Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Need Some Teaching Help

I teach this class that uses vector calculus to derive the equations of motion in the atmosphere.  Yeah, sounds like a blast, right?  That's why I need some help.  Maybe you can give me some advice?  I'm teaching this class for the second time this fall and am going through the motions of trying to improve it, but I think I need to take a step back and look at a few big picture teaching philosophy ideas first. 
  1. What did your favorite math/science/engineering/derivation class teacher or professor do to keep you interested or at least not lost?
  2. What are they teaching in high school teacher training these days that I could use in my class?  I'm thinking some of the cool tools that high school math teachers use, I could use.  
  3. I've tried making digital notes that I can scroll through during class, then fill in the holes with example problems on the white board.  Any better ideas for presenting this material? Anyone else hate white boards with a passion?  Come to think of it, my white board is behind my projector screen, so this option won't even work in this classroom!  Maybe I can get a chalkboard mounted on a side wall. 
  4. Lastly, I'm having a hard time organizing my materials for this course physically.  So I have a 5 inch binder of last year's notes, exams, homeworks, keys.  I have three textbooks that I use, an old notebook, a new notebook both filled with sample problems.  I usually organize digitally, but I'm not about to scan in a notebook's worth of sample problems.  Any organizational tips?  Is the 3-ring binder the way to go with those nice post-it tabs? 
I guess I just haven't mastered the upper level class yet.  I'm so used to my intro classes where I have colorful pictures, demos, labs, stories to go with every lesson.  It's hard not being good at this yet!  Help!

A little flavor of my current digital notes:
If I can't get anywhere with this class, I might just have to do live prep during the fall and switch to my next summer goal of creating computer labs.  Help!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Things I am looking forward to

I seem to have made it over some sort of mid-semester hump where my to-do list seems finite, my schedule is manageable, and I can work on tasks that aren't due the very next day.  It's crazy when your 40-hour a week job only takes 40 hours a week, right?  Don't worry, I plan on making up this hour on Sunday. 

Therefore, I think it's time to lay out a few things that I'm super excited about that now seem within reach
1.  I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and come mid-June, I'll get a box of organic, locally grown veggies every week until December!  I also have to put in 18 hours on the farm, which I hope will bring back some nostalgic feelings of my apple orchard back home.  I went with Grant Family Farms due to positive experiences my friends have had with them.  I can't wait to start getting these mystery boxes and cooking new foods!  I'm currently reading Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where she and her family eat locally for a year and reading it each night is making me crave vegetables like crazy!  My lettuce in the garden can't seem to come up quickly enough for me.  My 4X8' plot is clearly not going to sustain me, so the CSA is my key to reducing my carbon footprint via eating local foods.  My garden, after the lettuce finishes, will consist of only tomatoes and basil if I have my way.  I look forward to sharing food ideas with you as things get rolling! 

2.  I'm going to Boston for a week!  I have a conference in Boston coming up and I'm excited to spend a few extra days there and check out this historic city.  You should let me know where to stay and where to visit while I'm there if you're at all familiar. 

3.  I am only teaching two days a week for 8 weeks this summer, which means I can work from home the majority of the summer.  I worked from home last summer and loved it.  I worked maybe 6 hours a day, read out by the pool, gardened, cooked, and got lots of class prep done.  I'm only on a 9 month contract, so technically, I don't get paid for summer work, but I can't keep myself from working.  Summer school will give me a tiny amount of extra cash, maybe just enough to pay for a few plane tickets I have to buy for summer travel (wedding, family vacations, extra days in Boston at $200 a night).  This leads me to my next one...

4.  I am going to teach a new class in the fall for freshman called "Global Climate Change" and I am dying to get to May so I can start prepping for it.  My colleague and I proposed this course ourselves, so I can't wait to put all of these great ideas into action. I'm also putting this goal out there, that I'd like to get back into my Greenland research since shit is hitting the fan on Greenland with that whole melting thing and I'd like to help out in any way possible in the research world. 

5.  Lastly, since I have to go meet folks for happy hour, I'm looking forward to late-spring weather!  Summer is too hot around here and I don't actually have air conditioning, but late-spring weather is the best!  70's, storms, cool nights, lots of sunshine, it can't be beat!

What are you looking forward to that seems almost within reach?