January 24, 2009 - Posted by danielle- 7 Comments
I thought I’d blog about a music feature that is out there on the internet that you may or may have used before. It is pandora.com. I looked it over a long time ago to try to find music that was similar to the Corrs, but I wasn’t really interested in the results. They are a pretty unknown band, which I think makes it not work quite as well.
The idea is that you type in a band that you like, then it creates a “radio” station to play on your computer of music that is similar. Texas Seestor created one for Christmas music and shared it with me. It is like having a mix CD that you don’t have to create! Of course, you can only listen to it on your computer.
But this week, we found it really useful in lab. Labs usually play music during them, but the radio reception is pretty spotty at school – and who wants to listen to commercials anyway? Instead, we typed in bands and created our own Pandora stations. The first one we did was Jack Johnson. That first go around was good. But in a different lab, when we listened to it, it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too mellow and depressing. In the 3rd lab for the week, we tried Dave Matthews. But for that, every song was Dave Matthews! I had hoped to hear different artists other than Dave Matthews. After about 4 songs, we brainstormed for a new station. We came up with the Goo Goo Dolls – a pretty current rock group. All of that music was really good! It was rock that wasn’t hard rock, and again, a lot of current music.
I’m sure it would work for classic rock, or 80’s music, or anything else you’d be interested in. But for lab, we need to keep it pretty current.
In other news, I’ve learned all of the names in my 2 lecture sections. Well, there was one girl that I wasn’t sure about, but hopefully now I’ll get her name right. So, that takes care of about 60 of the names I needed to learn. Now, I just have to get those last 10 in lab which is on Monday. I think I’ll get there!
January 18, 2009 - Posted by danielle- 2 Comments
Well, the first week of classes has come and gone. All in all, I found myself telling HB most nights that I’d had a good day. I think that there were enough positives in each day to make up for some of the difficulties.
I’m teaching 2 different courses – Intro Bio – the continuation of last semester – now focusing on plant and animal anatomy and physiology, and then a Molecular Biology course for upperclass students. I have 3 labs, like usual, but the difference is that this semester I have to prepare 2 of the labs for the Molecular Biology course. The prof. who normally teaches this course warned me that it takes A LOT of time. When I asked how much time, he wouldn’t even give me an estimate.
The big time sink with lab is that there is a set of 6-7 labs right at the beginning that require working with recombinant DNA. The DNA he used last year didn’t work in some of the steps, which means something was wrong with it. SO…. I had to re-work the labs with DNA that I got from a friend at my post-doc lab. Doing the experiment wasn’t as bad as actually writing up the lab manual to reflect the changes. I spent 2 days after finals and 1 day after New Year’s solely dedicated to the lab manual. And I had to spend time this week finishing those first labs in the lab manual so that I could give them a manual with at least a chunk of labs in it. The rest, I will hand out as we go. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything works with those labs.
I did 2 activities in the Mol Bio class this week. I had them make the structure of DNA double helix out of candy again. Then I tried a new activity where they made a molecular structure of a DNA nucleotide – atom by atom – with playdough and toothpicks. I hadn’t had time to do one myself the night before, so I did one with them. It was a LOT of fun. And, I think, a really good way for them to learn the structure. I really want them to know DNA backwards and forwards since it is what we will be working on all semester. The best part of the activity is that it really seemed to break the ice between us. I think the students are much more willing now to ask questions. And there is a generally more comfortable feeling in class.
Now, I just have to get IT services to get the computer and projector system working in the classrooom so that I can do some videos. That was part of my evaluations, that the students wanted more videos. Well, what they fail to understand is that there just aren’t many GOOD videos out there for the processes we are learning. At least, not that I have found yet. I have picked out the good ones, and the rest sort of suck. My mentor suggested that when I show videos, I tell them how hard it has been to find good ones so that they don’t just take them for granted.
The lectures seem to be going well. I’m trying to go slower this semester, since a handful of my evaluations commented that I was going too quickly. We’ll see if this pace works better. There is a certain amount of material that we have to get through in Intro Bio, so I can’t slow down the chapter rate. However, I can decrease the amount of detail, so that should help.
Well, I guess that is it for now. I didn’t have labs for Mol Bio last week, but I do have them this week. So, think good thoughts for them to go well! I’m hoping I can learn all of their names before lab starts. I took pictures of them on the first day, like last semester, to help me learn their names. It is somewhat easier this year, since I only have about 70ish names to learn instead of 130ish. 
January 9, 2009 - Posted by danielle- 5 Comments
The Girlie-girl was intently staring at the fireplace hearth last night after I had turned it on and it had warmed up. I decided to put her blanket on the hearth, since that is likely what she wanted. It took 30 sec (or less) for her to sniff it and decide it was a good place to be.
She was so adorable, all tucked in, that I took a few non-flash shots of her with my tripod.
Doesn’t it make you feel warm and cozy?
January 2, 2009 - Posted by danielle- 5 Comments
Texas Seestor, The Busy One, and I went to the zoo on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun! The zoo has a really nice set up for feeding the hooved animals. There are lots of sheep. And sheep are really gentle to feed. They can be a little piggy, but in general, weren’t pushing each other out of the way to eat. The deer were a little more pushy and I ended up spilling a lot of the food. Here I am feeding the deer.
And then there were a lot of big cats.
And a lot of interest by my niece in the big cats.
Some of the big cats had just been fed, and others were getting close to their feeding time, we think.
This one seemed ready to eat.
The peacocks and peahens were just loose and running around.
All in all, we had a really good time. And my niece seemed to enjoy it too.