Salvelinus fontinalis

Quick SciFi/Fantasy Booklist.

2007-03-12T00:52:00.000-06:00

The following list of the 50 most significant SF and Fantasy books comes from here.

Books in bold are ones that I have read.

The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
Dune, Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
Neuromancer, William Gibson
Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
Cities in Flight, James Blish
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Gateway, Frederik Pohl
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
Little, Big, John Crowley
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
On the Beach, Nevil Shute
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
Ringworld, Larry Niven
Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
Timescape, Gregory Benford
To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

I haven't even completed half! However, this list is missing A Song of Fire and Ice series so I'm not sure I agree with the entire list!

Meetings

2007-01-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

Subtitle: too many cooks spoil the broth

We are preparing for the entire scheduling process for next school year (it's an enormously complex undertaking). Almost every school finds themselves behind the eight-ball in late August and vows to start earlier next year. Our high school secretary, Tech-assistant, and myself planned a meeting this morning to get the ball rolling. We invited several others who we felt had a great deal of experience/knowledge to contribute to the planning. Our guidance counselor, middle and high school principals, and the Tech-head all showed up. Our plan had been to lay out a timeframe, and gather some basic information to start the process.

Last year, we used our new computer system to schedule the entire district. It was a massive learning experience. And when I say we, I mean the high school secretary, tech-assist and I did it all. I volunteered about 50 hours during June to learn the computer system and begin the build process. None of the other invested parties bothered to learn anything about how it worked. Head-tech implemented a system change over in July before the new master schedule was built which instantly disabled many of the built in computer tools. Principals 'forgot' to inform us about minor things like teacher changes, class requirements, new electives, other pieces that added up to about another 70 hours of work. Counselor was too computer phobic to tackle the entire process (he has since come around and is much better).

Even with these hurdles, which are completely typical of any school, our trio managed to make some initial mistakes that only became apparent much later. There was a great deal of sweating by all involved with less than two days to go in August but we pulled it off.

Having learned massive amounts of useful skills and some key things to avoid, the trio went into this morning's meeting with huge expectations. What we got were the usual suspects once again not understanding the process and what we could actually do. They spent the entire meeting rehashing old arguments that are irrelevant or beyond our control. Instead of gather the information we needed from the individuals who are supposed to have it, we spent the meeting defending our ability to complete the task. We were the ones who pulled it off last year while learning the system and yet the sentiment seemed to be that it wouldn't work this year. The really frustrating thing was that the doubters didn't seem to realize that we weren't discussing an optional task. It has to be done and it has to be done with the computer system! Why not contribute what we need now and save the rhetoric for later?

Color me bemused with a tint of frustration.

End of Semester Reflection

2006-12-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

Finished the typical marathon of grading that goes along with the end of a semester. 210 pages of chemistry homework, 21 chemistry exams, 75 biology exams, 6 physics exams, 20 8-page research papers, 20 in-class essays and 1 1/2 red pens later, I'm done. Only took 20 hours, off the clock of course.

A couple of thoughts

1 - allowing biology students to right their own semester final is time consuming but gives much better student results

2 - chemistry students still haven't learned the difference between writing down a correct answer in homework and learning material

3 - small class sizes (8 or less) is so much more enjoyable for the teacher and I assume for the students

4 - need to seriously revamp the research paper assignment in anatomy class
a - I really appreciate the proofreading and writing skills drilled into me by my high school English teachers!
b - the internet has destroyed (not enhanced) students' research skills
c - it is nearly impossible to assess a student's understanding of science if they are unable to compose a complete and coherent sentence (I feel like a grammar instructor more than a science teacher)

5 - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I get to start my Ecology class after break. It includes cladistics and phylogeny, Blue Planet, E.O. Wilson and most importantly bird identification!

The Entitled Generation

2006-12-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Had a student make a request from me that I find funny and annoying at the same time. Since my school is on a block schedule, I have only had 38 total class days with my biology classes this semester. This is even counting lost days to assemblies and standardized testing. School attendance policy is six absences (not counting school activities) before you lose credit. If a student goes over, they have to appeal for the credit through an outside review board. This justifiably eliminates the responsibility of teachers determining whether an absence is reasonable enough to deserve credit. All we have to do is mark the student present or absent, no whining, no excuses.

One of my veteran students (repeating the class) has a total of ten absences. That means she missed over 25% of the entire semester. That is equivalent to an entire month gone. Now she wants a letter from me to the review board to support her appeal. Her grades are passing (barely) and this time around she has turned in all of her work. Somehow that makes it OK in her mind to miss as much class as she wants. I'm supposed to be on her side when it was my class she was skipping? I don't think so! I'm girding my loins for the eventual tantrum she'll throw tomorrow when I break the news. It won't be the first; and, if she doesn't get the credit, it won't be the last!

Update: A pleasant surprise, when informed that I wouldn't write the letter, my student did not over react. She simply said "OK" and moved on, no pleading and no demands for explanation. Maybe she really is maturing. Now, I kind of hope that her appeal is approved.

Preach On Sister Cornelius!

2006-11-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ms. Cornelius has hit the nail on the head over at A Shrewdness of Apes. Check out her response to a student's asking how he/she could improve their grade. I can't link to the individual post, so look for "How to Improve Your Grade" posted on November 14. I couldn't have said it better myself. The only thing I would add is my own personal irritation when a parent asks this question. Often there is an unsaid implication that I am somehow responsible for getting their kids grade up. Most parents understand that it is the student's responsibility and we can have a productive conversation. However, sometimes a parent's attitude is simply that the you the teacher are clueless and your class is too hard! Knowing what will be expected of the student in the future, I can safely say that my class is not too hard! If anything, it's too lax! If the student doubts this, have them talk with the exchange students who take the class in a foreign language.

. . . and the roll comes up hard eight! A winner!

2006-11-08T22:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday's 'reveal' of the pineapple was a big success. You can just see the astonishment written across normally stoic faces. They have that wide-eyed sense of wonder like when they were younger. They briefly forget to be 'cool' teenagers and simply start thinking. When that third test tube is upturned and the 'gelatin' is revealed to be simply liquid, my fun really begins. Out come the questions! Out come possible explanations (hypothesizing). Now my opportunity to really teach. I get to point students in the direction of various evidences that clearly refute their initial explanations.

"What does the canned pineapple list as ingredients?"
"If your idea is right, then explain why the control tube is not liquid."
"Did we treat the two pineapple samples differently?"
"What is citric acid and what fruit do you think naturally contains it?"
"What source are you using to support that explanation?"

Students are forced to go deeper, think harder, and search for support instead of simply stating their opinion as a fact. Some days, I really love my job!

As fun as yesterday was, today was a pretty good ride, too. However instead of a well planned demonstration, I had to teach impromptu. This article from the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences, begged for my attention. I read it during my prep and realized it would work well in my anatomy class. My students have been working on their individualized research projects. The current assignment is to find a primary source article about their specific chosen tetrapod. Over the next two weeks, we're going to spend some time in class and at home working through the papers, learning how to read real science. I slapped the Homo sapiens / archaic Homo hanky-panky genetic evidence up on the smartboard and bam! Instant attention.

My whole prepared introduction to the digestive system was tossed and we delved headlong into genetics, populations, microcephaly, biological species concept, evolution, natural selection and finally ring species. Follow that up with the remaining 30 minutes of one of the best Life of Mammals episodes and you have one great day. I show so many David Attenborough documentaries and my kids love them so much that I think they would be willing to form their own chapter of his fan club! Of course to them, David is simply "that funny sounding old guy" but hey, I thought similiar of Jacques Cousteau at one time.

On the downside, I still have a mountain of grading to slog through. Teacher-nirvana is wonderful; however, it remains fleeting.

On a roll . . .

2006-11-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

I love days that go like today went. Sometimes everything falls into place. Teacher preparation, student attention, curriculum content and the stars align to make a great day. Teaching basic biochemistry to sophomores, we started with a short news article about the oceanic wandering of white sharks. I save and print interesting news articles that are used as short reading and writing exercises everyday. The article even ended up tying back into today's lecture.

My presentation of notes was great (even if I do say so myself). My timing was on. The students were attentive and contributed. There were all kinds of cross links with previous knowledge, both pointed out by me and discovered by the students themselves. The use of the Atlas of Macromolecules was a great attention focuser and interest grabber. I only found the resource a few days ago and it is really changing many of my future lesson plans and presentations. We covered (introduced) nucleic acids and proteins. I got to spend time discussing collagen. The kids recognized as the stuff Angelie Jolie injects into her lips. We discussed how prevalent collagen is in all animals, including humans. Then I started down the path of what we do with the collagen of animals we slaughter for food. This led to the fact that Jell-O is rendered and dehydrated animal skins, bones, and gristle. You should have heard the ooooohs and yucks. This gave me an opportunity to emphasize the importance of avoiding cultural bias when discussing other peoples. They can't make fun of or make faces about other people's food if they don't even know what their own food is made of!

The last third of class was the first part of a class demonstration/experiment involving what else? Jell-O. It's the classic pineapple experiment. Students were totally into it. Reasoning out the need for a control and proper clean up procedures. They kind of suspect something weird is going to happen. Why else would a high school teacher care so much about pineapple in Jell0?

I can't wait for the reveal moment next week. It is always one of my favorite days of the year (right up there with Schroedinger's Cat day in Chemistry).

I was so pumped with the day's progress that I stuck around after school and demolished a huge chunk of the grading mountain. The volleyball tournaments had knocked me behind the curve. Now I get to sit back and watch Battlestar Galactica. It's been a good day.

2nd Update

2006-10-19T22:59:00.000-06:00

Second tournament is over. The varsity team almost beat the defending state champs (they have only lost one match in five years) on Tuesday. We came out really flat tonight and lost the first two games. The girls managed to come back and win the third game by two points. They then started to roll and won the fourth and fifth. By then, our team was emotionally drained again. We faced off against the same team from Tuesday and lost in three.

Still, we earned a berth in the state tournament next week!

Brief Update

2006-10-14T22:04:00.000-06:00

Tournament #1 is done. My girls finish the season with only two losses and as district champions. Now for the varsity.

Breaking News . . . .

2006-10-13T23:33:00.000-06:00

I guess the following announcement should have been released about five weeks ago. I'll have to have the announcement department purged, flogged, and forced to run bleeding through the streets. Anyhow . . .

We interrupt this blog, to bring you volleyball season. Your regularly scheduled rants/movie reviews will return upon completetion of tomorrow's JV district tournament, next week's Varsity tournament, and barring an unlikely spoiler, the state tournament in two weeks!

A short preview: Matt may be documenting his reading habits out of vanity, but I will do it out of vanity combined with typical irrational male-male dominance competition. My booklist is longer than your booklist!

I Just Don't Get It

2006-08-27T15:36:00.000-06:00

Friday afternoon I left school after only 10 hours (shortest time period in 14 days). What to do with a little free time? I was exhausted but a co-worker mentioned sitting down with a beer. That decided it! I would return to a routine that I hadn't participated in for at least a year. First a burger and beer (while reading the paper) at Red Robin, followed by a film across the street.

This summer's weak movie offerings coupled with a busier schedule resulted in my viewing much fewer films than usual. What to see? I was tempted by Little Miss Sunshine, but ultimately decided on Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. I've never really been a fan of Will Ferrell but he has done good work in supporting character roles. The only reason I chose Nights was on the recommendation of several friends who told me that they don't regularly care for Ferrell but really liked this movie.

What a disappointment! There were a few moments of humor but definitely not enough to justify a $8.50 ticket. I know the film is intended to exaggerate human behavior and attitudes; however, only Gary Cole's character seemed consistent enough to be believable. Ferrell spends the film playing the exact same character he always does (see: Elf, Old School, Ron Burgundy . . . etc.). I am usually pretty good at putting myself into a film even when it's not good. But, I seriously contemplated walking out on this one, something I have never done or even considered before. I really could have used the sleep instead.

Now I will have to discuss with all my students who worship Ferrell why three laughs does not make a movie good. I just don't get it!

LiveDigital is going down.

2006-08-22T16:32:00.000-06:00

Just figured out that my school's web filter won't let me see images hosted by LiveDigital. Gonna have to drop that account and try another image host. Any suggestions?

PS - Can't seem to close a LiveDigital account. Once they have you; they don't seem inclined to ever let you go!

179 more to go.

2006-08-21T21:15:00.000-06:00

Twelve and a half hours later, day one is complete. Teacher's always joke that you can get so much more work done without any kids. But, a school just never feels right until you have masses of students moving, laughing, talking, and maybe even learning in it.

The 12.5 hours might seem a little long until you take into account the 75 hours I spent last week getting ready. I really enjoy learning how to use technology to make people's (read teachers) lives easier. Building a middle school's and a high school's master schedules is a daunting task. However, the middle school teacher's really wanted to keep their 7-period day while a 4-period block works better in high school. The trouble for a small school district (like where I work) is that the schools often share faculty members. Matching the teacher schedules, providing electives, placing students in their correct core classes, and balancing the class loads is the very definition of daunting.

I spent at least 200 hours throughout the summer working through the master schedules and setting up the Student Information System (SIS) on the network. Everything was great until the higher-ups stepped in with requirements that they had failed to mention in the beginning, when the fixes would have been simple. We had to move classes with less than 2 days to go. Then we had to rebalance both schools. Forty new students entered the district with various levels of documentation and they had to be registered and scheduled. At least 100 phone calls, requesting changes, came in on the first day after we mailed preliminary schedules home last week.

To compound the scheduling woes, our regular high school secretary was not around at all this summer. Her son was and is very sick with an infection of West Nile. Anyone who works in a school understands how crippling it can be to lose an extremely experienced secretary.

Merge scheduling responsibilities with volleyball coaching and computer system training/troubleshooting for the rest of the staff and you end up with 75 hours of work with less than 2 actually spent preparing your classroom and lessons. Therefore, I have to log off and spend some time reviewing and upgrading my chemistry notes for tommorrow.

PS - I doubt anyone will find any of this of interest but I still feel better for having written it.

Freewheeling Flashback . . . with Fish!

2006-08-15T23:56:00.000-06:00

We both have careers and responsibilities. He has a growing family. We are both feeling older and older as each summer passes . . . . and yet. If you put us in a boat on a lake loaded with fish, we instantly slip into the verbal rhythm we shared as college freshman fresh from high school. The only cares we have are having fun, making each other laugh and maybe bringing a fish to hand occasionally. You've gotta love having a best friend!

Me

and He

Silver Creek 2006 Pt. I

2006-08-07T23:19:00.000-06:00

Well, I've had 24 hours to recuperate and reflect on the annual Silver Creek trip. Make it to the campground at 12:30 AM Friday morning. Up at 6:30 to dress and head out. Get to the stream at 7:15 and then stand around and wait for the trico hatch. And wait. And wait. Sometime around 9:30 the stream erupts with millions of tiny mayflies swarming, mating, heading upstream and finally diving/falling into the stream to complete their reproductive cycle. The trout of the stream proceed to gather in large pods and go into a feeding frenzy. The water appears to boil with the gulping of large fish sucking down tiny insects. Anglers have about 90 minutes to hook into a monster fish.

It is truly something to behold and something even better to experience.

To satisfy Dave's request for fish photos, here is my first trico-trout from Friday morning.

Click here to comment!

Carnival: Tangled Bank

2006-08-02T20:16:00.000-06:00

My favorite carnival: Tangled Bank #59

Clerks II and an Introduction . . . of Sorts

2006-08-02T11:58:00.000-06:00

How to start this . . . how to introduce myself . . . how not to sound like an idiot. These are the important questions of the day.

For those who knew me in high school, this description by Matt would seem most accurate. However, who we are as adults most often is not a reflection of who we were in high school. Witness the current incarnation of Brandon; this is definitely not the proto-slacker I remember. Every life must pass through a crucible. Impurities are burned away and the core strengthed by fire. For many the crucible takes on the identity of college for others it might be military service or maybe even marriage and the formation of a family.

My crucible experience occured during my late twenties in the city of Pocatello. Discussion and revelation about my experiences comes with some trepidation. Before starting this blog, I have spent a great deal of time contemplating the importance of anonymity. Many of the teacher blogs I follow go to great lengths to maintain their anonymity. I am not ashamed of my past nor do I fear community reactions (well maybe a little fear). My concern is student knowledge of my personal history.

Most of my students have led a very sheltered and conservative life. Like all teenagers, my kids are curious. While curiousity is a valuable asset to education, it can become an incredible hinderance when directed in unnecessary directions or enabled at inopportune times. In order to build trust in the classroom, I always speak directly and truthfully to my students. I avoid equivocating and dodging of questions. I make it a point to inform my students that I was not raised in a monestary. I am always shocked to hear student reactions when they find out bits and pieces of their teachers' lives. It is as if they think we exist only within the walls of the school. Portions of my life likely would be very entertaining for my students and very distracting to their education. So the following descriptions will be vague in the likelihood of eventual discovery of this blog by my students.

During my late twenties, I was absorbed into a network of friends that was centered around a place. That place coincidentally was called Center Street. It was and is a bar. During my relationship with the establishment, I became friends with the employees, owners and regulars. However, this place was not a Cheers or Central Perk. The community we built was made up of individuals from various walks of life; teachers, students, engineers, slackers, rugby players, rugby fans, coaches, dope smokers, dope dealers, ex-soldiers, strippers, bouncers, artists. They also came from various ethnicities; native Idahoans, Native Americans, French descendents, Irish descendents, German exchange students, hispanics, Japanese americans, African americans. We engaged in many activities; drinking, card playing, boating, fishing, drinking, dancing, bar hopping, rugby playing, drinking, road tripping, gambling, singing, drinking. Throughout it all we talked. We talked about everything and everyone including a very healthy/toxic dose of sex. We spent as much time as possible pursuing sex and when not successful, we spent the remaining time talking about it.

This then is where Clerks II enters the discussion. I thought the movie was funny. It is typical Kevin Smith, short on visuals and long on dialogue. While some may find the rantings of Dante and Randall risque or downright offensive (Good Morning America's Joel Siegel walked out), I found it nostalgic. It reminded me of a time during my life that has passed. In short, I liked it. But, my personal crucible has clearly turned me into a 'sick fuck.'

Initial Post

2006-07-27T12:43:00.000-06:00

This is your typical trial post from a new blogger. Ignore at your own risk.