough for now.

Although the movie did receive some positive reviews on it's release it wasn't generally well received throughout the county. I think most importantly, the movie is meant for young children who take things literally so it can pose severe problems which is why it has only ever had limited release and is not available on home video.

Interesting...

So I've taken tons of those i.q., Myers-Briggs, personality, and ennegram tests. But today I took my first left-brain, right-brain tests. I always have parents talking to me about how they are right-brain and that's why they don't understand math and why their children don't understand math and all that jazz. So out of curiosity I decided to take one.

I mean if you are left-brain you are rigid, routine and analytical. If you are right-brained you are musical, artsy and creative right? But I've always been confused by this. I mean I'm extremely good at math, I'm highly analytical, but I enjoy creating new things, being musical, and I'm extremely visual. If my head wasn't attached I don't think I would ever manage to keep track of it, but at the same time I keep track of projects and deadlines for my department at work. Something isn't right, I can feel it. I also weird my students out when we are doing math problems and I say their answer "feels" wrong even though I haven't worked it out yet. Then we analyze it and it is wrong and they ask how did I do that.

It appeared that I was bi-brained :) So I decided to take the quiz, only to have it confirmed, I was 50/50. I guess my logic and my intuition were right. I only had one quibble with the quality of the tests that I was taking. It asked questions in a dichotomous manner that made it extremely difficult to answer. It kept saying there was no right or wrong, but I kept thinking why can't I pick both, shouldn't there be a continuum here. I mean I like multiple choice, but we should have more flexibility in our choices.

One question was which is easier, algebra or geometry. I thought they are both at an equal level of easiness. I can do them both in my sleep. They both make sense. I don't prefer one of the other. They both have their elegance and beauty and they have a high degree of overlap.

This leads me to assume the test was made by right-brained people trying to "categorize" left brained people because any left brained person would know that in essence for the average person the level of difficulty is the same. Now they should ask the question do you prefer Linear Algebra or Statistics and maybe it would have been a better question.

Oooh it just occured to me that it could be left-brained people trying to "categorize" right brained people and that's why they would make a question like that to through you off in an attempt to be "random", that is so left-brained to be random in an organized and predictable way. Those left-brainers are funny.

Ahhh...enough musing I have an early morning meeting with some no brainers and I'll need all my left-brained ability to sit through it without wanting to jump on the table and start dancing. Then all my right-brained ability to stay entertained when my mind wanders off.

As always have a good day and enjoy.

Writer's Block...

That's the excuse I'm going to stick to for not posting in well over a year. It sure isn't because I've been so rushed off my feet, but exciting life events that I haven't really had time. It's just that I didn't have the necessary inspiration...or something along those lines.

I'd like to say it's because I've spent the last year honing my novel, but sadly it still lacks a proper conclusion, much to the annoyance of my nephew. The short stories I've written since then could fit into a thimble and still leave room for my thumb.

So what have I been doing...well your guess is as good as mine. Maybe you can come up with something better than what I did :)

As always have a good day and enjoy.

Spring in Suisun...

I had the best time this weekend. I went to visit a friend in Northern California ,where they actually have 3 seasons: hot, not hot and rainy. Much better than LA's 2, unbearably hot and cool. We had a relaxing weekend of vegging out, going to the movies, eating delicious food, and watching British comedy. And contrary to popular opinion on the subject we did leave the house. I also got to try out a bit of interior decorating. And guess what, I'm a dab hand at it! I might go into business for myself if this math thing doesn't work out(clearly I'm joking).

After the past few months of craziness it was nice to just get a little peace and quiet and just stop for a bit. Sometimes we get so busy that when forget how to stop, how to relax, to just take it easy.

I miss it already. Now that I'm back I feel the pace beginning to quicken, pressures starting to move in, and then tension beginning to mount, but then I take a deep breath, close my eyes and think about the weekend and everything slows right back down.

Well that's it for now. As always have a good day and enjoy.

I got an A !!!

This week beat last week into a cocked hat for craziness. Just when I thought things should be setting down they rev back up :) About half-way through week I definitely thought I was close to losing my sanity. I had actually stared at a computer screen so long that I saw double. Never happened before. I mean I've exaggerated that it's happened before, but it never actually did.

I had another frustrating afternoon of dealing with people who can't respect other people's property to push me over the edge and then the most amazing thing happened. I was at work in the evening and one of my students who I've been working with for the past 2 1/2 years as part of the NCLB program came in with his homework (the second time in the past 2 1/2 years I've worked with him) and showed me a test he received in his Algebra class.

It was an A. I know you're probably thinking, no big deal so he got an A, but it was the first A he's received in Math probably since kindergarten. He said he doesn't even know if he got one then. You could tell he was "busting" with pride in himself that he had accomplished this. I was suffused with pride myself that I was there to witness it and he shared it with me. It was like I made an A for the first time. It was also encouraging to see his father, a single parent, so excited about his son's first A. He was so encouraging towards him that I was definitely getting weepy.

When I first met this kid he was working at about 3 1/2 years behind grade level and to have made an A in a subject that most kids in LA county are failing in is a huge deal. When I saw that look in his eyes, that sense of accomplishment and belief in his potential and abilities all the stress and trauma of the bureaucratic nonsense of the past few months paled into insignificance.

All the hoops didn't seem so bad if just one child's sense of failure was replaced with a since of confidence and belief in his/her own potential. It was very important to be reminded of that.

As always have a great day and enjoy.

Inspiration

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

The sentiments of my week. I've been inspired by a good friend to start posting again. Last week a coworker who used to read my blog asked why I stopped writing. The truth is I've been busy, but I miss being able to express my quippy, quirkly and infrequently witty remarks without interruption. That's certainly why I started.

Sometimes it was just good to have a rant about the week, like in the first line. Or to shed some light on an observation I had made about human nature. Or maybe just frustration at an annoying math publication :)

It was like a trip to the therapist with myself. Unless I'm using someone as a sounding board it rarely helps to talk about things until I've started to untangle them in my mind first, but enough of that.

This week has been crazy to say the least. You know it's bad when you can't wait until Friday to come even though you work on the weekends. It's not the kids of course or the math. I love that always have always will. It's the hoops you have to jump through just to do that. The pursuit of knowledge apparently isn't enough anymore, but alas I am but a small gear in this huge machine of education, turning slowly with the inertia of the system hoping my crooked spoke throws things off track so they can change, hopefully for the better.

As always have a good day and enjoy.

Mystery Solved

About 3 years ago I posted a entry about a joke I heard at my job. It was one of those cheezy jokes on a math page where if you work out the problems you can decipher a hidden message. This morning someone actually sent me a message saying what the answer was. For those of you interested in figuring it out on your own I will have a link to the post containing the answers in the comment.

Here is the joke:
What is the difference between a cheap hamburger and a pulled tooth?

ANSWER

One person found something pretty close at one point, but this contains the actual answer. As a fan of silly jokes I found it tres amusant. Even after 3 years.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and as always enjoy.

Evans Family Christmas

I haven't posted anything for a while. Not that my life has been dull or exciting, but mostly because I just haven't felt like it. But something transpired this past week that is worthy of at least a few words. I know I've told people about how my family likes to celebrate holidays at random times of the year, but this year we really took it to the next level and I have pictures. Not only did we celebrate Christmas the first week of October, by listening to music, having decorations, and presents, but everyone who called the house knew of our psychosis and they said Merry Christmas as well. It's spreading.

I thoroughly enjoyed singing familiar Christmas carols while it was 95 degrees outside. I like being different and this is as different as it gets. At least as far as my family is concerned. The major question is will we be celebrating Christmas again. And the answer is a resounding yes. Of course we are. My mother said that the tree won't be coming down until June 2008. There's at least 5 more Christmas celebrations yet.

As always have a good day adn enjoy.

Sometimes I forget

I was thinking the other day about getting older since my birthday is in a couple of weeks. I was thinking about what point in your life do you stop improving with age and start going down hill. I know, I know depressing thought, but I was thinking that most of the time you don't really notice it until after it happens.

I've noticed that my recall isn't as good as it used to be the other day. I mean I have a really good memory. Especially if I see something. I can recreate a mental picture and see what it is I'm trying to remember. I've noticed recently that I struggle to think of the word I want to use. Instead in it's place I find a vague notion of what I want to talk about. Maybe nobody notices because I'm so absent-minded as it is.

Argh!! Anyway that's it for now. As always have a good day and enjoy.

Quotes...

Today has been a very crazy day. Whenever I'm about to go on vacation 1001 tiny things come up that seem "so" important. Luckily one that came up today required my signature. It's best that it came up today instead of Wednesday though. But anyway, I wanted to read something lighthearted and I found one of my favorite quotes from the movie "Orange County".

Firefighter: What's your name?
Lance: Uh, Joe... John... uh, Joe-John.
Firefighter: Your name's Joe-John?
Lance: John-ston, Johnston. Joe.
Firefighter: You wanna tell me what happened here?
Lance: Uh, there was a fire, I dunno, I came by and it's... checkin out the fire.
Firefighter: Well that lady uh, Mona? She said that you two were in the building together when the fire started.
Lance: Yeah, she's a liar, cuz I dunno her so whatever, whatever she says is a lie, so... Firefighter: K, so you're saying you weren't in the building with that woman?
Lance: No, not I! Aright, she started it, aright? Because she was like "I hate my job, I'm gonna burn this mother down!" And I said "You better not... you better not!"
Firefighter: She said it was an electrical fire.
Lance: It was. It was a total electrical fire, it was like uh, the switches had sparks comin out, and the sockets, and uh it was like the 4th of July, man!
Firefighter: Why aren't you wearing your pants, Joe?
Lance: I tripped, and uh then I had to take 'em off to run faster out of the flames... [coughing] Lance: I think I inhaled some smoke, will you excuse me one second, I'll be right back. [runs away in the background]
Firefighter: [into walkie talkie] We got a sprinter. Five foot five, no pants, unkempt... portly.


As always have a good day and enjoy.

Limits...

This week I've been reading about limits like physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Whether they actually exist and if they do how do I feel about them and it reminded me of a conversation I had at my last book club meeting. We were discussing whether or not there exists and end of "science" or rather is there an actual end to all knowledge in the universe and if it is possible for humans to actually acquire this knowledge.

We talked about whether there are physical limits that prevent people from actually having the ability to possess this knowledge. I'm of the opinion that human intelligence is a limiting factor on knowledge and others in the group are of a differing opinion.

When I came back from the meeting someone made a joking (I hope they were joking) comment about our group finding some grand unified theory of the universe (in case it hasn't dawned on you yet it's a science book club, most specifically physics). I said I don't think there is a grand unifying theory of the universe. I think there are some approximations that account for some things (i.e. string theory). I feel like this is one of the areas where we have hit our limiting factor. We can approach this knowledge repeatedly from infinitely many directions and still go asymptotically off to zero knowledge of an actual unified theory.

I could try to explain why, but I think few people would truly appreciate the irony of the practice of searching for something that ultimately leaves you with less than you started with.

Anyway that's all that's rolling around the old noggin today.

As always have a good day and enjoy.

Professional Jugglers

One of my favorite personal jokes I use to describe myself with is "I don't multitask, I parse." (parse: definition - To analyze or separate (input, for example) into more easily processed components. ) With the exception of involuntary functions, I'm just not capable of doing two things at once. And if by some small chance I am doing two things at the same time one or both are invariable ruined. The girls who work for me always laugh because if I'm typing on my computer and they start talking to me at some point I realize someone is next to me making noise and turn and look at them with a vacant expression. Now they know to wait until I'm done. Sometimes I look up and a little line is formed for people who want to talk.

I give a pretty good impression of multitasking at times especially when I'm working with children, but what I'm actually doing is scrolling through everyone in the room in my mental database and checking to see if someone needs attention if they don't I move on to the next. Or I take note of hands put in order of priority and scroll. I was talking to a friend on Saturday and he at least agrees with me that multitasking seems impossible, but for some reason by today's standards is held up as the ultimate achievement in success. While my mind boggles at how people are successfully capable of doing more than one thing at a time. I can barely walk and talk at the same time. Sometimes I actually have to stop walking in order to finish a complete thought.

Yesterday I amused my students greatly by a comment I made when I was helping a girl with her physics homework. The problem was a particularly tricky one and I needed to focus all my attention to it so I said, "Hold on a minute I need to go to the bathroom so I can focus on this problem completely." Not realizing that this would be very funny, but everyone started laughing. But the truth is I couldn't focus on the problem while thinking about having to go to the bathroom.

Then I read an excerpt from the July 19, 2004 edition of the Los Angeles Times written by Melissa Healy that read:

------
Multi-tasking, for most Americans, has become a way of life. Doing many things at once is the way we manage demands bearing down on us at warp speed, tame a plague of helpful technological devices and play enough roles - parent, coach, social secretary, executive - to stage a Broadway show.

But researchers peering into the brains of those engaged in several tasks at once are concluding what some overworked Americans had begun to suspect: that multi-tasking, which many have embraced as the key to success, is instead a formula for shoddy work, mismanaged time, rote solutions, stress and forgetfulness. Not to mention car crashes, kitchen fires, forgotten children, near misses in the skies and other dangers of inattention.

So turn off the music, hang up the phone, pull over to the side of the road and take note: When it comes to using your brain to conduct several tasks at one time, "there is no free lunch," says University of Michigan psychologist David E. Meyer. For all but the most routine tasks - and few mental undertakings are truly routine - it will take more time for the brain to switch among tasks than it would have to complete one and then turn to the other.

When the two get squished together, each will be shortchanged, resulting in errors.

And a prolonged jag of extreme multi-tasking, warns Meyer, may lead to a shorter attention span, poorer judgement and impaired memory...

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The article goes on to talk about studies in people in their 40s and 50s who are struggling with forgetfulness and realize it's a result of depression, stress, and "role overload". I guess my brain has it's own fail safe. It won't let me multi-task full stop unless I feel like tripping over my feet and hitting the ground every 20 - 30 minutes.

Feel free to tell me what you think. As always have a good day and enjoy.

The Dangers of Banlon and Dimples...

For those of you not familiar with BanLon it's an evil material fabricated as part of a sinister plot to unmask all of a person's physical defects. And knowing this people still willingly wear this "stuff". Ok so if you're a supermodel with the perfect body then it's not that big of a deal (not that a supermodel would ever be caught dead wearing banlon). As you can see from my picture here is a couple that is wearing banlon, not bad. If you are more than 200 pounds with more dimples than a newborn babe, then you should not subject other bus riding passengers to the visual assault of having to watch you stand in full view of everyone with nothing underneath a next to transparent banlon ensemble. It's just not right. How is a body supposed to keep food down in those conditions? It's enough just trying to keep from fainting. Luckily I could resort to my trusting book. The problem was having to look up intermittently to make sure I hadn't passed my stop.

I'm sure there was a "Seinfeld" episode about this.

O.k. I'm done venting, back to my real life.

As always have a good day and enjoy.

The BLACTOID is back!!!

After an extremely long hiatus from the world of the writing I'm diving back in during my favorite month of the year Black History Month. I know it's a little late in the day to start writing blactoids again, but it wouldn't be February without them.

Over the past year and a half of working with the wonderful children and teachers of the Culture and Language Academy of Success I've definitely come to a deeper understanding of the black culture and how it has shaped and continues to shape our people both in the United States and abroad. What I enjoy most is the under pining of the education program which which is teaching to under performing black students in a culturally relevant way.

As a teacher and trainer in Mathematics I've always believed it to be culturally neutral because, while numbers have history they are accessible to anyone from any background at any level. However what I have discovered both in working with the students and teacher training sessions is that when teaching math in a way that makes sense, which is the main focus of the Mathnasium program, it's important to realize that culture plays a very large part. Like any other subject true understanding comes from making a real connection to the subject and being able to place what you've learned in the context of everyday life. For most students in low performing school finding the solution for a system of equations makes absolutely no sense to them however making sure you have enough money after they have taken the sale discount percentage off an item does.

It's been a really great year with CLAS and I look forward to the continued academic progress of all the students. To that end I've decided that Mathematicians should be my blactoid focus.

Blactoid: Their are many great mathematicians of the African Diaspora, not least of all myself who are impacting both the mathematics and science world today. As you know I love focusing on women and one who has done well recent is Katherine Okikiolu, Born to Nigerian and British parents, but educated in the U.S., (was once on Princeton's faculty) received special distinction in 1997 when she was the first Black to win a Sloan Research Fellowship. Later in 1997, she won the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers for "Innovative research in geometric analysis, particularly the determinant of the Laplacian under smooth perturbations, and developing student workshops and mathematics curricula for inner-city children." This particular award is worth $500,000 and is only granted 60 scientists and engineers in the U.S. per year. Okikiolu's work on elliptical differential operators is considered a major contribution, going well beyond what experts had considered feasible, given the current state of knowledge. Her 2001 publication Critical metrics for the determinant of the Laplacian in odd dimensions in the Annals of Mathematics, is receiving high acclaim. She is Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of California at San Diego.


As always have a good day and enjoy.

Happy Holidays...on to '07!

I decided to do a post in reflection, capturing the essence of '06 Tanika style by discussing the highs and lows of 2006 in the most rapid fashion possible. Here goes...AHHHHHHHH!

And there you have it :)

But seriously it was definitely a very hectic year, between my work, personal life, social life, and family I'd be hard pressed to keep the events under 10, 000 words, but I will.

Highs...

-Trying new things such as knitting, ice skating, mahjong (ok so I'm not that wild, I'll be crazier in '07 give me time), and going on a cruise with my family to the Caribbean (I'm officially addicted)

-Making more of an effort to engage people socially
-Personal breakthroughs that if you know them good and if you don't, you're better off

-Having my family come visit for the holidays

-Visiting college roomies in DC and learning all the PTO lingo and having an incredible time (I will discuss in my next post)

Lows...

-Health issues (refuse to elaborate)
-Work Stress (not the kids, but learning how to balance work and personal)

-Struggles in my personal life that I'm still working through

Since my highs outnumber my lows it must have been a great year. To finish off my recap of both the year and the holidays I'll leave you with some pictures of the family. Have a great day and as always enjoy.

All that Glitters...

As the day rapidly approaches for my family to come and visit me I find myself answering questions for them about what we will do, see, eat, etc. And the more I talk to them the more I realize that most of them have misconceptions about what to expect when you get to Los Angeles. The only one who has visited before is my little sister and she too finds it hard to dislodge the image that Los Angeles projects to the world.

It's funny, but I've been trying to recall what I anticipated when I first got here. I guess after living in Chicago and visiting New York I had LA all planned out and I was wrong. I forget how much of what I thought about LA had been formed from television, movies, songs, and hearsay. My older sister tries to tell me she already knows what it's like because her friends who have visited have told her, but she doesn't realize and what I and all immigrants to LA had to realize is visiting is one thing living here is another. Unless you came and stayed for more than a month you don't have a clue.

Los Angeles is one of the largest cities as far as land and people and is virtually impossible to see unless you can stay for more than a month. As a matter of fact I just went to a part of the city that I've never been to last night and I've lived here 4 years. And what I've found from everyone who's moved here it's never what you first imagined especially if all you know about is television. Los Angeles Demographics and Economics report will show that majority of people are not only unemployed, but homeless as well. A majority of the people live 250% below the poverty level. Los Angeles has one of the worst and overcrowded school districts that have been riddled with academic failure.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from visiting just to realize that over course they make it seem glamorous on t.v. and of course there are wonderful things to do and see here and lots of fun to be had, but that about 90% of the population never sees that.

As always have a good day and enjoy.

"Can I quote you on that..."

In a mildly ego-centric moment I decided to google myself to see if it was still easy to find me. And up it still is. No excuses for anyone out there trying to find Tanika Evans. And you know what the best part is. My picture is the only one that comes up in images when you google me. Does this mean I need help...yes it does.

Anyway as I was looking I saw that I was quoted (the one I'm in is at the bottom of the page about math of course) in about saying that "If you ask a 9 or a 10 year old their favorite subject, they probably won't say math" I forgot I did this interview a while ago regarding an math intervention program I did with Mathnasium at a Los Angeles charter school called C.L.A.S.

I have to admit that was a very challenging undertaking and now as the director of the Mathnasium in that charter school I'm finally seeing the benefits of the educational seeds we sowed. I won't name names, but there are a few kids who attend that school that have been struggling in math and their parents enrolled them in the program and I've noticed how secretly they are excited about finally understanding things they thought they never would be able to, or having things explained in a way that makes sense. Why do I say secretly...well because it's still not "the thing" to be into math yet. We're working on it, but I see the change in their confidence and abilities and I guess that's what really matters.

Anyhoo back to looking at other people on the internet. As always have a good day and enjoy.