On the 12th day of Calculus, Mr. G gave to me:
12 digressions off topic,
11 AB1s for homework,
10 frustrating Hals*,
09 disks and shells,
08 MCQ Mondays,
07 integrable equations,
06 modes for graphing
*** 05 Disaster Curves!!! ***
04 max and mins,
03 reference angles,
02 complex roots,
and a fear of trigonometry!
*note that "Hal" is our nickname for the TI-89
Generally Speaking,
calcpage@aol.com
Monday, December 7, 2009
Mr G is Teaching BC! (tune = "Santa's Coming to Town")
Oh! You better take out an 89,
Open your ears and open your eyes,
Mr G is teaching BC!
******
He's talking too fast and making 2s 4s,
Wondering why we're taking his course,
Mr G is teaching BC!
******
He's putting up a graph now,
And draws a single line,
And by the time my graph is drawn,
He's added a pi sign!
******
Huh? You better not miss a single class,
If you ever hope to pass,
Mr G is teaching BC!
Generally Speaking,
calcpage@aol.com
Open your ears and open your eyes,
Mr G is teaching BC!
******
He's talking too fast and making 2s 4s,
Wondering why we're taking his course,
Mr G is teaching BC!
******
He's putting up a graph now,
And draws a single line,
And by the time my graph is drawn,
He's added a pi sign!
******
Huh? You better not miss a single class,
If you ever hope to pass,
Mr G is teaching BC!
Generally Speaking,
calcpage@aol.com
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Merry Calculus!
Merry Calculus! We've been practicing Calculus Carols all week! You should try it. I don't have any on me right now, so I'll have to write some up tomorrow for you. You can customize them as you see fit. We go Calculus Caroling the day before break and bother all the math and science teachers we can find....
Generally Speaking,
calcpage@aol.com
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Hand-me-down lab?
Wow, I cannot tell you how upset this move is making me....
It's as if the last 25 years of work that I have done in Room 429 is just to be thrown out the window. Now I'm told that I'm not to have a new lab in Room 622 after all. I'm to go into Room 612, the current English Dept Writing Lab! If memory serves, this lab is on the first floor and is really small without even any room for a projector and consists of several computers I used to have in Room 429 years ago - my own had-me-downs!! What at a huge step backwards obviating many innovations I've brought to the Baldwin school district in general and to my students in particular!!!
Best case scenario is that I don't move at all. If I stay in Room 429 and the rest of the Math dept moves to the 600 wing, so be it, I'll be an island onto myself in a sea of Foreign Language classes (Math is replacing English, but English is replacing Foreign Language)! Room 429 is already the ideal Computer Science/Calculus Research Lab! It isn't just the computers, which are state of the art by the way (25 dualcore 2GHz 64-bit AMD Athlons amounting to a 50 core superCluster or super computer running at 100GHz with 1000GB storage and gigaBit switched Ethernet) . Its the infrastructure too:
(1) I'm running three Linux servers from there (ftp, ssh and apache soon to be SAGE; centauri, colossus and guardian).
(2) There's an enourmos amount of power going into that room for PCs, printers, projectors, speakers, mics and AC.
(3) I've setup a Windows Smartboard as well as a Linux Smartboard after many hours of research and work on my part these past three years alone.
(4) Don't forget, there's three networks in there too for Windows, Linux and the superCluster.
Next best case would be moving to Room 622 with all the hardware listed above moving with me. However, that's a huge undertaking, requiring a large commitment of man-hours and funding. Further, you know that there will be millions of bugs after a move like that severely limiting instructional time after the move.
Third best case is moving to Room 622 and designing a whole new lab from scratch. Wow, imagine the man-hours and funding involved for that! Also, don't forget that Room 622 only has room for 18 students as opposed to the current 24 stations (computer desktop + wooden desktop) in Room 429.
Clearly, the worst case scenario is dumping me into a writing lab! How will I run Linux and java to teach my AP Computer Science classes? How will I run all the superCluster apps for myComputing Independent Study class?? How will we implement SAGE for the new Calculus Research Lab??? How will I display and record my Smartboard lessons in AP Calculus BC????
As you can see, moving the Computer Science/Calculus Research/SmartBoard/superCluster Lab is a really, really bad idea! I've been working to perfect this lab since the 1980s. I've made several hardware/firmware/software/infrastructure/curricular innovations over the course of these past, nearly, three decades that have inspired computer labs all over the district. Said innovations, built into Room 429, will be near to impossible to move or replicate....
Learning with Technology,
calcpage@aol.com
Best case scenario is that I don't move at all. If I stay in Room 429 and the rest of the Math dept moves to the 600 wing, so be it, I'll be an island onto myself in a sea of Foreign Language classes (Math is replacing English, but English is replacing Foreign Language)! Room 429 is already the ideal Computer Science/Calculus Research Lab! It isn't just the computers, which are state of the art by the way (25 dualcore 2GHz 64-bit AMD Athlons amounting to a 50 core superCluster or super computer running at 100GHz with 1000GB storage and gigaBit switched Ethernet) . Its the infrastructure too:
(1) I'm running three Linux servers from there (ftp, ssh and apache soon to be SAGE; centauri, colossus and guardian).
(2) There's an enourmos amount of power going into that room for PCs, printers, projectors, speakers, mics and AC.
(3) I've setup a Windows Smartboard as well as a Linux Smartboard after many hours of research and work on my part these past three years alone.
(4) Don't forget, there's three networks in there too for Windows, Linux and the superCluster.
Next best case would be moving to Room 622 with all the hardware listed above moving with me. However, that's a huge undertaking, requiring a large commitment of man-hours and funding. Further, you know that there will be millions of bugs after a move like that severely limiting instructional time after the move.
Third best case is moving to Room 622 and designing a whole new lab from scratch. Wow, imagine the man-hours and funding involved for that! Also, don't forget that Room 622 only has room for 18 students as opposed to the current 24 stations (computer desktop + wooden desktop) in Room 429.
Clearly, the worst case scenario is dumping me into a writing lab! How will I run Linux and java to teach my AP Computer Science classes? How will I run all the superCluster apps for myComputing Independent Study class?? How will we implement SAGE for the new Calculus Research Lab??? How will I display and record my Smartboard lessons in AP Calculus BC????
As you can see, moving the Computer Science/Calculus Research/SmartBoard/superCluster Lab is a really, really bad idea! I've been working to perfect this lab since the 1980s. I've made several hardware/firmware/software/infrastructure/curricular innovations over the course of these past, nearly, three decades that have inspired computer labs all over the district. Said innovations, built into Room 429, will be near to impossible to move or replicate....
Learning with Technology,
calcpage@aol.com
Linux SmartBoard I presume?
Component 1 (tablet): I finally figured out how to get my Smart Airliner Slate/Tablet to work via bluetooth in Linux! After we reinstalled the superCluster with the 64-bit Fedora Linux 11 CD, I could not get my bluetooth USB adapter to pair with the tablet. However, after running a full update/upgrade cycle on Fedora all last weekend on my teacher station, the pairing works automagically! BTW, I understand that Fedora 12 is better in this regard "right out of the box."
Component 2 (video): I had to find a new desktop video recorder, aka screencast app, as Smart Notebook for Linux does not include one. I found a nice java web app at http://www.screencast-o-matic.com that works both in Windows and Linux and produces mp4 files great for sharing on myftpsite and for youtube uploads! However, after the Fedora updates, Mozilla Firefox is acting strangely when it comes to viewing java applets (I have to figure this out still). So, I installed gtk-recordmydesktop with yum and all is well. The only drawback to recordmydesktop is that it produces ogv files that require an add-on in Windows Media Player so my students can download and view these vidoes from my ftpsite. Recall that ogg is to mp3 as ogv is to mp4 but ogv and mp4 are different codecs. Also, youtube accepts ogv files for upload. BTW, screencast-o-matic limits you to a 15 minute recording which is fine for a short class or a 10 minute youtube. However, if you need to record 30-60 minutes, as I do for my ftpsite, you can upgrade to a"pro account" for a modest one time fee of $5 to the author of screencast-o-matic. This new feature is definitely worth $5 so I got my pro account as soon as it was available. Get yours while they last!
Component 3 (pen app): Since I wasn't using Smart Notebook for recording, I thought I'd try out some other new pen apps for writing my notes on the tablet. The one I like the best so far ishttp://xournal.sourceforge.net which has a lot of the features I use in Smart Notebook. I don't use all the Smart Notebook bells and whistles anyway. I just need to be able to write notes on my tablet and export these notes to a pdf file. Xournal does all I need!
Component 4 (CAS): I was thinking I'd have to dump VTI and use SAGE instead to do my graphs and calculations on the fly in class. However, I installed WINE with yum and, believe it or not, VTI works fine. I can still use SAGE in Firefox via http://www.sagenb.org if I like, not to mention http://www.wolframalpha.com too!
Component 5 (audio): My wireless mic worked without a glitch in this new Linux environment, as is to be expected, since the base reciever plugs right into a standard PC Mic socket, so Fedora recognizes my wireless mic as if it were a standard wired PC mic.
Now, I can do all my SmartBoard lessons and recordings in Linux without Smart Notebook. Maybe I won't even use Windows at all! Prior to this I did use screencast-o-matic in Linux to record a class without the tablet. However, this was only convenient in AP Computer Science as I don't use a pen app there, but simply type in a text editor or on the command line!
Teaching with Technology,
calcpage@aol.com
Component 3 (pen app): Since I wasn't using Smart Notebook for recording, I thought I'd try out some other new pen apps for writing my notes on the tablet. The one I like the best so far ishttp://xournal.sourceforge.net which has a lot of the features I use in Smart Notebook. I don't use all the Smart Notebook bells and whistles anyway. I just need to be able to write notes on my tablet and export these notes to a pdf file. Xournal does all I need!
Component 4 (CAS): I was thinking I'd have to dump VTI and use SAGE instead to do my graphs and calculations on the fly in class. However, I installed WINE with yum and, believe it or not, VTI works fine. I can still use SAGE in Firefox via http://www.sagenb.org if I like, not to mention http://www.wolframalpha.com too!
Component 5 (audio): My wireless mic worked without a glitch in this new Linux environment, as is to be expected, since the base reciever plugs right into a standard PC Mic socket, so Fedora recognizes my wireless mic as if it were a standard wired PC mic.
Now, I can do all my SmartBoard lessons and recordings in Linux without Smart Notebook. Maybe I won't even use Windows at all! Prior to this I did use screencast-o-matic in Linux to record a class without the tablet. However, this was only convenient in AP Computer Science as I don't use a pen app there, but simply type in a text editor or on the command line!
Teaching with Technology, calcpage@aol.com
Meeting VI
Today's Aim: Enabling sshd and public keys
Tonight's Reading: Building Parallel Programs, Chapter 6
This Week's Research: openMPI
Attending Tues: JeremyA, SteveB, ArthurD (public keys)
Attending Thurs: JeremyA, DevinB (debugging scripts)
This Tuesday we are enabling sshd servers on all nodes of ShadowFax, our superCluster. We also have to generate all 25 keys for pulic key authentication! This way, we create one common user on each node that you can log into from any node. Once you log into one node with this userid/passwd, you can ssh to any other node using the same userid without even specifying the userid or passwd, just each ip address! This makes it very easy to set up a master/worker cluster model (see last year's cluster blogs). openMPI also needs this as a foundation.
I discussed how to set up public key authentication, http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28933, on the knoppix forum way back in June 2008. Also, we are following these notes http://dvbmonkey.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/getting-started-with-open-mpi-on-fedora about setting up openMPI on Fedora!
Tonight's Reading: Building Parallel Programs, Chapter 6
This Week's Research: openMPI
Attending Tues: JeremyA, SteveB, ArthurD (public keys)
Attending Thurs: JeremyA, DevinB (debugging scripts)
This Tuesday we are enabling sshd servers on all nodes of ShadowFax, our superCluster. We also have to generate all 25 keys for pulic key authentication! This way, we create one common user on each node that you can log into from any node. Once you log into one node with this userid/passwd, you can ssh to any other node using the same userid without even specifying the userid or passwd, just each ip address! This makes it very easy to set up a master/worker cluster model (see last year's cluster blogs). openMPI also needs this as a foundation.
I discussed how to set up public key authentication, http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28933, on the knoppix forum way back in June 2008. Also, we are following these notes http://dvbmonkey.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/getting-started-with-open-mpi-on-fedora about setting up openMPI on Fedora!
Happy Clustering,
Meeting VI
Today's Aim: Enabling sshd and public keys
Tonight's Reading: Building Parallel Programs, Chapter 6
This Week's Research: openMPI
Attending Tues: JeremyA, SteveB, ArthurD (public keys)
Attending Thurs: JeremyA, DevinB (debugging scripts)
This Tuesday we are enabling sshd servers on all nodes of ShadowFax, our superCluster. We also have to generate all 25 keys for pulic key authentication! This way, we create one common user on each node that you can log into from any node. Once you log into one node with this userid/passwd, you can ssh to any other node using the same userid without even specifying the userid or passwd, just each ip address! This makes it very easy to set up a master/worker cluster model (see last year's cluster blogs). openMPI also needs this as a foundation.
I discussed how to set up public key authentication, http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28933, on the knoppix forum way back in June 2008. Also, we are following these notes http://dvbmonkey.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/getting-started-with-open-mpi-on-fedora about setting up openMPI on Fedora!
Tonight's Reading: Building Parallel Programs, Chapter 6
This Week's Research: openMPI
Attending Tues: JeremyA, SteveB, ArthurD (public keys)
Attending Thurs: JeremyA, DevinB (debugging scripts)
This Tuesday we are enabling sshd servers on all nodes of ShadowFax, our superCluster. We also have to generate all 25 keys for pulic key authentication! This way, we create one common user on each node that you can log into from any node. Once you log into one node with this userid/passwd, you can ssh to any other node using the same userid without even specifying the userid or passwd, just each ip address! This makes it very easy to set up a master/worker cluster model (see last year's cluster blogs). openMPI also needs this as a foundation.
I discussed how to set up public key authentication, http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28933, on the knoppix forum way back in June 2008. Also, we are following these notes http://dvbmonkey.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/getting-started-with-open-mpi-on-fedora about setting up openMPI on Fedora!
Happy Clustering,
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