#like I am wondering if derek from year 4 went on to study engineering

[theforgottenfreefaller]

Do you ever just think about random people you went to school with, or played sports with, or worked with and wondering what they are doing these days?

[euroman1945-blog]

The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Friday 29th June 2018

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. News from the present about the past fills the page today, from a  Faithful Dog to Spain’s battle on Scottish soil.. but first let me fill my cup with coffee, before I regale you with the mystery’s and discoveries that I have managed to dig up for you… it’s hot and sultry this morning, I’m not in the best of health today, the antibiotics they gave me for my bronchitis are kicking my @#$& so I put the fan on and Bella is luxuriating in its breeze as I am…..

NEW ARTWORK RECALLS INVERNESS MARKET'S GUARD DOG…. A new plaque has been made to honour a guard dog that died in a fire almost 130 years ago. The dog had been trained to protect its master's stall in Inverness' indoor Victorian Market, and could not be persuaded to leave its post. The blaze almost completed destroyed the site, which was later rebuilt and continues to be used today. The plaque is the first of a series of seven artworks to be installed across the city recalling some of its legends. The piece dedicated to the dog has been placed in the market.

HISTORIC SWORD STOLEN FROM ISLE OF CANNA MUSEUM…. A mystery theft on a small Scottish island reads like the plot of a long-lost Agatha Christie novel. The whodunnit has all the ingredients typically faced by the fictional sleuth: an idyllic setting, an isolated, close-knit community, and a sudden disappearance. Police have appealed for help from the public after a two-handed historic broadsword was stolen from a museum on the Isle of Canna in the Inner Hebrides. Canna, situated in the Small Isles, has just 18 residents. The 17th century weapon boasts a double-edged blade, a wooden grip and a stamped fleur de lys design. The 7ft long claymore was taken from Canna House some time between 6-9 June. Read more at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LandCalledScotland/

REMAINS OF “ANCIENT WOLF” FOUND IN HIGHLAND PEAT BOG…. The remains of an animal believed to be a young wolf that roamed the Highlands up to 2,000 years ago have been discovered in a Highland peat bog. The find was made on a croft at Rogart, Sutherland with the animal remains well preserved by the acidic ground. Skulls, bones, teeth, claws and golden fur have been removed from the site with the animal now dubbed the ‘Rogart Bog Beast’. The find has been described as a “once in a lifetime chance discovery” by Brora Heritage with the remains due to be sent to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh for further analysis. The beast was found by a digger operator extracting peat from the croft of Duncan MacKay, 67, who has lived his entire life on the land.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS SEARCH FOR ‘LOST’ CASTLE AT FORMER ROYAL RETREAT…. Archaeologists are to search for a “lost” castle in South Ayrshire after possible evidence of a mysterious structure was discovered on the site of a former royal residence. Work will get underway this summer at Dundonald Castle, around which was the preferred retreat of Robert II, the first of the Stuart kings, during the 14th century. Archaeologists will move onto the site in August after a geophysical survey showed a “high chance” of previously unknown structural remains at the site of the castle, which sits high on a hill overlooking Dundonald village. It is believed these remains could be linked to a grand 13th century stronghold which was deliberately destroyed during the Wars of Independence in an attempt to stop English forces gaining a foothold in the area. Experts hope the excavation will fill in some of the missing links of the castle’s long history. Lauren Welsh, archaeology co-ordinator at Dundonald Castle, said: “There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered about Dundonald. There are big gaps in the history of the castle so the archaeology will help us investigate those. “We know that the castle was built for Robert II as a hunting lodge and that he lived and died here but a lot of the history of Dundonald is supposition. “We think the excavation work gives us a good chance to understand more about what happened at Dundonald and give us some of the answers we are looking for.”

STUDY AT BATTLEFIELD GLEN WHERE SPANISH JOINED THE JACOBITES…. Archaeologists have been surveying for the first time the site of the sole battle of the 1719 Jacobite rising when around 300 Spanish soldiers fought alongside the rebels in the Highlands. Experts from National Trust for Scotland hope their work will gain further understanding of the Battle of Glen Shiel, which ended in victory for British Government forces, ahead of its 300th anniversary on June 10 next year. Around 1,150 Highlanders fought on the Jacobite side at Glen Shiel, including Rob Roy MacGregor, Donald Cameron of Lochiel - head of Clan Cameron - and William MacKenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth. They were supplemented by up to 300 Spanish soldiers sent to support the Jacobites in a bid to put further pressure on Britain, which was at war with Spain at the time. Derek Alexander, head of archaeological services at NTS, said the battlefield in Kintail in the north west Highlands remained almost complete with rare field fortifications found at the site. He said: “Next year is the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Glen Shiel so it would be good to get a better understanding of what actually happened there. Archaeology is good at drawing out the finer details from the historical accounts that we have. “Glen Shiel is one of the few battlefields in Scotland that has physical archaeological built remains still in place.” He said “wonderful” documents relating to the battle still existed, which were drawn up by John-Henri Bastide, a soldier with the British Army who went on to become a military engineer. The early 18th Century documents have been the lead guide for excavations at the site with work focused around Spanish Hill where the Jacobites and their Iberian counterparts positioned themselves.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today is of ‘Rogart Bog Beast’ the ancient wolf beast .....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Friday 29th June 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

[farlowphysics-blog]

Digital Autobiography

“Who am I?” you wonder. I am some combination of nerd, geek, jock, and amateur philosopher. My current profession is PhD student in physics and STEM-Education at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. I am primarily part of a research collaboration seeking to develop a research based mathematical methods course for undergraduate physics majors/minors and on the side am assisting in a second research project seeking to measure the benefits of having Learning Assistants in undergraduate science courses. But how did I get here?

I was born in Renton, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. 

But, I don’t remember it much, having lived there only 4 months. Then, my dad, an electrical engineer, got a job in Kalamazoo, Michigan, much closer to extended family on both sides. So off we went...

Fun fact, the street that we lived on in Kalamazoo also happened to be the childhood home of one Derek Jeter. He lived across the street and about two houses down from us. We spent 7 years in Kalamazoo when dad got another job in Durham, North Carolina.

We lived in Durham between the ages of 7 and 14 for me. During that time I started developing a love of sports. With neighborhood kids I started to learn basketball, football, and various others, but those two stood out the most to me. I still love them to this day. Also, falling in love with basketball in Durham, NC means you love the Duke Blue Devils. Deal with it. (My college football team you ask? Given my Michigan ties and the fact that college football in NC is second fiddle to basketball by some distance, it’s all about the University of Michigan. Go Blue!). Of course, other interests also started: science, math, reading, music, movies, and just about anything electronic. I learned how to run a sound mixing board at age 10 and never looked back. Between the ages of 10 and 25, regardless of where I lived, I was running sound systems at my churches and just about anywhere else I could about 45-50 Sundays a year. Then, shortly after my 14th birthday, it was back to Michigan, a little farther north in Grand Rapids.

In high school I was able to play some football and little basketball, and with that came a newly discovered interest in weight training and general fitness. My interests in science, particularly physics, also strengthened, but I also took some drafting courses and thought maybe I would become an architect. So after graduation I headed to Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI (OK, not a map this time...)

where I earned an Associate’s Degree in Architectural Technology. I couldn’t bring myself to be an architect for 40+ years though, but figured with my love of audio/video systems and physics I could get an engineering degree and work toward becoming an acoustical engineer. So I applied to Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI

and started a Mechanical Engineering degree (and lost a bunch of credits in the transfer). That only lasted one semester, though, as similar to architecture, I couldn’t see doing it for 40+ years. At that time I finally started listening to the people and instructors I’d had who begged me to consider teaching and decided that’s what I really needed to pursue. But teach what? Well, physics. So I changed majors to Physics and graduated with a BS and secondary teaching certification in Physics, with a teachable Mathematics minor, and (a GVSU requirement) a gen-ed “theme” in ethics.

My first teaching job was as a physics teacher at Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, MI. Go Cougars!

If you live in Grand Rapids, MI, you know instantly that interlocking C’s logo means Catholic Central, and there’s rich tradition in academics and athletics there. Over 4 years I taught physics and honors physics for 4 years each, 3 years of an elective called pre-engineering (a project based course designed to help students decide if engineering is a field they would like to pursue in college or beyond), and 1 year each of chemistry, algebra 1 and algebra II. I was also on the football team coaching staff for 2 years. Meanwhile, in year 3, I got a call from my Alma Mater GVSU asking if I’d be interested in being an adjunct physics professor a couple nights a week and run some physics labs. I said yes. So with that adjunct experience and after 4 years of teaching, I realized that I liked teaching, but the high school level wasn’t my final destination, I needed to move up to the college level. So, through a series of fortuitous events, I applied to the graduate school at North Dakota State University and was accepted and offered a sweet deal.

 Due to the timing I couldn’t start there until the spring semester of 2015, so during the fall semester of 2014 I continued my adjunct position at GVSU and picked up a second adjunct position at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Kalamazoo teaching a section of University Physics II and being a part time remedial math specialist at Vicksburg High School, near Kalamazoo. While at NDSU I’ve also had the privilege of teaching University Physics II  and mentoring some undergrads in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program over the summer.

So my goals? I’m finding more and more that two things I really love in life are learning and sharing what I learn with others. To me, that screams I need to find a home as a faculty member at a research university someday. Thus, that’s what I’m in the process of working on right now.

Who am I as a learner? Well, as I just said, I love learning. Discovering new things and developing new skills is a lot of fun for me - usually. I’ll confess I don’t always like being told what to learn. On the other hand, after my considerable number of years spent in formal education and as I’m gaining life experience, I’ve found that even the things that I was forced to learn usually have value in some form or another. For example, in high school and college I did not like being told to read and appreciate classic works of literature. What does it matter if I don’t know the themes behind “The Scarlett Letter” or “Romeo and Juliet”? But I’ve come to learn that in truth, knowing those themes isn’t directly important, but being aware of them and discussing how those themes were approached in those works has given me a voice that I use to communicate with the world today. I’ve learned to be grateful for that.

Who am I as a teacher? Learning is one of the most important things we can do in life. I want my students to learn, so I believe in doing what’s best to help them learn most effectively. Professionally, I study how to learn and teach physics better. I do my best to take the techniques that I and others have discovered through research give students as large of learning gains as possible into the classroom while still reflecting who I am as a person. I ask questions. Lots of them. So it’s natural for me to use a Socratic method and develop activities that foster questions and curiosity. 

Back to some fun stuff...

Since I mentioned love of sports, music, movies, etc. here are some answers to some FAQ’s in those areas:

What kind of music do I like?

HUGE variety. I describe it as Bach to Rock. I’ll listen to rock, some hip hop, classical, live jazz, and on and on. If you forced me to pick my favorite genre right now, I’d probably say progressive rock/metal. What’s that? It’s rock or metal played with the variable timing and dynamics found in classical music. Here’s an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZKrwJzGg0k

Movies? Again HUGE variety. Science Fiction.Action. Comic Book. Comedy. Drama. You’ll hear me reference Star Wars, comic book movies, LOTR, and comedies such as Airplane and (Monty Python and the) Holy Grail or Life of Brian A LOT.

TV? Some faves: Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Big Bang Theory, Star Trek(s), Daredevil...(this could be a long list).

Favorite Teams: Football; Michigan Wolverines, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions. Basketball; Duke Blue Devils, Michigan Wolverines. I don’t really follow professional basketball. Baseball; Detroit Tigers. 

And yes, I still lift weights. And recently I’ve tried to take up swimming regularly.

Alright, I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit about me!

-Brian