"We take brain research and basically take that information and offer teachers and schools the application of what to do with that information. So what it looks like and how to roll it out in the classroom -- it's very hands-on," she said.

The activities aren't just about fun, Muffler explained, substance must be behind everything. The students do make the classic vinegar and baking soda volcanoes, but layer play-dough around the base after each eruption where liquid spilled so they can see how cooled lava forms. Last week, they layered flour and cocoa in a cooking tin and dropped in different size balls. Each drop solicited giggles from the students, some of which walked away with flour on their shirts, but the bigger lesson was about the surface of Mars and the different way impact craters are formed.

Jasmine Faulkner, Henke's music teacher at Polaris, said the goal is to make music more accessible to every student. It allows kids to get involved even if they didn't start playing an instrument when they were younger or didn't get involved in orchestra or choir in middle school, she said.

This book introduces students with little or no prior programming experience to the art of computational problem solving using Python and various Python libraries, including PyLab. It provides students with skills that will enable them to make productive use of computational techniques, including some of the tools and techniques of "data science" for using computation to model and interpret data. The book is based on an MIT course (which became the most popular course offered through MIT's OpenCourseWare) and was developed for use not only in a conventional classroom but in a massive open online course (or MOOC) offered by the pioneering MIT-Harvard collaboration edX. Students are introduced to Python and the basics of programming in the context of such computational concepts and techniques as exhaustive enumeration, bisection search, and efficient approximation algorithms. The book does not require knowledge of mathematics beyond high school algebra, but does assume that readers are comfortable with rigorous thinking and not intimidated by mathematical concepts.

Later, I taught in two private schools. What a difference numbers can make. My middle school classes had between 12 and 16 students, all of whom worked hard and did their homework (granted, their parents were greatly involved in their education). The number of students in the room affected their attitude toward what was going on there. If someone was falling behind or struggling with anything, I could deal with it quickly.