Matt Jones' Random Acts of Verbiage

The 36th edition of Space Saturday brings us the Rosette Nebula.

This beautiful image of the Rosette Nebula comes to us from Brian Lula (source) and is found in the constellation Monoceros. Nebula is about 5300 light years away and contains hot, young X-ray emitting stars at its center.

Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula’s center, insulated by a layer of dust and hot gas. Ultraviolet light from the hot cluster stars causes the surrounding nebula to glow.

For more astronomy pictures, check out my Space Saturday Archive.

On another recommendation from Dan I picked up the first of The Dresden Files series: Storm Front. It was another enjoyable entrance into the realm of fantasy. Here we meet Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden a private detective trying to pay his rent and make it from day to day in our difficult world who also happens to be a Wizard.

What’s a guy to do when the White Council is out to get you, when the cops lose their faith in you, when people are being murdered by magic and some want to blame you? Well, I guess you take matters into your own hands and do your job, even if that means venturing into the dark.

Odds seemed really good that I was going to get killed, whether I tried to face him or not. To hell with it, then. If I was going to go out, it wasn’t going to be while I was lying around moaning and bitching about how useless it all was. If Victor Sells wanted to take out Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, he was going to have to shove his magic right down my throat.

He was having a rough day, but he sure kept on going! And without giving too much away, I had to quote this toward the end of the book:

And so, I walked through a spectral landscape littered with skulls, into the teeth of the coming story, to a house covered in malevolent power, throbbing with savage and feral mystic strength. I walked forward to face a murderous opponent who had all the advantages, and who stood prepared and willing to kill me from where he stood within the heart of his own destructive power, while I was armed with nothing more than my own skill and wit and experience.

Do I have a great job or what?

Doesn’t that just make you want to check this book out? Well, you should!

Please go read this article from Michelle Malkin: Letter of the day: The plight of the conservative public school teacher. There has been a lot of stuff going around about teachers’ unions. Being conservative and a public school teacher is a very challenging thing. My first year of teaching (2008-09) Bellevue School District went on strike. I disagreed with the reasons and posted this: Bellevue School District: On Strike – My New Job. Needless to say, people were not very happy with that and I probably burned a lot of bridges, even within my own building (I’m sure this post won’t exactly help either…). (However, I do have to say that MANY MANY teachers offered their support for my position and offered helpful suggestions, even if they did disagree with me.) It is difficult to speak out against the union. I paid over $1000 in dues to the BEA, WEA, and NEA and therefore supported positions and candidates that I did not endorse and probably voted against. Michelle quotes a letter from a teacher:

The hold that unions have over the public educational system is nothing short of toxic. Year after year, I have a lot of money taken out of my paychecks for union dues. What do I get for my money? I am bombarded with emails and flyers “urging” us to vote for candidates that coincidentally always have the letter (D) after them. I get to be lectured to by union reps about the evil Republican candidates are and why they know what is best for me.

Now I am being hit with email after email “urging” me to stand with the teachers of Wisconsin. One teacher who is very tight with our union replied to our district making fun of Republicans directly. You might ask why I don’t forward this to human resources, but the repercussions would be brutal.

This rang true for me. But I cannot do much about it.

The other thing is that I am very aware that my union has done very good things for me; they want me to get paid better, they want me to have better health benefits, they want class sizes to be smaller (which absolutley impacts student learning). These are great things. So I seem like an ungrateful jerk if I speak out against them. But I do often question their intent. I don’t like that there is always an “us-vs-them” attitude when it comes to the district administration.

I know you don’t have to be a conservative to disagree with unions, but that’s where I’m at. It is just frustrating. I hate that politics become involved in this. Teachers should be able to focus on instruction and impacting student learning; administration should be there to support teachers in that; we should be compensated decently for our time, effort, and success. Ugh, I like debate and argument; but not this.

Here is some discussion at this post’s Facebook Note.

I started reading The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Timothy Keller right when I got my Kindle, blazed through most of this amazing book, and then promptly got distracted by a few other books… Well, I finally finished! Keller’s thesis is summarized neatly:

Jesus’ great Parable of the Prodigal Son retells the story of the entire Bible and the story of the human race. Within the story, Jesus teaches that the two most common ways to live [the younger son's estrangement from the father and the elder son's self-righteousness before the father] are both spiritual dead ends. He shows how the plotlines of our lives can only find a resolution, a happy ending, in him, in his person and work.

This is a very quotable and profound book, I hope you will read on (Sorry, it’s going to be a long one!)! Read more…

I have never been much of a fiction reader, but I am always willing to take suggestions from people. Especially when I generally appreciate their taste in literature. Dan likes to read good sci-fi and/or fantasy so when he suggested I read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld I thought I would check it out. The first in the series (why is it I always get myself into a series with more books to buy!?), The Color of Magic, was quite an enjoyable entrance into the Discworld universe.

It was whimsical and fun with endearing characters. While Rincewind and the tourist Twoflower went on their adventures, I quite enjoyed his luggage popping up from time to time to add to the levity and excitement.

If you are looking for a well written fantasy book or series, The Color of Magic: A Discworld Novel would be a good place to start. And since Pratchett has written quite a few Discworld novels, someones has even created a very helpful chart: The Discworld Reading Order Guide.

Also, since the goegraphy is somewhat confusing, which is bound to happen when your planet is a flat disc on the back for four elephants which are, in turn, standing on the back of Great A’Tuin, a giant tortise, there are a number of maps available.

Recommended? Absolutely.

Last time I decided to read what all my students were reading I ended up going through the Twilight saga. While I feel they weren’t entirely bad (don’t judge me!), they weren’t quite the substantive read I would hope my students would choose (although reading something is better than nothing I suppose). I noticed recently that there were quite a number reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (as well as the sequels) so figured I would see why there was all the interest. The synopsis seemed engaging enough and Cori even recommended it, so why not delve back into another series that my students are obsessed with.

I was very pleasantly surprised by both the plot and the characters. The story was quite intense (that’s what happens when kids are battling to the death…) and dealt with a number of difficult issues: strength, loneliness, independence, friendship, oppression, violence, murder, sacrifice, and politics (among others). The first person narrative gives insight into the mind of a 16 year old girl, Katniss Everdeen, who is trying to survive (in a number of ways) in a death match. Her thought process is well written (contrary to the almost inane inner workings of Bella) and insightful.

As Cori mentions, it would be nice to see more discussion or development of the issues of children killing other children and the torment that must go along with that. They are being forced into these violent situations and that must change them at the core. I imagine that the sequels will have to deal with this in some way; they couldn’t stay the same after their ordeal.

The scene that impacted me the most (spoiler ahead) was not the death of Katniss’ new found ally, Rue, but shortly thereafter. It was only so meaningful to me because of how the relationship between Katniss and Rue was developed. I quote it here (yes, it made me cry, but out of context, it probably won’t be as meaningful to you…):

I’ve no idea where to go. The brief sense of home I had that one night with Rue has vanished. My feet wander this way and that until sunset. I’m not afraid, not even watchful. Which makes me an easy target. Except I’d kill anyone I met on sight. My hatred of the Capitol has not lessened my hatred of my competitors in the least. Especially the Careers. They, at least, can be made to pay for Rue’s death. [...]

I’m about to haul my packs into a tree to make camp when a silver parachute floats down and lands in front of me. A gift from a sponsor. But why now? I’ve been in fairly good shape with supplies. Maybe Haymitch’s noticed my despondency and is trying to cheer me up a bit. Or could it be something to help my ear?

I open the parachute and find a small loaf of bread. It’s not the fine white Capital stuff. It’s made of dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent. Sprinkled with seeds. I flashback to Peeta’s lesson on the various district breads in the Training Center. This bread came from District 11. I cautiously lift the still warm loaf. What must it have cost the people of DIstrict 11 who can’t even feed themselves? How many would’ve had to do without to scrape up a coin to put in the collection for this one loaf? It had been meant for Rue, surely. But instead of pulling the gift when she died, they’d authorized Haymitch to give it to me. As a thank-you? Or because, like me, they don’t like to let debts go unpaid? For whatever reason, this is a first. A district gift to a tribute who’s not your own.

I lift my face and step into the last falling rays of sunlight. “My thanks to the people of District Eleven,” I say. I want them to know I know where it came from. That the full value of their gift has been recognized.

I know that was lengthly, but I feel speaks volumes.

The book is a fairly easy read, it is, after all, “Young Adult,” but is also quite enjoyable with a variety of relatively deep themes. It’s worth checking out. Now, on to book two: Catching Fire!

We must give people messages they understand. We acquire knowledge when we understand what people tell us not how it is said. Watch this video clip (from the 80s??):

In the clip Krashen clearly demonstrates that in order for someone to understand what they hear – the comprehensible input – the message needs to be clear. And by clear I don’t mean enunciated well, I mean relatable and meaningful to the learner.

Language acquisition, really, knowledge acquisition in general, is difficult. Clearly the model has been that of Krashen’s first lesson in the clip. We (educators) spout knowledge. We assume that knowledge is just assimilated by the students doing the learning. But unless we shift to a lesson two mentality, the chances that all the students are acquiring the knowledge we intend is very small.

I remember seeing Powers of Ten in science class when I was a kid. I thought it was pretty awesome then and I still do now!

The film has been uploaded to Youtube for all to view now! The film was produced back in 1968 and what we know about the world of the very large and the very small has grown by leaps and bounds, but this film’s take on perspective was done so well that it still inspires a sense of wonder. The universe is a pretty huge and awesome place! Take a look:

Pretty great, eh?