Rain

It rained again today. Actually, saying it rained is like saying the Titanic sprung a little leak. The field behind my house is a lake. I ran the little space heater under my desk to dry my feet and jeans for most of the day. It helped, a little. We could do nothing productive in the lab because of the leaks EVERYWHERE. Wet bench chemical preperation? Canceled. There was a leak over the -20 freezer, right next to the protein bench. Cell Culture? Canceled. Leak over the hood. Microscopy? Definitely canceled. The shelf above the tarp had a thick layer of water. At least Dr.jR is pissed. He is the head of the department, and a pissed off Dr. jR gets things done.

Other than rain, today was pretty good. I tutored for two hours. And, the best part was that when I got off on tangents, like explaining the mechanism of how formic acid and hydrogen gas reacted to form formaldhyde and water, the client didn't get angry or frustrated. She understood it as I talked her through the reaction and even appreciated it! I forsee it being a good relationship. Now, I just have to go over the problem set, and make sure things are right.

My "office" hours for my students weren't as good. Trust freshman to wait until the last possible minute to do their work, and then show up during office hours and expect me to teach a class. I really wanted to meet with each person individually, and go over what they did wrong. They wanted me to go over what they did wrong individually, too. I don't think my students want to be numbers instead of names... they seem to respond well to a personalized approach. I really wish I had, like, half an hour to sit down with each one of them and go over what the problems were last week. Instead, I have to pick and choose...I did go over a lot of reports. I got people through their calculations, and talked them through what I wanted. I have two meetings with students tomorrow.

I really have two goals for my students. First, I want them to learn a thought process. No matter where they go, the ability to analyze data, relate it to something in the real world, and think critically will serve them well. So, I want them to acquire those skills. Chemistry is a secondary, although important priority. Its not exactly an easy job, though. I have some kids who did AP chem, and others who haven't had chemistry before in their lives. I also have a lot of students who want, or claim to need, As or Bs to get into pharmacy school. My feelings here are mixed. I don't think you should go into a field if you can't manage the pre-requisites. Your major classes should be relatively easy for you. If they're not, you should pick a new major.

Tonight, I'm doing my biochem assignment and going to bed. Maybe I'll read some more about statitics for the physical sciences. Tomorrow will be another big day. Br will be getting donuts at 8 and 9. He seems excited about the prospect. I will only be funding the first round. Oh well, he deserves them... he got our web server set up. Now, I just have to finish my matlab code and figure out what a VNC server is. But, that's a task for tomorrow...