I’ve added a page on an interesting psychological trick you can use on yourself: Liking your future self.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Why study space?
Sometimes people ask: “Why bother studying space? Why not spend that money on starving children?”. In 1970 a Zambian nun wrote to NASA just those questions. Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger‘s reply was much better than anything I could ever hope to write.
How will you die?
While there’s a really cool anthology of stories based on a machine that can accurately predict how you will die (but not when), that’s fiction. How about data from the Centers for Disease Control? Causes of Death is a cool website that uses CDC data to show the causes of death for different groups at different ages. Take a look.
Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-Tac-Toe is a pointless game. But how about expanding it to playing a meta game with 9 games of Tic-Tac-Toe played simultaneously, with strategy thrown in? This sounds cool.
(I like playing board games)
Google Educator Certification
Status
I’m currently spending a lot of my outside of school time getting certified to be a Google Educator. This is mostly because all the students at my school will soon be getting Chromebooks, and I’d like to be certified on the technology.
Homemade popcorn ice cream
Just made some popcorn ice cream. Yum.
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 quart heavy cream
2 quarts buttered popcorn
- Combine cream, sugar, and popcorn in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir frequently to prevent burning.
- Remove from heat.
- Chill in refrigerator for 3-4 days so the flavor infuses into the cream. (though I recommend leaving this for a week)
- Strain through a sieve.
- Freeze with liquid nitrogen.
Ancient Polynesians used binary numbers
Binary is used by computers, but who knew that people actually used it normally. It turns out that on the island of Mangareva in the Pacific Ocean, polynesians have been using binary for hundreds of years. Of course, this is more analyzing historical records, because the French assimilated them when they were discovered.
Students as eBook creators
Status
Currently watching a webinar for eBooks for K12
The flu has struck!
Well, at least I think my son has the flu. He’s feeling miserable, and achy, and has a high fever, and would be horrified to know that I’m blogging about him. I’ve had the flu shot, but the rest of the family hasn’t. While it’s not my fault that my wife hasn’t had it, I have to take some responsibility for my son not getting it.
Anyway, you may want to take a look at google’s flu trends map, and check out the CDC’s flu information pages, including their map that shows that the flu is widespread.
Hope you’re healthy.
High school chorus
Status
The high school chorus came to school today and sang some numbers. It was great to see some of my previous students again. We’re the smallest sending district of four to the regional high school, and three of my previous students were featured! Cool!