So, Wrong, Wrong Wrong

Finally, we’re into May. We’ve had some nice warm days. We’re all done with cold and snow until, probably, December. That’s what we thought in 1977 too, but we were oh so, wrong, wrong wrong.

In 1977, I was a senior in high school and on the morning of May 10th, I awoke to the most surprising sight - snow. 

We had our last snow day of the year. Unlike most snow days, having one in May is not really welcome. In May, you’re looking forward to nice warm weather. It was time to open up the town beaches, tennis courts and little league diamonds, not shovel.

And, like every family in the region, my family had already put away all the boots, gloves, heavy winter coats and, of course, the snow shovels. But, there it was - six-plus inches of snow and, in some places, people were dealing with a foot or more. 

That was 37 years ago tomorrow. Can you imagine?

The TerraNova Two-Step

This week we’re all doing the TerraNova two-step.

It’s standardized testing season at the Hellenic. This week, we’ll do hours and hours and hours of standardized testing. We’ll do reading, math, social studies, science, vocabulary, spelling, and more. 

Standardized tests break down into two types: norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests.

What’s the difference?

Norm-referenced tests compare test-takers to a representative sample of the test-taker’s peers. The scores rank students as being better or worse than other students. Scores are usually represented as percentile  - as in your score was higher than 93% of other students tested. Norm-referenced test score interpretations are associated with traditional education.

Criterion-referenced tests compare test-takers to a set of content standards. They do not compare the scores of students who took the test. They only measure content the test-taker has mastered.  These may also be described as standard-based assessments. This kind of test is aligned with the standards-based education reform movement.

Many middle-schoolers in Massachusetts are taking the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests, also known as the MCAS tests.

The TerraNovas are a norm-referenced test while the MCAS test is criterion-referenced.

In the past several years the role of standardized tests in the educational system have become a point of friction between teachers, administrators, and officials in the state and federal governments. 

For the students, they can be a point of high stress and/or a week of boring test sessions.

Just Eight More Days of School

The countdown has begun.

With the better part of the school year behind me, I can see the end, the light at the end of the tunnel.

It’s been quite a journey. I’ve learned a lot. It’s been fun and interesting and frustrating and exhausting and enlightening.

Just eight more days of school.

One more course, eight more weeks, 36 more hours of in-class instruction and I’m done for the year. 

July 1st is the last class in the first year of my master’s program. 

I’m counting down the days.

Ununseptium Joins the Periodic Table

The periodic table of the elements just got a new member, unnamed at this point, its existence has been confirmed. Element 117, temporarily named “ununseptium,” was first reported in 2010 by a team of American and Russian scientists. Its confirmation by another group of scientists paves the way for inclusion in the standard periodic table of the elements.

The new element has 117 protons in its nucleus. It’s the latest of the man-made, super-heavy elements. It’s not found naturally in nature and, even when created in the laboratory, exists for only a millisecond.

Uranium, number 92 on the periodic table, is the heaviest element occurring naturally. Everything above that, is man-made.

It’s a pretty cool thing when you think about it. Those 92 elements are the building blocks of every single thing in the world. Everything from yogurt to stainless steel to the fingernail on your index finger and everything else, are all made of different combinations of those elements.

And here’s the most interesting part: 98% of all matter in the universe is comprised of just two elements - hydrogen and helium.

Up Close and Personal

2013 was a year of highs and lows in the Boston area.

Without a doubt, Marathon Monday was the low point. The city, region, nation, and even the world watched in horror as two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. More than 250 people were killed or injured.

The Boston Red Sox became a focal point as people sought a sense of community and purpose. As the families of the victims grieved and the survivors coped with a new reality, “Boston Strong” became a rallying cry.

“No one’s gonna dictate our freedom,” David Ortiz defiantly pronounced.

Slowly, together, people started to heal, physically and emotionally. The Red Sox honored the first responders, the rehabilitation workers and, of course, the victims.

Something magical began to happen between the city and the team. It was as though the players were the region’s grief counselors.

The Sox played inspired baseball throughout the season. They clinched the best record in the American League and then dismantled the Tampa Bay Rays, and Detroit Tigers, facing the best pitchers in the league and beating them all.

Next up were the St. Louis Cardinals and they didn’t fair any better. On October 30, 2013 the Boston Red Sox did something they had not done since 1918 - they won a World Series at Fenway Park.

For many, that evening, and the subsequent parade, were the high point of the year.

Bringing their support for the community, and the bombing victims in particular, full circle, players stopped their celebratory parade to place the World Series trophy on the Boston Marathon finish line.

Now, the Hellenic American Academy family will have the opportunity to see the 2013 World Series Trophy up close and personal.

May 23rd, the Boston Red Sox will bring the trophy to the Hellenic. Bring your camera; this is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

There's a Hole in My Desk

Sometimes I hear my students complain about the desks in my classroom. They’re pretty basic desks of a modern design. 

The problem seems to be that the work area is a little on the small size, so it’s hard to have a book open along with a notebook. There’s only a little rack under the seat for storing extra books and supplies, and invariably whatever is stored there, is knocked to the floor by the end of class.

The writing surface is canted back at about a 15 degree angle and the surface is a little slippery, so things tend to slide off the desk. Things like books, notebooks, pencils, pencil cases and especially water bottles. 

I can’t imagine how many water bottles I have heard hit the floor this year. 

Back in olden times, when I was in Wickford Grammar School, we had complaints about our desks too. They were full desks with large, heavy wooden writing surfaces and lots of storage under the flip-up top. The desks were so large, you could probably fit an entire year’s worth of worksheets, homework, hand-outs and books in the desk at one time. 

And that was one of our problems. The inside of the desk was like a black hole. Social studies packets went in, but they never came back out again. Well, not until the last day of school, when you cleaned out that massive desk, and found everything you thought you’d lost.

The tops were heavy and were prone to falling on fingers that lingered too long on the edge of the desk. No child who used these desks were left unscathed, we all had smashed fingers.

The desks were old, which ment 50+ years of students had used them before we got to them. The desk tops were wooden and kids had carved their names and initials into them. This may sound quant, but it made the surface very difficult to write on.

Finally, there was that feature that truly gave away their age...the ink well. 

Yes, the desks I used in second grade, 1967, dated from an era before the ballpoint pen had come into common use. If you look at the picture, you’ll see the inkwell in the upper right hand corner of the desk. 

All the desks in my school were the same, heaven forbid if you were left-handed.

Women of Math and Science

I was reading an article today about why there are not more women in the hard sciences - physics, chemistry, biology. According to a study cited in the article. only about 20% of physics Ph.D.’s are awarded to women. The article contained numerous anecdotes about women’s experiences in school and the often not-so-subtle pressure they feel to chose another area of study.

One student wasn’t allowed to take advanced science or mathematics in high school because her principal said “girls never go on in science and math.”

Another student was the only female in her AP physics class. She was teased by her male classmates: “You’re a girl. Girls can’t do physics.” She expected the teacher to put an end to the teasing, but he didn’t.

Women have made huge contributions to math and science. Here are a few notables:

Marie Cuire - a Polish/French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, physics and chemistry, and the only person to win in multiple sciences.  The second woman to win a Noble prize in physics? Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie.

Jane Goodall - a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania.

Grace Hopper - a computer scientist in the United States Navy, whose ideas led to the development of the widely-used computer language, COBOL. The USS Hopper is named in her honor.

Danica McKellar - an American actress, film director, book author and education

advocate. McKellar studied mathematics at UCLA, graduating summa cum laude in 1998.  She wrote four non-fiction books: Math Doesn't Suck, Kiss My Math, Hot X: Algebra Exposed and Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape, which encourage middle-school and high-school girls to have confidence and succeed in mathematics. She is currently the smartest cast member of Dancing with the Stars.

I think it’s important that people know what important contributions to science and math women have made over the years. Maybe knowing that others have gone before will help young women pursue their passion for math and science despite the obstacles.