1/30/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

Sorry to miss our letter yesterday. I had to go to campus early so I could have reliable internet for a presentation to mathematics educators in Sonoma County. Our conversation was about promoting positive math identities for ALL children. Our hope is to engage children in figuring things out for themselves so they become independent thinkers. This can only happen if kids feel like they are capable of doing math so we want to stamp out the idea that doing math is the purview of a privileged few. Crows & dolphins can count so dealing with numbers is hardwired into our circuitry & kids should be encouraged to see math as a natural activity.

To conclude the conversation, I expressed my concern that if we keep talking about “learning loss” & our kids will feel mathematically crippled forever. Please do what you can to eliminate the term, “learning loss,” from federal discussions & instead focus on use “Covid resiliency” to emphasize that enduring this pandemic has demanded fortitude & creativity. Let’s give kids credit for the learning that they have had to do to survive this past year & have confidence that they will be ok in the long run.

Will you be going back to Holy Trinity tomorrow? Will you be grabbing a bagel at Call Your Mother again? I’m sure that you have heard how delighted the restaurant owners of DC are to have you out & about, grabbing a bite here & there. I hope you’ll keep that up.

Thanks for visiting Walter Reed yesterday & uplifting all the great work they do to help our vets. I was surprised to learn that you spent many months there in 1988 recovering from brain aneurysms. You are one resilient guy!

Enjoy your Sat.