Wizard's apprentice....

Ladies and Gentlemen, the past couple of weeks have been turbulent ones, dealing with the personal loss of a grandparent, mixed with the joy of seeing relatives long overdue. Throughout it all though, I have been going to my old highschool and sitting in a summer school class observing one of the most influential teachers I have had at work. It is refreshing the energy he brings into the classroom, and to see his students reciprocate. Discussions in the classroom are at an incredible level and the students seem willing to take it to any height. While participating in this class I am able to see a master at work with his craft, 18 years in the making, noticing subtle changes that surprised even myself given the last time I heard him teach was five years ago. There is something here, something colleges play down, especially education colleges, all the stress put on classroom management and distancing oneself from the students. By focusing intensely on rules and expected behaviors it almost conveys to students that you, the teacher, don't trust them enough to behave on their own volition. If you have to fall back on the structure of the school's rules you take a situation between you and the student, and you pass the buck on for someone else to deal with. It almost boils down to the Machiavellian concepts of whether or not it is better to be feared or loved as a teacher. Due to all the law suits and limited funding there is a severe push from schools to veer away from the loved aspect because that could get "messy." Instead they err on the side of being feared at the cost of really connecting and motivating their students. I have to admit that over these last weeks I have seen the beginnings of a class falling into Machiavellian love with the teacher and it is a remarkable environment. Where a teacher can simply request a change in behavior if needed and the students respond not because they are forced to with punishment, but because they care enough about the teacher to abide by his wishes. It was incredibly powerful to observe and I have this image of what type of teacher I would like to strive towards to become. These influential teachers I have had, have become models for me to try and meld into the professional I would like to be. I have ways to go, but I think I am a little more aware of how to get there, at least some of the initial steps. One of the pleasant outcomes of these two weeks is that I finally have encountered not just a professional goal I will strive to obtain, but it can also work as a fitting title for my blog. I would like to be a "Sage on the Stage" a thoroughly knowledgeable teacher who is able to perform classes and keep them entertained while simultaneously educating them. I have seen it done, and been on the receiving end of such an education and it was incredible, I can only hope to recreate the same experiences in my classroom. The craziest part about this whole period was that it all came about from an email about going out to lunch sometime and it grew into this opportunity for immense professional improvement. Keep your old contacts alive ladies and gentlemen, you would be surprised with all that can happen if they are rekindled.

Clean Coal????

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I got in contact with an old friend who currently works on building powerplants. I have been seeing these commercials for clean coal and I have heard from various sources that clean coal is a scam and there is nothing clean about it. I took a little time out to try and understand what actually goes into the process that would separate coal from clean coal. Now I have only a highschool chemistry course under my belt but it was put to me in a boiled down format that I am able to understand. A coal powerplant gains its energy by having coal combust in the air to create the energy resulting in the thick black smoke dominating most images of cities during the Industrial revolution. That smoke consists of Carbon Dioxide, Sulfur, and other potentially harmful gases. Now this clean coal is clean because of the process of combustion used with the coal. Instead of using air a chemical compound that is a mixture of many gases like Nitrogen and Oxygen, clean coal combusts with pressurized oxygen. Now think back to your chemistry days of balancing equations what you put into the equation you get out of it. Now the benefit of using pure oxygen instead of air is that there is less mess in the equation. The byproducts of this clean coal combustion is CO2, Water, Sulfur (from the coal). Now first the plant will seperate and store the CO2 seperately for later disposal and the water and Sulfur Dioxide gets mixed together with some Ammonia and it precipitates out of the water as Gypsum which is used to make wallboards (and has some acoustical construction benefits). This is a great way for the Powerplants to become huge money makers because not only are they selling the energy but also the waste products. Now the kicker is the CO2 this is the dangerous or "dirty" part of the clean coal. CO2 in this concentration is incredibly harmful and it has to be stored two miles underground. Now in a lake in Africa called Tonga there was some 20,000 people killed by a CO2 leak at one of these dumpsites, so there is potnetial for great harm to occur. However if properly done and stored clean coal is one of the most effecient ways of getting energy. And ladies and Gentlemen there is plenty and plenty of coal in this world still. Leftovers from those smokey stacks of the Industrial Revolution. You never know when you are going to use something you learned in school, I think I would have done my chem teacher proud.

Fashion Tricks and Quips

Well Ladies and Gentlemen my life seems to be a little less remarkable now that I am back home. However I have been keeping my eye out for noteworthy content, and I have a couple things to throw out there. In terms of a movie review, I saw Indiana Jones, and I thought it was pretty impressive, I have heard the critics and naysayers kind of knock it around, but after watching it I was pleasantly pleased with the action, the story, and even the ending. It left a good taste after it went down, well worth the 4.50 ticket. Which come to think of it I think the ticket girl maybe gave me a student discount. I think I'll take that with a wink and a smile. In terms of a book review a friend recommended me to read some books by SM Stirling the first "Dies The Fire" was pretty decent. It deals with a modern day Oregon, and has an event in which all electronics and guns stop working. Kind of an intriguing idea, he dresses it up nicely with some quality action description scenes however my one criticism of this author is that he uses the "suspension of disbelief" a bit too much. People seemed to pop out of the woodwork with all kinds of knowledge and none of it seemed to be too congruent. I have recently been rocking out to Jethro Tull, particularly "Like a Tall Thin Girl" the lyrics kill me every time. It tells a pretty good story one easy to envision like most of his songs. As for a new skill, I went out and tried buying clothes for the first time by myself. Well folks I generally go with someone a little more fashionably dressed than myself and rely heavily on whatever they pick out. The kid gloves were off and I found myself wandering into an Express, I have never bought an outfit and I was trying to recollect all the advice I had heard about buying clothes. Dont mix vertical and horizontal stripes, no long sleeves and shorts combos, and stop wearing kiddie cargoes. OK so in my attempt to not look like a high schooler I calmly perused the shelves after about 5 mins a slaesclerk offered if she could help, wanting to be independent I said "Oh no thank you I'll be fine" after about ten minutes she came back and I was ready to throw in the towel on picking out clothes. Well the store clerk rescued me and I was able to ask her all of my fashion concerns, she was able to aid me in picking out some clothes and I was actually able to put together an outfit. Her patience was much appreciated because now I feel a little more confident in picking out clothes, and you can bet your bottom dollar where I am going to be shopping for it. I picked up a new trick yesterday and I am going to stick in my bag. Keep your eyes out for new tricks ladies and gentlemen, we could all use a little spin on ourselves.