The Importance of Triangles

At the museum yesterday, I learned good artists use the triangle in their paintings.  It makes the eye move, making a more interesting and engaging picture.  I had fun, in an art-based version of Where's Waldo, discovering Where's The Triangle in the pieces I viewed. (My version of art - my daughter and niece when really young showing off their missing teeth and forming- ta-dah! - a triangle.) Think about clothing - flattering v-necks, the expanse of a man's crisp shirt under a tailored jacket, the empire line of a dress floating out to the hem, the nipping in at the waist of a top or dress - triangles, all, and very pleasing to the eye and flattering to the wearer. In Cajun cooking, the trinity, or base of flavors, come from cooking celery, green peppers and onions until fragrant. Preachers often compose their sermons around three points. What about triangles in research?

 Triangulation, which does sound a bit tortuous, is when three different ways or sources confirm the fact or idea, making the information more reliable and trustworthy.  In teaching?  Approaching a concept from three different ways (read, draw, small group discussions, perhaps) to embed it in learner's minds.  How do triangles apply to writing curriculum?  Essential question - crafting understandings - assessments? Including at least three points in understandings and assessments?  Or am I thrilled with the triangle idea because it seems like a pattern to use to help me figure out how to write good curriculum and be my best in the classroom, but it's just one tool of many and not the answer to all things . . . There is the dark side of triangles - the Bermuda triangle, the barely-ever-works threat of One, Two, Threeeeeeeeeee, the idea that bad things come in three.  The useful triangle isn't a saint, after all.  It's  up to me to use its mighty strength to my best advantage.