An Average Week - How Boring - NOT!

The sixth week of school just ended. All schedule changes have been made and the routine of school has settled in. Students know where to sit and what is expected of them when they come into class. The 12 weeks that follow Labor Day are the single longest, continuous stretch of uninterrupted school days in the entire year. (OK, technically the kids have October 24th off, but teachers have a professional day, so it is continuous for us.)

Now this is not a complaint. I actually like continuity in my classes. It gives me a chance to provide a real foundation in both my AP Computer Science and Astronomy classes. I find that with the many breaks and shortened weeks we have later this semester and into March, that students lose that continuity and that it is more difficult to retain the momentum of these early, continuous weeks. Granted, we all need a break every once in a while, but I for one see the worth of full weeks.

It may be because I am old, but the weeks seem to fly by. I have observed a rhythm to these full weeks.
Monday - No grousing here. I see Mondays as an opportunity to start a great week. In planning for each week, I get excited by the material I see we will cover. I can't wait to dig in.
Tuesday - If I have a let down, it is on Tuesdays. But I try to build on the momentum I started yesterday.
Wednesday - Wow, it is already hump day. More great things to teach.
Thursday - Every other Thursday, Astronomy class meets in Starlab. It is impossible to have a bad day in Starlab.
Friday - constellation quiz and APOD. Have a great weekend.


Now for a word from our sponsor. (TIC)  - There are so many great online resources for astronomy, but one that I have used for years now is the Astronomy Picture of the Day web site. It is hosted by NASA but run by volunteers. Each day they post an image that relates to astronomy (sometimes indirectly.) Under the photo is a paragraph written by a person knowledgeable about the image. There are hot links in the paragraph to additional information. A few images are whimsical but most are serious and positively grand. Occasionally they have video clips. It is a great resource and since they have been doing this continuously since 1996, there are over 6,500 images with commentary. A full college course could come from these, no doubt. If you have never been to that site, take a look.

Now for a secret. If you go to the APOD Archive site and select November 20, 2008 you will see a cool shot of the space shuttle Endeavour during a night time launch from the Kennedy Space Center with the rocket exhaust trail silhouetted by the rising full moon. Neat shot. Then look closely at the bottom portion of the image and you will see...wait for it... yours truly! I am bent over, looking through my camera taking a photo of the identical scene in this picture. I was not aware that the group behind me was taking images that would be posted on APOD and it wasn't until a student noticed it that I became aware of the picture at all.
The only thing better would be to have an image that I took be selected for APOD but this is in some ways cooler. How many people have their likeness (good side not withstanding) on an APOD image?

Thanks for reading this.

Perspective

This week we managed to have our first stargaze, so it was a great week. It never got fully clear; clouds were present the entire time. But we got to see my primary target for the evening, Saturn and its rings, through the telescope. YES!

 One student saw a bright meteor, his first ever. He was stoked. On a different front, I had my final school picture taken. If it's half decent, I may post a copy when I get the print.

But something happened today (Friday) that gives everything an entirely different perspective. For the first time in my teaching career a student had a medical emergency requiring medical services and EMTs. The details are immaterial to this discussion and the student is okay. What I can say is that it brought anew the realization that, as teachers, we seldom have a clue about the things that our students are experiencing in their lives outside of class. As a result we assume, when they enter our classroom, that they are ready to fully attend to the lesson and dig in to the wonderful material we have to present. I'm not saying that we shouldn't. We need to do that because that is our job and we need to do it the very best that we can. But sometimes we need to be reminded that our students are real people with real issues to deal with and problems that resist the compartmentalization we are so accustomed to doing to them.

It also made me more appreciative of what I have: my health, family, a rewarding career. It reminded me of the frailty of life. Although today's incident was not life threatening, let's just say it got my adrenaline pumping. By the end of that class period, when I sat down, my legs started shaking and turned rubbery. But this too shall pass.

I have always tried to let my students know that I am on their side. That I can and am willing to advocate for them, to encourage them and to help them. That I am a fan. I cheer for them to succeed, wish for them the very best. I cannot be all things at all times to them, but in my experience, knowing that there is someone in your corner can make a difference.

I teach because I like the kids. I enjoy the interaction, the banter, the mutual respect that we build. I like high school students because they are the closest of any to being grown adults. They haven't arrived but are closer than they have ever been.

At times like this, with the perspective it brings, seeing the big picture allows us to understand the foundation that under girds what we do every day. For me and most teachers I know, it is not just for a paycheck. It is to make a difference in each of my students.

Now THAT'S the Way to End a Week!

Up until today this had been a good week, even a very good week. I gave the first test of the year in Astronomy. That's always fun. In fact, I occasionally tell my students that it is in my teacher contract, that I must inflict as much emotional stress on them as possible. This is said with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I know that taking a test can be a nerve wracking experience, even stressful. I try to lighten it with a little humor, but I am sure it helps only a little. I still have to give them. Of course, this means I have to correct them and score them. It is part of the job.

Then we had Starlab on Thursday and it is impossible to have a bad week with Starlab in it. I get to play cool music while the room is getting dark and I get a charge out of showing them what they can see in the sky. I'm trying to get my students to pay attention to the sky more. I ask them if they saw the moon that morning. What is the phase going to be in a week? I want them to start looking up. Part of this requires that we have a star gaze, but the evening weather in Florida this time of year makes it nearly impossible to predict when we might have clear skies for viewing. Soon, I hope.

One thing I have noticed this week that I wasn't expecting. People at school (teachers, administrators, staff) have, upon seeing me, mentioned that they are reading my blog and have enjoyed it. (That's good, although I guess I shouldn't expect anyone to say they are reading my blog and hating it.) It has opened more discussions with colleagues than anything else I have done. Period. And I think that's a good thing.

But the best part of the week actually happened after school on Friday. One of my outside interests is birding, looking for and identifying birds, noting their behavior and characteristics. It is great fun. Well, there were reports of a Red-Necked Phalarope seen on Siesta Key Beach at the tidal pool at the north end. It was first reported Wednesday, Sept. 10. I could not go look for it until Friday. Now this little bird is about 8" tip to tail. It summers in the Arctic and winters in Argentina and Chile, so it migrates 10 to 12,000 miles every year. The migration routes are usually in the Atlantic Ocean and it is very unusual to see one in Sarasota, so local birders are excited and coming to see this intrepid traveler. That means that this little guy is resting after flying from northern Canada, feeding and fueling up for the remainder of his journey south.

I went to Siesta Beach straight from school and he was not to be found. I looked for an hour but no luck. I went home and after a while I asked my wife if she would ride along, I was going to go back to the beach. She came along and this time he was there. And very cooperative. I got some good shots. He is not very 'red' in this plumage, but come next spring he will be.This bird is what we call a 'lifer'. It is the first time I have ever seen one of this species. I have seen over 500 different kinds of birds over the years and they are all neat to observe.

And that's the way to end a great week.

Three Weeks Down, Sort of

Last weekend was Labor Day weekend, which means, after just two weeks of school we got a three day weekend! Great! It also means that we returned Tuesday and had a short (four day) week. Again, great! But that means this wasn't quite a full week of school. But I'll take it.

Last post I mentioned a stargaze. Well, the clouds and storms did not cooperate and we have had rain pretty much every evening, so the stargaze had to be cancelled. I was disappointed. Now the Moon is waxing gibbous, so even if the sky cleared, we would not have a star gaze because the moon is too bright. Yes, when the moon is gibbous, it is so bright that the fainter objects in the sky are difficult to see, so I don't fight it. I wait until 3 days or so after full moon at the earliest to plan a stargaze.

The students are starting to get in the groove, in the routine of school. And I must say, again, that I am impressed with them. They are great kids. In astronomy we have started learning the constellations visible from Sarasota, a year long process. After they put that much time and effort into it, it is neat to see how much they can retain years later.

Speaking (writing) about years later, I have enjoyed keeping tabs of former students through facebook. A few of my students say that facebook has been taken over by old people, and I'm OK with that, since... Several former students are in various stages of parenthood: just announced pregnancy, nearing the end of pregnancy, just given birth, have a toddler, you name it. When I graduated from high school and college, sharing that kind of information with people was difficult, unless you had mailing addresses and took the time to send an announcement. Congratulations to all of them. It is fun to see. Keep posting those pics.

I have been trying to keep track and I can't believe how many times I used superlative phrases in Astronomy. Things like, incredible, amazing, ridiculously large, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping. I think the kids may get tired of it, but I NEVER cease to be amazed at the scale of the universe, the size of our solar system and the like, and I have taught this stuff for years.

On a more somber note, this week I found myself walking around campus feeling a little depressed. Well, not depressed really, just becoming aware of the fact that the young students and others that I did not know or recognize, would never have a chance to be in my class. That I would never have a chance to teach them. That realization just struck me. I knew in my head that that was the case, but seeing them brought it home. I don't want to seem a downer, because I really am having a good year, but this is part of the process, I guess.

This post is mostly random thoughts, but the underlying theme for the year remains. This, the final year of my teaching career, is going to be a good one, maybe even great, and is off to a great start.