To Wikipedia Or Not To Wikipedia

“Wikipedia is a wonderful resource for quick research. It is absolutely not appropriate as a source for research papers or other scholarly works.”

These were the words my first graduate-level professor used when replying to a question about using Wikipedia as a source. Her tone made it clear, she was not kidding around.

Many of my fellow students felt this was overly harsh and kind of laughed off her opinion. I can honestly say, I didn’t understand why she was so adamant.

Then something happened to change my perspective on Wikipedia. 

Last March, the New England Patriots signed free agent Darrelle Revis. Revis is the best cornerback in the National Football League. He’s so good, he can cover the best receiver with out help. Quarterbacks seldom throw in his direction...giving his part of the field the nickname “Revis Island” because he’s all alone out there.

Right after the signing, someone updated the Wikipedia page for the islands of Massachusetts to include Revis Island. It was funny, no question, but it illustrates what’s wrong with using Wikipedia as a source for serious research. Anyone can update, change, edit or modify Wikipedia's pages. There’s no authority responsible for its content. 

For serious research, you just can’t trust what you read on Wikipedia. If you must, use it as a starting point. Use it to get a general idea of what you are researching but don’t rely on it. Do use the citations in the reference section at the bottom of the article. These should be reliable, but like everything, double check.

The Day I Met An Astronaut

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with an astronaut just one time. It was an honor and I admit to being a little tongue-tied. 

I think to fully appreciate the story, you need to know a little background first. 

I was born in 1959, just as the space race was beginning. 

President Kennedy was elected in November 1960, in part, because of a perceived "missile gap" with the Soviet Union. Kennedy keyed part of his presidential campaign on the belief that the United States was losing the space race.

By the time Kennedy took the oath of office, the first seven astronauts had been selected and were training for the upcoming manned space flights of the Mercury program. For me, their names resonate with history:

Alan Shepard, "Gus" Grissom, John Glenn, "Deke" Slayton, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, and "Wally" Schirra.

They were all military test pilots. They flew the newest, fastest, most dangerous jets before anyone else. Volunteers. Each braver and more dashing than the others. They were the embodiment of the "Right Stuff" before the term was coined. Life magazine and the TV networks lionized these men. And so did I.

In 1961, NASA successfully launched Shepard and Grissom into space. A few months later, Glenn orbited the Earth.

Later, they were joined by the second seven and more after that. Men like Ed White, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, Roger Chaffee, Gene Cernan, John Young, and "Buzz" Aldrin. 

After the Mercury program came Gemini and Apollo. 

In those days space flight wasn't routine. A space mission was a national event. The television networks covered it live and for hours on end. I enthusiastically watched every moment of mission coverage. I read everything I could get my young hands on. I became the space expert in my school and among my friends. 

These men were my heroes. Larger than life. Braver than brave. Testosterone dripped off these men like sweat on a hot August day.  

And I bought it all, as did everyone else. 

I was nine years old when the astronauts of Apollo Eight read from Genesis as their spacecraft orbited the Moon on Christmas Eve,1968. I remember it for the awe-inspiring moment it was. 

Seven months later, I was watching Neil Armstrong ease himself down the lunar lander's ladder onto the dusty surface of our nearest neighbor. 

Mission accomplished. And with that, the public turned its collective attention to other matters. Apollo continued but some missions were cancelled.The follow-on was the uninspiring Skylab program, then a gap while the shuttles were built. 

The media and the public may have turned a blind eye to the space program but I hadn't. 

When I saw that an astronaut would be speaking at the Hanscom Air Show in 1991 or 1992, I made sure I was there. I brought my oldest boy but traffic was a mess and we had to park a mile away. 

By the time we found the right tent it was almost over. We walked into the back of the tent while the closing remarks were wafting over the crowd. 

We'd missed it. 

I was crushed. 

It must have shown on my face. We made eye contact. A single finger held aloft told me to wait as the crowd began to stand and disperse. 

And in a moment I was shaking hands with an honest-to-God, flight-tested, space-faring, red-blooded American astronaut. For all the Corvette driving, jet fighter flying, testosterone pumping images, the astronaut standing in front of me was a woman. 

And she was as nice as she was smart and brave. She'd seen me rush in just in time to catch the final words of her talk. She'd made sure to catch my eye and ask me to stay. I introduced her to my son and we made small talk for a minute before she had to go. 

I don't know her name. I've hunted around the internet, but I can't find any mention of who she was. But it doesn't matter. I met an astronaut and she was great. 

Cool Bus

I think I've solved the problem with the school buses being late...

BTW, this quickie post does not qualify for the free homework pass. There's still time to comment on my last post, which DOES qualify for the pass.

Books I Read In 2014

My goal each year is to read at least 20 books. 

2014 brought a major change in my consumption of books. Since I have a ridiculously long commute, I vowed to use that time productively and not just waste it on talk radio and traffic reports. Thus, the audiobook makes up a large percentage of the books I read this year. So, when I say “read” I mean read the paper or digital version or listened to a book. I have noted which were audiobooks on the list.

Once again, now for the fifth consecutive year I reached my goal of reading 20 books in a year. In fact, I blew it away thanks to the audiobooks.

Here’s a partial list of the books I read last year with some comments.

My Brief History - The autobiography of Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author of several books. Very interesting.

Rhode Island Disasters: Tales of Tragedy by Air, Sea and Rail - So many disasters for such a small state.

A Briefer History of Time - A nice re-write of Hawking's landmark work for the masses on cosmology.

The Age of Radiance: The Epic Rise and Dramatic Fall of the Atomic Era - This was a fascinating look at the discovery, understanding of and harnessing of radioactive elements. It’s a chemistry, physics and history class all rolled into a gripping story.

The Sun Also Rises - The first Hemingway novel I’ve ever read. I read some of his short stores in school but never got around to one of his novels. I’m glad I read it. I didn’t find it a life-altering read. I try to read one classic per year. This was the first of four classic works on my list this year. Mrs. Quinlan, my 9th grade english teacher, would be proud.

Irwin AllenTelevision Productions, 1964-1970: A Critical History of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants - I loved these shows as a kid. Irwin Allen made the kind of movies and TV shows that fired up my imagination. This book wasn’t really what I was looking for, which was a narrative of Allen’s life and his creative process, but it was okay.

Pride and Prejudice (Audiobook) - Saw the movie, listened to the book. Tried and gave up on the zombie version. I’ve had quite enough of Miss Jane Austen, thank you.

Kaiten: Japan's Secret Manned Suicide Submarine and the First American Ship It Sank in WWII (Audiobook) - Who knew? A very good read about a chapter of World War II that I never knew about.

Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration (Audiobook) - Buzz Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon - just moments after Neil Armstrong. He has some very cool ideas about exploring Mars. 

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (audiobook) - I think we all read this, right? It’s a fascinating read. It will change the way you think about food. Sooooo much corn.

On the Road (Audiobook) - I started reading this book a few years ago and lost interest. Listening to it made all the difference. Jack Kerouac’s novel is a stream of consciousness - images and ideas swirling past the reader with barely enough time to comprehend the significance before being replaced by newer images and ideas. I’ve seen the manuscript/scroll. This book works so much better for me as an audiobook. I loved it. I can imagine myself listening to it again someday.

The Ghosts of Bungo Suido : a Novel (Audiobook) - A fun, action-packed naval story of World War II. 

Hidden Warbirds: The Epic Stories of Finding, Recovering, and Rebuilding WWII's Lost Aircraft - If you like abandoned things and aircraft especially, you’ll enjoy this. 

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World (Audiobook) - Fascinating. This is chemistry where you don’t think about chemistry - like chocolate making. The joy of concrete is another great chapter. 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Audiobook) - A classic that I was embarrassed to say I’d never read. Now, I don’t have to feel that way anymore. It holds up really well for a book written 138 years ago.

A Stir of Echos (Audiobook) - This was excellent and it was made into a movie starring Kevin Bacon. 

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond (Audiobook) - This might be the best book I read all year. It was gripping, funny, insightful and fast-paced. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys history and the space program.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex - This is the other book on my list that gets consideration for best read of the year. This is the real life story that inspired Moby Dick. Someone recommended it to me about five years ago, and I finally got ‘round to reading it. It’s great. Now, I want to visit Nantucket. The movie, directed by Ron Howard, comes out in March.

Really Moving To Our New School Building

This Friday marks the last day for us at Clinton Street. I know you’ve heard things like this before, but this time it’s really, really happening.

Some of you, who’ve been at Clinton for 2+ years and teachers who’ve taught at this location for many years, are going to miss this well-worn, old building. To be sure, it has a unique collection of creaks, groans, pops and hums. There are the drafty windows, the crowded, noisy halls and the two facilities on opposite sides of the street that make our school at Clinton Street one of a kind. 

I don’t think I’ll be missing those things myself, but perhaps some of you will.

Of course, McAuliffe Charter School is much more than the building we are housed in. McAuliffe is an intricate blend of different people, each adding his or her own contribution to the symphony that is our school. 

But, change happens and when we begin the new year, we’ll be in our new building.

What will you miss?

What should we do in our new location to make it a “home” for us? 

This is an opportunity to reboot the school year and make changes to your lifestyle as a student. Do you have changes you’d like to make?

What’s In The Bag?

I almost got wiped out by a backpack this week.

I was walking down the hall and a student turned suddenly and her enormous backpack swung around and knocked into my side, sending me reeling toward another student. I thought I was going to accidentally hip-check the other student into a computer cart but I was able to regain my balance at the last moment.

“What the heck is in that bag?” I wondered as I walked away rubbing my side.

I started noticing how huge so many of the backpacks are that I see every day. I see 75-pound students lugging around 50-pound bags.

Is this part of some physical fitness program that I’m not aware of?  Are our scholars prepping for the Olympic weightlifting trials? 

All I know is that it’s a good thing we don’t have textbooks at McAuliffe, otherwise each of these kids would be pushing a wheelbarrow full of books, notebooks, folders, binders, and, of course, all my missing pencils.

Ahhhhhh, Yes; The Pencils

I thought I had this figured out but I guess i was wrong. Last year, my students went through about 100 pencils in the first five months of school (See my January 16, 2014 post). I suspected they were using them as building supplies.

This year is no different. At least one person in every single class needs a pencil. Talk about being prepared for class. I mean, think about it, if you’re a student here’s a list of what you need in every single class:

1. Pencil
2. Piece of paper

It’s like a carpenter showing up at a construction site, “Hey man can I borrow a hammer?”

I don’t get it, unless it is the first block of the day, you just came from a class. Didn't you have a  pencil in that class? Did you lose it walking across the hallway?  If that's true, why isn’t the hallway littered with pencils?

I thought I had it figured out this year. Instead of providing full-sized pencils with erasers, pencils that students might be tempted to keep, I ordered a box of 100 mini-golf pencils. They’re four inches long and have no eraser. No one wants to use, never mind keep, these pencils and yet, they are almost gone and it’s not even Christmas.

I have no idea what happens to pencils in a school but I am beginning to suspect there may be a room chock full of pencils somewhere in the basement. 

Has anyone checked, is our heating system fueled by pencils?