Recently in personal Category

So, it turns out that my web hosting service offers MT Pro.  I've been paying for a Typepad blog for a few years now, but I'm using it less and less (bad blogger!); and in this time of economic turmoil, it seems wise to consolidate and cut back on expenses.  So, I figure that I'll give MT a go and see how I like it.  A few quick observations:

- Typepad is *waaaaaaay* more user friendly for fiddling with the templates and designing your own site.  Not sure that I have the brainspace to deal with customizing MT right now.  Can I live with the generic?  (Probably - but would be nice if there were more template choices, maybe I can poke around a bit...)

- MT imported all my entries and comments from Typepad, which was quite handy.  V happy about that.

- this server is kinda slow...

So at the end of last week, I completed a draft of my dissertation.  It didn't really hit me until after I'd finished writing the last section what a huge freakin' task that was.  I mean, of course, I knew (it's a dissertation, after all), but in order to get through the daily tedium of writing, I couldn't allow myself to think more than one day at a time.  Wow, though.  I'm editing and putting together the refs now, and will turn it in to my committee at the beginning of next week.  In the end, it'll weigh in somewhere around 280 pages.  And after all that, parts of it aren't too bad.  :)  Let's hope the committee thinks so, too - final judgment (i.e. oral defense) is set for June 6.

Although I'm ready to move on to less insane pastures, New York City certainly has its charms, and they are none more apparent than in the spring.  The fall is probably my favorite season overall, but the city sure is lovely with all the flowering trees in bloom, temperature just right - warm sun, cool breeze - mmm.  And people are starting to emerge, as well - in fact, on my way to work this morning, I passed two elderly women on the street in time to hear one of them say to a passing gentleman, in a slow, deep voice: "Niiiice day.  Would you like to hear about Armageddon?" 

A friend of mine from high school, Matt Anthes-Washburn, has been nominated for a prestigious physics teaching award from the NSF for his excellence in teaching high school physics.  You can see him in action in this Neighborhood Network News report video (opens in Windows Media Player).  Congrats, Matt!

He's also currently trying to get a classroom technology project funded through DonorsChoose.org.  An excerpted description: " My students are English Language Learners and recent immigrants from various countries. Together, we learn physics through inquiry, while learning English language in context. ...In this project, we will integrate physical supports such as graphic organizers and structured notebook pages with state-of-the art digital technology. ...My students need a wireless Wacom Graphire Bluetooth tablet, a VGA adapter, and 30 reams of copy paper. The cost of this proposal is $544."  Contribute here to help his kids!

I'm very excited to report that I'll be joining the faculty in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy (rather serendipitous overlap with my interests, no?) at Towson University in the fall!   I'll be teaching classes at the undergraduate and grad levels, advising primarily doctoral students, and working with a group of colleagues who have already been supportive in terms of facilitating the transition from grad student to faculty member.  (If you have advice on that whole transition thing, do share!)  In the meantime, I "just" have to finish my dissertation (I swear, if one more person says that to me I'm gonna explode)... But it's going well, and I'm feeling energized.  Here's to the light at the end of the tunnel!