An Odd Day
Thursday, 10 July 2008 14:22![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsIt's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood...
Wednesday afternoon was lovely. About 70degF, breezy, blue skies. And less humid. Well, sort of. Though a front had gone through and the humidity went down during the day, I felt like it was getting soggy again in the evening. Sure enough, the dew point had dropped from the 60s to 58degF -- but with the temperature down at 59degF the air was getting saturated. So much for leaving the windows open. Hate the feeling of drowning as humid air comes in the windows and falls down on me. (grin)
July Is The Coldest, Cruelest Month
Thursdays are my Office Hours day on campus during the Summer II session. It was a coolish 68-70degF on my way south, except I guess it was cooler than I'd thought. The digital sign at the truck dealership on US-131 south of 84th Street clearly said the temperature was -196degF.
Ouch. That's cold, folks. (double-trouble-grin)
I would've taken a picture, except with the traffic and the big truck crowding me from behind, I didn't want to try to pull over and brake suddenly. But I thought I'd amuse Mrs. Dr. Phil and give her a call.
Except the phone was dead.
Huh. Guess I never turned the cellphone off on Monday when I had to call L.A. about some edits to a story. Fortunately I have an in-car charging cable. Backups -- one must always need backups.
Back To Office Hours
Usually office hours are boring. No one comes by, unless there's a test coming or a nasty take-home quiz. Of course class is over, but this is the first open office hours since grades were posted -- I didn't hold them last week on the Third of July. Ended up spending a good hour with two students. One who'd gotten an "A" -- yay -- and one who'd gotten a "D".
I'm sure the latter was hoping I'd take pity on them, but alas, since I don't really teach for the money, what with commuting eating up much of my part-timer's pay, I'm all about learning the Physics. And the concept that the "C" is the minimum level of competence to go on to the next Physics course or be useful for the next Engineering or Science course. The problem is when you've used up your three changes to get a "C" or better in a course.
The first step in turning around a crappy college career is coming to an office hour and talking about things. Next, you've gotta go out and seek your adviser. There forever seems to be a battle between advisers and students. Some schools do a really good job and making sure the two get together -- I've always liked the idea that you can't register without getting your adviser's signature, but that doesn't work so well in the online world. (triply-redundant-grin)
Some time ago I wrote up a couple of essays on doing Homework and Studying, which I've copied and updated on my new website, http://dr-phil-physics.com . Though they were written for my own Physics students, it's not such a bad idea to look at the approach. Most students just don't study enough, or use their study time profitably. In my case I was a terrible undergraduate student -- I never really learned to study effectively until I had grad school when I was 26. (!) Too damned smart, I hadn't needed to study in high school much. Still, I made myself get a great education at Northwestern, even if I don't have the grades to show for it. (eek!)
Now I suppose it's nearly 3pm and time to close up shop and brave that -196degF weather. Unless it's warmed up to a more balmy -125 degrees or something like that. (hee)
Dr. Phil
Wednesday afternoon was lovely. About 70degF, breezy, blue skies. And less humid. Well, sort of. Though a front had gone through and the humidity went down during the day, I felt like it was getting soggy again in the evening. Sure enough, the dew point had dropped from the 60s to 58degF -- but with the temperature down at 59degF the air was getting saturated. So much for leaving the windows open. Hate the feeling of drowning as humid air comes in the windows and falls down on me. (grin)
July Is The Coldest, Cruelest Month
Thursdays are my Office Hours day on campus during the Summer II session. It was a coolish 68-70degF on my way south, except I guess it was cooler than I'd thought. The digital sign at the truck dealership on US-131 south of 84th Street clearly said the temperature was -196degF.
Ouch. That's cold, folks. (double-trouble-grin)
I would've taken a picture, except with the traffic and the big truck crowding me from behind, I didn't want to try to pull over and brake suddenly. But I thought I'd amuse Mrs. Dr. Phil and give her a call.
Except the phone was dead.
Huh. Guess I never turned the cellphone off on Monday when I had to call L.A. about some edits to a story. Fortunately I have an in-car charging cable. Backups -- one must always need backups.
Back To Office Hours
Usually office hours are boring. No one comes by, unless there's a test coming or a nasty take-home quiz. Of course class is over, but this is the first open office hours since grades were posted -- I didn't hold them last week on the Third of July. Ended up spending a good hour with two students. One who'd gotten an "A" -- yay -- and one who'd gotten a "D".
I'm sure the latter was hoping I'd take pity on them, but alas, since I don't really teach for the money, what with commuting eating up much of my part-timer's pay, I'm all about learning the Physics. And the concept that the "C" is the minimum level of competence to go on to the next Physics course or be useful for the next Engineering or Science course. The problem is when you've used up your three changes to get a "C" or better in a course.
The first step in turning around a crappy college career is coming to an office hour and talking about things. Next, you've gotta go out and seek your adviser. There forever seems to be a battle between advisers and students. Some schools do a really good job and making sure the two get together -- I've always liked the idea that you can't register without getting your adviser's signature, but that doesn't work so well in the online world. (triply-redundant-grin)
Some time ago I wrote up a couple of essays on doing Homework and Studying, which I've copied and updated on my new website, http://dr-phil-physics.com . Though they were written for my own Physics students, it's not such a bad idea to look at the approach. Most students just don't study enough, or use their study time profitably. In my case I was a terrible undergraduate student -- I never really learned to study effectively until I had grad school when I was 26. (!) Too damned smart, I hadn't needed to study in high school much. Still, I made myself get a great education at Northwestern, even if I don't have the grades to show for it. (eek!)
Now I suppose it's nearly 3pm and time to close up shop and brave that -196degF weather. Unless it's warmed up to a more balmy -125 degrees or something like that. (hee)
Dr. Phil
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no subject
Date: Thursday, 10 July 2008 19:26 (UTC)Just wanted to say thanks for those two essays ("homework" and "studying"). I'm going to hand them over to my daughter, who is entering high school, as good models to follow if not as intensely.
Also, checked out your "Writing" page. A week-long workshop I'd highly recommend to a newbie writer is Viable Paradise (www.sff.net/paradise). I'm a VP alum, and I learned (and am still learning) a tremendous amount. It was a great experience.
- yeff
no subject
Date: Friday, 11 July 2008 05:12 (UTC)As for studying, I tried to make the comments as useful as I can. So thanks!
Dr. Phil
no subject
Date: Friday, 11 July 2008 06:19 (UTC)I dream of Clarion, but with work and family that kind of time commitment just isn't in the cards for me...
- yeff
no subject
Date: Friday, 11 July 2008 06:25 (UTC)So no disrespect intended for VP -- it just wasn't in my field of view while talking about the Clarions.
Dr. Phil
no subject
Date: Friday, 11 July 2008 23:56 (UTC)I'm certain there's no VP disrespect intended. I just mentioned it because I had a great experience and it seems like a perfect candidate for the "one-week workshop" section of the page.
No dancing street rumble needed here, even if it could be with music :-)
"When you're VP, you're VP all the way
from your first tough critique to your last writing day"
- yeff