ASCD (Administrator Supervisor Curriculum Development)

Christ Church

Last week I was in Philadelphia for the ASCD Conference.  It sounds like a conference for administrators, but it is also a great conference for teachers.  Almost half of the attendees were K-12 teachers.

One interesting session I listened to was titled, Tired or Retiring: Prepare to Enter the Arena of Active Retirement.  The speaker was 70 years old and a retired principle that was starting his second charter school since retirement.  One of his suggestions was to spend 6 months to a year living on what you will have for income during retirement so you can see if it will be enough to have the life style that you are anticipating during retirement.

My hotel was 10 blocks from the conference center so I walked a lot and got to see many historic areas of Philadelphia. Of course, I had to eat a Philly Steak and Cheese.  It is humungous.  Lasted for two meals.

Big city streets.

Independence Hall

Betsy Ross House

Spring in DC

It is spring here!  DC in the springtime is one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  I walked this afternoon to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms.  I am sharing them with you.

The Week of March 6, 2012

Interesting week here in DC.  I am on a committee that writes and publishes a bimonthly newsletter, called CS Bits and Bytes, for teachers and students about computer science.  One of our future editions will feature Artificial Intelligence, so we were very excited to learn that Dr. David Ferrucci, from IBM, was coming to NSF.  Dr. Ferrucci's team created Watson, the super computer that played the champions of Jeopardy and won.  We were able to meet with him before he gave his presentation to NSF.  We also video taped an interview with him and a local high school student.

Yesterday was the Intel Science Talent Search Gala.  Many of the Einstein Fellows were invited. What an evening.  It is a black tie affair, so we get to dress up.  40 of the top high school science fair winners are brought to DC.  They spend a week here and are treated like royalty.  They get to meet the President and then on the last day they showcase their projects at the Gala and the top ten are announced and receive a cash prize ranging from $10,000 for number ten and increasing to $100,000 for number one.  These kids are amazing.

The 40 best science fair students from across the US.

A full sit down dinner with a waiter in a tuxedo waiting at each table to serve wine to each guest.

Me, all dressed up.

Finally, today our office celebrated Pi Day, March 14, with lots and lots of pie. My division is a great place to work with some really nice people.

My office mates, Einstein Fellows Michael Picconi and Ann Drobnis.

SIGCSE-Special Interest Group for Computer Science Educators

I just returned from a conference for computer science educators in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The weather was beautiful.  I really liked Raleigh.  I arrived a day early and walked all over the city.

Raleigh is the state capitol of North Carolina.

They are very proud of their oak trees.

Me and Sir Walter Raleigh.  He is all dressed up for Women's Heart Health Week.

I liked this solar powered electric car charging station.  It is part of a research project at the University and one of two such stations in Raleigh.  There was no cost for the car owners to use the station.

Just to show that I really did attend the conference and not just sight see.

This little Kung Fu dancing robot was a real favorite of the conference attendees.

It was "First Friday" while I was there.  The shops, galleries, and restaurants were open.  this street musician was playing a guitar made from a metal lunch box with a wooden finger board held on with wire and duct tape. His drum set was a foot pedal that hit the back of the suitcase that had a tambourine attached.  It was amazing when he hooked it all up to a small electric amplifier.  It sounded like an electric guitar and was pretty musical.

Idaho

After Monterey, I flew to Idaho for a few days before returning to DC.  I had a busy week with dentist appointment, doctor appointment, visit with dept of ed and my district and school and finally my tax preparer.  Any time between all of the appointments, I spent with family and friends.

While at Anna's I showed the boys how to make straw rockets and then Alka Seltzer powered rockets.

The boys really enjoyed cutting and taping the rockets together.

Launching is easy.  You just blow on the straw.

Cobin soon determined that the Alka Seltzer rockets flew much higher with just the "fuel" canister and without the rocket.

Wow. Look at it go!

I was glad to be able to spend some time with my mom.

Traveling again - Monterey

February and March I will be traveling a lot.  Traveling has been one of the opportunities of my fellowship that I enjoy the most.  I have never seen as much of this country in my 58 years, as I have during the last two years.  I am always amazed at how beautiful it is everywhere I go.  The USA has so many wonderful places to visit.

Last week I was in Monterey, CA for a Principle Investigator Meeting of our Research Experience for Undergraduates group of grantees.  There were about 85 PhD types from different universities.  I had a good time.  I met most of them last year and I correspond with them through email often.

Monterey beach is very different from Cocoa Beach.  The water was rough and cold.  The beaches are rocky and dangerous.  Our hotel was right over the water.  For half a day we all went to the Aquarium which is on the ocean and the fish live in ocean water.

This is my hotel, Monterey Plaza.  It was literally right on the ocean.  The views were beautiful.

Me, standing on the hotel balcony between meetings.

The aquarium is in a building that used to be a fish cannery on Cannery Row.

The sea turtle surrounded by sardines.  They are in an enclosed part of the ocean.  The people visitors can view them through large glass windows.

The trip was not all sightseeing.  We also had two full days of meetings.  Here I am getting ready to present the NSF Highlight Contest winners.  Each project sent me a highlight of what they are doing and I arranged a committee at NSF and we chose the best five.  They each received a special cup and were recognized at the meeting and in the booklet.

Sea lions summing on the rocks.

Can you believe how blue the ocean and sky are in this picture?  The water was so blue green and clear.

NASA Rocket Workshop and Tour

The real reason for going to Florida was to watch a rocket launch and attend an educators workshop and then go on a Kennedy Space Center tour.  The launch was cancelled, but several of us (Einstein Fellows) decided to continue with the workshop and tour, especially since we had already made flight and hotel plans.

In the morning on Tuesday, I drove to the space center for the Rocket Workshop.  It was a lot of fun acting like kids and making different kinds of rockets.

Straw rockets were fun, easy and inexpensive for teachers.

Using Alka Seltzer to power rockets had some surprising results.  Kids will really like this.

Next we went outside to launch our stomp powered rockets.  Competition was starting to increase.

Lastly we used a portable air pressure pump to launch rockets.  We started at 30 psi and then increased to 40 psi.  

In the afternoon we were taken on a tour of the space center.  We were taken places that people that pay for tours do not get to see or do not get to see as close up as we went.  

One of the launch pads.  Anna will be able to tell you more about it than I can.

This was our Einstein group.  Many have become some of my dearest friends.

I am standing under one of the space shuttles that is being prepared to go to its new home.

This is the building where the shuttles were put together with the fuel rockets.  Our guide said that it is the tallest one story building.  It is one large room that is as tall as a 50 story building.

Inside the vertical assembly building there are four bays.  On this day, two of the shuttles filled two of these bays.  This is the Atlantis and they are in the process of removing any parts that might be used elsewhere.  

After the tour, at the visitor center, I had an opportunity to listen to a real astronaut.  Jack Lousma talked about his numerous space flights and time on SpaceLab.  In the evening, Cindy Hasselbring (Einstein Fellow) and I were able to go to dinner with Jack and his wife.  They were very real and kind.

The day was full from morning to late that evening.  Experiences I never would be able to have if I were not an Einstein Fellow.