First Class

I forgot how much of a rush high school was. As soon as each bell rings you see people spilling out into the halls as if the levies just broke.

Mrs. Porter had me give my lecture at the beginning of both classes and it went about as well as I expected. You can find a link to a pdf version of the powerpoint at the end of this post. There were a few scattered questions and quiet comments throughout the talk that made it a bit difficult to focus on what I was saying. In particular, the word 'nuclear' sparked a bit of conversation that mostly centered around bombs and toxic waste. While I acknowledged those topics, I did my best to shift their attention to other applications, for example: radiography, material interactions, computer chip production, etc.

After the talk, I split my time between trying to help Mrs. Porter answer questions, and observing the class. The hardest part about answering questions is trying to guide the student to a solution. When teaching undergraduates, this was much less of an issue, as many of them were putting forth a lot of effort to understand the material. At the high school though, many of the students were quick to get frustrated and give up on problems altogether. Talking to them, I see that they understand much more than they let on, but even the smallest difficulty is enough to throw them entirely off track.

In some cases, we were lucky to have the students at least reading the problem. Several were content just to sit in front of a blank page of paper unless prompted. Many were only convinced to write when it was for a grade; note-taking is the exception not the standard. The levels of their patience is lacking, and each time I talk I feel like I'm competing for their attention with a dozen other things in the room.

It did not take long to notice which students were already well ahead of the class. Almost as a rule, they kept to themselves, but were the first ones to answer any question. I've got to admire their enthusiasm, but at the same time, I think it is discouraging to the rest of the class. It also pleasing to have several students actively seek me out for help on some of their problems, but of course, those aren't the ones that I worry about in the long run.

These are just some brief impressions for the moment, I had class again today, which I'll elaborate on in a short while.

Introductory Presentation

Postponed

Until today or tomorrow depending on your timezone. Just making sure that my formulation of the three dimensional Schrodinger equation is right on my slides, and the assumptions with the Gamow approximation are clearly stated.

Once more unto the breach...

 

This picture is the last remaining evidence that I ever took algebra, or even existed before I do now. I'm not even sure if I was in the class mentioned on the whiteboard, but that's beside the point. To get to the point, a little background is necessary. 

After years of struggle and heartache, I scratched my way out of high school and found my way to college. Following a series of fortunate accidents, I'm now in the PhD program of the Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences department at the University of Michigan. Somewhere along the way, I developed a strange sense of civic responsibility. Further along the way, I noticed that virtually every problem I saw around me could be solved by improving public education. While not ready to give up my research yet, I decided to get involved in some way.

As a result, I became part of an outreach program run by the College of Engineering meant to drive interest and understanding of STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). I will be working with Molly Porter in two Algebra I classes for this coming year. My duties will primarily entail composing/giving presentations on the applications of STEM topics, putting together a field trip, and integrating problem solving techniques from Drexel's Math Forum. My first day in class will be this Friday.