Link Dump

Over break I've been incorporating more education based readings.  So here's a few links to chem/ physics/ education blogs that I've started to read.

Bridging Differences - Education policy talk and discussion by Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier.

Mr. Guch's Blog - Blogings of a chemistry teacher.  Also provides wonderful resources for teachers.


The Blog of Phyz - Physics education site.  Based off of CA standards, but of use to everyone.  I will be spending more time on this site, trying to figure out a coherent approach to physics teaching, of which I have none at the moment.


TeachingChemistry - An interesting look at incorporating technology and standards based grading into a chemistry classroom.

To the New Year

2010 is almost done with.  While it hasn't been the worst year on record I am happy to be symbolically putting it behind me. 

I've never been big of resolutions but a I do have a few things I want to incorporated into my life.
First I want to keep a level of organization and cleanliness in my apartment that I haven't always followed through with. I really does help my state of mind to have my living area to be clean.

I also want to be better on not putting off stuff, for lack of a better word.  I have knitting project that are 80%-90% done, I just need to finish them. A bunch of mending that are quick deals.  The most complicated one is the hemming, and that's just because it's time consuming.  This also applies to school work, though I have been getting better about that over the last year.With 18 credits, ACS, and my job this is going to become a necessary skill.

That's about it.  2011 is looking good.  I already know that there are some annoyances out there (Hello, education department), but I can deal with that sort of small potatoes.  May everyone else also happy new year to look forward to.

Fashion

I'm not the world's most fashionable person.  Far from it.  Seeing that I'm slowly being put into classroom situations for my education program I have been trying to build up a more professional and stylish wardrobe.  For inspiration I frequent a couple of plus-sized fashion blogs: Bombshell Beauty and T Minus T Plus.

Recently, I've added a lot of dresses to my wardrobe, courtesy of Maurices.  They can be a little pricey, but they frequently have sales where you can get 20% your order or free shipping.  I once scored a dress for $13 when it had originally been over $50. 

Being a poor college student, I can't afford that much very often.  However, I really do recommend getting two good sets of pants and having them tailored.  At the very least hem them.  This is something you could even do yourself.  Shirts sometimes need to be shortened too.  I also find that the bust area for sleeveless items, most notably my dresses, will need to be modified.

Reason to become a teacher

I sometimes joke that one of the reasons I'm going into teaching is to have access to some of my favorite past lunches.  Top on that list was chicken nuggets (could never figure out where they got them) and hamburger gravy.  Hamburger gravy was one of those that only showed up on the menu once or twice a marking period.  I absolutely loved this.  It would always come with a roll and be served over instant mashed potatoes with either peas or baby carrots.  I have been trying to replicate this recipe for years.  Courtesy of the Tried and True blog, I have finally found an almost exact match.

Hamburger Gravy

I use Better than Bullion beef base, which is what the store that supplies the area schools carries.  If you find that your gravy is too salty just add a little bit of lemon juice.  The acid helps to balance out the salt.

Not Much

Not much today. I'm sort of in a blah place. There was some wonderful family news this past weekend, but that has recently changed. (Sorry to be cryptic, but it's not mine to share.) In lieu of an actual post, here are some links. Maybe I'll be motivated to pontificate on them later.

Football Stadiums

versus

Science Fairs

Part of the reason I'm not enamored with the charter school movement


Why Would We Want to Run Our Schools Like Businesses?

Don't be stupid

The inaugural post. I don't imagine that there will be many people who follow this, but I look at it as a practice opportunity, as I fully intend to incorporates blogs into my future classrooms.

First bit of advice I have to offer: never do a chemistry major/physics minor (or vise versa) education degree. It sucks. For whatever reason, chemistry and physics departments don't seem to like each other that much. Every semester has had some sort of scramble to make sure that I get this class that semester because this class conflicts with that one. Even spotting class conflicts a full year before they even would happen doesn't stop a conflict from appearing. Do chemistry and math, or biology, or Earth science, but for the sake of your own sanity don't do chemistry and physics.

If you do decide to go that route, plan carefully. Pull up at least two years of previous class scheduling. Once you get past your intro classes, there are going to be a lot of fall or spring only classes in both departments. And certain required course will overlap with one another. And even when you do this, you're more than likely going to need special accommodations made because required classes are going to overlap by more than 15 minutes.

All this being said, I wouldn't change my program. Yes, it has been a giant pain in my butt. But I love what I'm studying (except Intermediate Mechanics, that sucks). I, generally, can't wait to get into a classroom and start teaching chemistry and physics.

In the future, I'll be posting about the process of becoming a teacher in Michigan, my attempts at coaching middle schoolers in Science Olympiad, preparing for an actual ChemEd presentation, and my knitting.