Say goodbye to the decade! There are roughly 20 minutes left in this year (at least in this time zone) and as always, it seems that time has flown by. Our vacation is nearly over, because we fly out of Dallas at 7am tomorrow morning. I took a little bit of a break from the blog over the break, because I have been taking advantage of the opportunity to break from the usual routines.
But a quick update - the last several days have been slow-paced. Our time has been measured only by the number of card games, shopping trips, and meals we can fit in a day. I hope we did not gain too much weight...
Today's big news - there officially will be a wedding in the family this summer! Sarah (Rachel's sister) got engaged this afternoon and will get married some time in July or August.
Happy New Year! 15 minutes to go!
-alan
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
In Dallas!
We have moved on to our 3rd and final destination over this US holiday. We flew this morning from Detroit to Dallas - we left at 11:30am from rain-soaked Detroit (20 minutes before the attempted-terrorist-attack plane arrived) and landed in snow-covered Dallas. Strange. 2 years ago on Christmas, we played football on a balmy day...this year, there is snow.
The night is young, but I am tired. I am getting myself ready for bed even though it sounds like the Miller clan is just getting started.
-alan
The night is young, but I am tired. I am getting myself ready for bed even though it sounds like the Miller clan is just getting started.
-alan
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Back in the U.S of A.
For any of you who read this who we have not yet seen, I wanted to confirm that we are back in the US and have already completed stop 1 of 3 on this trip. It was a very nice stay in Chicago - far too short of course, but hopefully we will make up for that with some additional quality time this summer. Pictures to come later.
But of course, Christmas is a time for family, so we have made the drive (thanks Eric and Liz!) to Michigan, where Rachel is snoozing. My body is confused after changing time zones twice and staying up WAY too late on consecutive nights.
alan
But of course, Christmas is a time for family, so we have made the drive (thanks Eric and Liz!) to Michigan, where Rachel is snoozing. My body is confused after changing time zones twice and staying up WAY too late on consecutive nights.
alan
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Coolest Animal!
If my 7th grade Life Science class is any authority on the subject, then let it be known: The white tiger is the coolest animal in the world!!
We held a tournament of the class' top 64 favorite animals, and voted animals off one by one. The final four consisted of the white tiger (1 seed), wolf (11 seed), dolphin (8 seed), and panda (11 seed). The white tiger is an ancient symbol of Korea, which won it enough votes to squeak by the wolf, 12-11, in the championship match.
I was upset that one of my favorites - the octopus - was voted off in the first round by the toucan. Really? The toucan?
Afterwards, I showed my students this video, and they all wanted to put it back in the tourney:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8408233.stm
Back to grading finals!
-alan
We held a tournament of the class' top 64 favorite animals, and voted animals off one by one. The final four consisted of the white tiger (1 seed), wolf (11 seed), dolphin (8 seed), and panda (11 seed). The white tiger is an ancient symbol of Korea, which won it enough votes to squeak by the wolf, 12-11, in the championship match.
I was upset that one of my favorites - the octopus - was voted off in the first round by the toucan. Really? The toucan?
Afterwards, I showed my students this video, and they all wanted to put it back in the tourney:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8408233.stm
Back to grading finals!
-alan
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Let it begin!
In 3 minutes, I will administer the first of SIX tests I will give this week. That's pretty amazing, considering I only have each class 3 times this week, and I only teach 5 courses. So that means one lucky class gets 2 tests in 3 days. Mwahahahaha!!!
Some days there is an evil fun in being a teacher.
-alan
Some days there is an evil fun in being a teacher.
-alan
Friday, December 11, 2009
All things Christmas
On the countdown clock - we'll have landed in Chicago in less than 7 days!
We went to the Holiday Inn last night, for our staff Christmas party. It was a nice dinner and evening - the hotel was well decorated, so it made the event extra festive! :)
Today will be filled with some work - I should finish up my grading and get my finals written, so that I have time to pack and do such business this week. But we will be going out to dinner and playing cards tonight, so I should hurry!
Finally, I wanted to post a couple pictures from last week's middle school event. We, of course, did not bring our camera...but the yearbook staff helped us out again by sending a student to snap some photos.
Both of these pictures are from our "snowball" fight (flour-filled stockings) - the big finale of the event.
These two 8th graders are this year's Treasurer and President.
-alan
We went to the Holiday Inn last night, for our staff Christmas party. It was a nice dinner and evening - the hotel was well decorated, so it made the event extra festive! :)
Today will be filled with some work - I should finish up my grading and get my finals written, so that I have time to pack and do such business this week. But we will be going out to dinner and playing cards tonight, so I should hurry!
Finally, I wanted to post a couple pictures from last week's middle school event. We, of course, did not bring our camera...but the yearbook staff helped us out again by sending a student to snap some photos.
Both of these pictures are from our "snowball" fight (flour-filled stockings) - the big finale of the event.
These two 8th graders are this year's Treasurer and President.
-alan
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sounds of the season
We accomplished some more Christmas shopping this weekend. It feels nice to have so many things purchased, so early in the shopping season! We are ahead of the game. At least we will not have to go out and do a lot of shopping when we are back in the US. (12 days and counting)
I have also been "shopping" on Google China's free music download site. Since we did not have much Christmas music, I have been searching for good albums for us to listen to...as we grade papers...
Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Peterson, Chris Tomlin, Jars of Clay, Travis Cottrell, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra have all been added in recent days. It is nice to have some new variety!
Now, we are listening to Straight No Chaser - an a capella group. Rachel thinks they sound a little too peppy.
But c'mon....it's a capella. What do you expect??
-alan
I have also been "shopping" on Google China's free music download site. Since we did not have much Christmas music, I have been searching for good albums for us to listen to...as we grade papers...
Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Peterson, Chris Tomlin, Jars of Clay, Travis Cottrell, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra have all been added in recent days. It is nice to have some new variety!
Now, we are listening to Straight No Chaser - an a capella group. Rachel thinks they sound a little too peppy.
But c'mon....it's a capella. What do you expect??
-alan
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Plasmids from Shanghai
Time for a science post!
In my AP Biology class, we are studying DNA. In regards to DNA's ability to encode information for the body, one of my students recently remarked, "DNA is much more efficient than binary code, but nothing compared to human language."
It is a quirky bunch.
Recently, my Chinese co-teacher has been working feverishly to find supplies for an upcoming molecular biology lab. It involves such things as restriction enzymes, R-factor plasmids, gel electrophoresis, and strains of E. coli. It is just as complicated as it sounds. Well, the problem is finding sources for all this material. In America, I would call up a biological supply company, and they would ship me everything I need in one nice box. Here....not so easy.
We had given up on one part of the lab, because it was proving impossible to find any plasmids locally. A plasmid is a piece of DNA that bacteria can transfer between each other. The point of the lab is to give a plasmid that gives them resistance to a certain antibiotic. Then we add the drug, which kills all the bacteria except the ones that picked up the special DNA. Without the DNA, there was no point in doing the lab.
So on a whim, I looked up Bio-rad, a company that many AP teachers use in the US. Come to find out, this company is an international biotech firm, and they have offices in China. So my co-teacher calls up the Shanghai office, and they have the plasmids. He talks to a very nice lady there, who, come to find out, is a good friend of his former classmate - a classmate who is now working in a lab at Sichuan University and will give us the bacteria we need. So the Shanghai Bio-rad worker is so tickled about this random connection, that she offers to send us the plasmids we need for free. Hooray!
I guess this is a good example of why they say...it's a small world!
-alan
In my AP Biology class, we are studying DNA. In regards to DNA's ability to encode information for the body, one of my students recently remarked, "DNA is much more efficient than binary code, but nothing compared to human language."
It is a quirky bunch.
Recently, my Chinese co-teacher has been working feverishly to find supplies for an upcoming molecular biology lab. It involves such things as restriction enzymes, R-factor plasmids, gel electrophoresis, and strains of E. coli. It is just as complicated as it sounds. Well, the problem is finding sources for all this material. In America, I would call up a biological supply company, and they would ship me everything I need in one nice box. Here....not so easy.
We had given up on one part of the lab, because it was proving impossible to find any plasmids locally. A plasmid is a piece of DNA that bacteria can transfer between each other. The point of the lab is to give a plasmid that gives them resistance to a certain antibiotic. Then we add the drug, which kills all the bacteria except the ones that picked up the special DNA. Without the DNA, there was no point in doing the lab.
So on a whim, I looked up Bio-rad, a company that many AP teachers use in the US. Come to find out, this company is an international biotech firm, and they have offices in China. So my co-teacher calls up the Shanghai office, and they have the plasmids. He talks to a very nice lady there, who, come to find out, is a good friend of his former classmate - a classmate who is now working in a lab at Sichuan University and will give us the bacteria we need. So the Shanghai Bio-rad worker is so tickled about this random connection, that she offers to send us the plasmids we need for free. Hooray!
I guess this is a good example of why they say...it's a small world!
-alan
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