ABSTRACT
Jim Specht tries to use real-world activities as much as possible in his math dasses. For his general math students, he finds it's also important for the activity to be intriguing; otherwise, it's just another word problem. Before he assigns a lesson, he tests it on hirnself. Is it interesting? Will he enjoy seeing the students' work, or will it be just another set of papers to grade? For a long-term project, is the math component real or contrived? The idea of following the Iditarod -the Last Great Race-with his dass struck hirn as "just so cool" that he decided to give it a try.
