January 3, 2012
Procedure:
1) Minimize distractions by being alone at school.
2) Spread lab reports across all the tables in the room
3) Observe the amount of data that needs evaluating.
4) Take a moment to freak out.
5) Drink the first "Monster - Moca Loca"
6) Play the album "All Day" by Girl Talk on repeat.
7) Grade the first report.
8) Freak out because that took longer than it should have.
9) Continue freaking because kids didn't follow formatting guidelines. ("Did they listen at all?")
11) Slam the second "Monster - Moca Loca"
12) In a caffeine and pop-remix fueled frenzy, evaluate and grade any data in sight.
13) Congratulations! You're done way before the deadline.
14) Celebrate with a Starbucks treat.
Linkage:
MIT Game Changer Free Online Education For All
(From Amy)
(From Amy)
For Wall Street Occupiers or other decriers of the “social injustice” of college tuition, here’s a curveball bound to scramble your worldview: a totally free college education regardless of your academic performance or background. TheMassachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) will announce on Monday that they intend to launch an online learning initiative called M.I.T.x,which will offer the online teaching of M.I.T. courses free of charge to anyone in the world.
The program will not allow students to earn an M.I.T. degree. Instead, those who are able to exhibit a mastery of the subjects taught on the platform will receive an official certificate of completion. The certificate will obviously not carry the weight of a traditional M.I.T. diploma, but it will provide an incentive to finish the online material. According to the New York Times, in order to prevent confusion, the certificate will be a credential bearing the distinct name of a new not-for-profit body that will be created within M.I.T.
The Best American Wall Map
According to independent cartographers I spoke with, the big mapmaking corporations of the world employ type-positioning software, placing their map labels (names of cities, rivers, etc.) according to an algorithm. For example, preferred placement for city labels is generally to the upper right of the dot that indicates location. But if this spot is already occupied—by the label for a river, say, or by a state boundary line—the city label might be shifted over a few millimeters. Sometimes a town might get deleted entirely in favor of a highway shield or a time zone marker. The result is a rough draft of label placement, still in need of human refinement. Post-computer editing decisions are frequently outsourced—sometimes to India, where teams of cheap workers will hunt for obvious errors and messy label overlaps. The overall goal is often a quick and dirty turnaround, with cost and speed trumping excellence and elegance.
According to independent cartographers I spoke with, the big mapmaking corporations of the world employ type-positioning software, placing their map labels (names of cities, rivers, etc.) according to an algorithm. For example, preferred placement for city labels is generally to the upper right of the dot that indicates location. But if this spot is already occupied—by the label for a river, say, or by a state boundary line—the city label might be shifted over a few millimeters. Sometimes a town might get deleted entirely in favor of a highway shield or a time zone marker. The result is a rough draft of label placement, still in need of human refinement. Post-computer editing decisions are frequently outsourced—sometimes to India, where teams of cheap workers will hunt for obvious errors and messy label overlaps. The overall goal is often a quick and dirty turnaround, with cost and speed trumping excellence and elegance.
By contrast, David Imus worked alone on his map seven days a week for two full years. Nearly 6,000 hours in total. It would be prohibitively expensive just to outsource that much work. But Imus—a 35-year veteran of cartography who’s designed every kind of map for every kind of client—did it all by himself. He used a computer (not a pencil and paper), but absolutely nothing was left to computer-assisted happenstance. Imus spent eons tweaking label positions. Slaving over font types, kerning, letter thicknesses. Scrutinizing levels of blackness. It’s the kind of personal cartographic touch you might only find these days on the hand-illustrated ski-trail maps available at posh mountain resorts.
Science teacher Bill Monahan got a pleasant interruption in his fourth period class one day in late November.
In the middle of his biology class, Eastlake assistant principal Chris Bede walked in and announced to the students that Mr. Monahan had just been recognized as the best science teacher in the state. The students cheered for Monahan, who stood humbled and slightly embarrassed.
Monahan, a longtime biology teacher at Eastlake, won Teacher of the Year from the Washington Science Teachers Association. Approximately 4,800 teachers in the state teach a science course, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. With the recognition, Monahan received a certificate of achievement, a $500 honorarium and free registration to the association’s 2012 conference, according to the WSTA.
“It’s nice to have that kind of professional recognition,” Monahan said.
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