- Chemistry test on Monday; I have no idea what's on it
- Physics test Tuesday evening
- Two Splash classes tomorrow morning/early afternoon
- Concert choir concert tomorrow evening
- Online physics assignment due Sunday evening
- Asymptones rehearsal Sunday evening
- Half of a math problem set which I really should get done before leaving Tuesday evening
- Plan out next week's SAT prep class--I promised them vocab games
- Outline/proposal for final English paper, due Tuesday
- Concert choir rehearsal Monday evening
- Other classes as usual
Showing posts with label Classes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classes. Show all posts
11.19.2010
The Next Four Days
Captain's blog, stardate 2295.0...
11.10.2010
Oh hi...
Captain's blog, stardate 2874.9....
No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I've just been extremely busy. I have plans to hang out with one of my friends for most of the day tomorrow, so I had to get all my work done early. I think I did problem sets for about 6 hours yesterday. Anyway, I'm done now. I'm also tired so I apologize in advance for the incoherent writing.
I guess I should talk about something, huh? In physics we're doing RL, LC, and RLC circuits (that's circuits with resistors, capacitors, and inductors, for those not in the know). Basically you have to solve differential equations except since our physics class doesn't require those you just have to write the equation and then know what the solution is. The equations aren't even that hard though--the most complex one is for RLC circuits with a driving force, which we learned haw to do in 18.03. It's a second-order nonhomogenous linear differential equation. (Sounds more complicated than it is, I swear.)
In math we just did step and delta functions and now we are learning about Laplace transforms. I guess I shouldn't really bother trying to explain what those are. In chemistry we are doinng pretty basic stuff. (Oh haha, basic, cause we learned acids and bases today...I didn't even mean to do that. My subconscious has a lame sense of humor. Seriously, I wouldn't make a joke that bad on purpose.) In Shakespeare class we just finished with Hamlet and watched a Russian movie of Hamlet where the ghost looked like Darth Vader. (I drew a picture of him saying "I am your father" to Hamlet.)
Well, since my life has pretty much been composed of problem sets and miscellaneous singing since I last posted (oh haha, composed, singing, I get it. What is with my sense of humor today??) I can't really say anything else. Oh wait, I can! Both of my Splash classes are full and I still haven't planned out my lectures. I'm scared now.
See you later, folks!
No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I've just been extremely busy. I have plans to hang out with one of my friends for most of the day tomorrow, so I had to get all my work done early. I think I did problem sets for about 6 hours yesterday. Anyway, I'm done now. I'm also tired so I apologize in advance for the incoherent writing.
I guess I should talk about something, huh? In physics we're doing RL, LC, and RLC circuits (that's circuits with resistors, capacitors, and inductors, for those not in the know). Basically you have to solve differential equations except since our physics class doesn't require those you just have to write the equation and then know what the solution is. The equations aren't even that hard though--the most complex one is for RLC circuits with a driving force, which we learned haw to do in 18.03. It's a second-order nonhomogenous linear differential equation. (Sounds more complicated than it is, I swear.)
In math we just did step and delta functions and now we are learning about Laplace transforms. I guess I shouldn't really bother trying to explain what those are. In chemistry we are doinng pretty basic stuff. (Oh haha, basic, cause we learned acids and bases today...I didn't even mean to do that. My subconscious has a lame sense of humor. Seriously, I wouldn't make a joke that bad on purpose.) In Shakespeare class we just finished with Hamlet and watched a Russian movie of Hamlet where the ghost looked like Darth Vader. (I drew a picture of him saying "I am your father" to Hamlet.)
Well, since my life has pretty much been composed of problem sets and miscellaneous singing since I last posted (oh haha, composed, singing, I get it. What is with my sense of humor today??) I can't really say anything else. Oh wait, I can! Both of my Splash classes are full and I still haven't planned out my lectures. I'm scared now.
See you later, folks!
10.13.2010
Splash!
Captain's blog, stardate 2864.9....
AD BREAK!
Me: I'm gonna teach at Splash, I'm gonna teach at Splash!
Random Kids: What's Splash?
Me: Glad you asked! Splash is an educational opportunity for middle- and high school students. Students who register for the program can come to MIT from November 20-21 and enjoy classes taught by MIT students. The course offerings are incredibly diverse, ranging from crash courses in computer programming to knitting to board game strategy. There's something for everyone!
Kids: Wow! It sounds great!
Me: It is!
Kids: I wanna go to Splash!
Me: Registration for students will open in late October! It costs $30 for high school students and only $20 for middle school students--a low, low price to pay for the fun and educational value of this weekend!
Kids: Oh boy! Hey, didn't you say you were gonna teach something?
Me: You bet!
Kids: Ooh, I wanna come to your class! What's it gonna be about?
Me: I'm teaching two classes, actually! The first one is "Star Trek and the 1960s," in which we'll explorestrange new worlds how the original Star Trek series reflected the issues of its time, and the other is "You Canna Change the Laws of Physics: Science Mistakes In Star Trek," which is exactly what it says on the tin!
Kids: WOW! That sounds so cool, Captain Quirk! I can't wait!
Me: *stares into camera* Splash 2010. Be there.
Everything in that ad was true, except for the part about random kids wanting to go to classes about Star Trek. Still, I bet some people will go.
...will YOU be one of the lucky few?
OK, advertising is over for real this time. In all seriousness, Splash is gonna be totally awesome, and if you're in the right age group and are available on that weekend, you should definitely come, even if you don't go to either of my classes. After all, they are pretty nerdy subjects. (Earn your nerd badge by coming to Star Trek class! Aw, right, no more advertising...)
AD BREAK!
Me: I'm gonna teach at Splash, I'm gonna teach at Splash!
Random Kids: What's Splash?
Me: Glad you asked! Splash is an educational opportunity for middle- and high school students. Students who register for the program can come to MIT from November 20-21 and enjoy classes taught by MIT students. The course offerings are incredibly diverse, ranging from crash courses in computer programming to knitting to board game strategy. There's something for everyone!
Kids: Wow! It sounds great!
Me: It is!
Kids: I wanna go to Splash!
Me: Registration for students will open in late October! It costs $30 for high school students and only $20 for middle school students--a low, low price to pay for the fun and educational value of this weekend!
Kids: Oh boy! Hey, didn't you say you were gonna teach something?
Me: You bet!
Kids: Ooh, I wanna come to your class! What's it gonna be about?
Me: I'm teaching two classes, actually! The first one is "Star Trek and the 1960s," in which we'll explore
Kids: WOW! That sounds so cool, Captain Quirk! I can't wait!
Me: *stares into camera* Splash 2010. Be there.
Everything in that ad was true, except for the part about random kids wanting to go to classes about Star Trek. Still, I bet some people will go.
...will YOU be one of the lucky few?
OK, advertising is over for real this time. In all seriousness, Splash is gonna be totally awesome, and if you're in the right age group and are available on that weekend, you should definitely come, even if you don't go to either of my classes. After all, they are pretty nerdy subjects. (Earn your nerd badge by coming to Star Trek class! Aw, right, no more advertising...)
9.15.2010
MIT Quote of the Day...
(Captain's blog, stardate 5028.8)
"We are not mathematicians, we're physicists. We want to actually solve something in a finite amount of time." --My physics professor
In physics today we learned Gauss's Law, the first one of Maxwell's equations! Since my physics professor is so good, I actually understood it this time around. Physics is so awesome, you should all take it when you go to college. It's way better than high-school physics classes.
Anyway, enough gushing over how ~*AMAZING*~ college is; it makes me sound stupid. Also, it's very rude since no one reading this is in college, and I'll end up making people feel left out. My sincere apologies.
And another quote of the day, from a question the 18.03 class got asked today:
Alice jumps out of a plane with a parachute [we had just learned an equation for this] and 20 seconds later Bob jumps out with an identical parachute. Will they have the same speed at any time before they reach the ground?
1) Yes.
2) No.
3) Not enough information.
4) I don't know.
5) 42.
(I chose "42", by the way. The real answer is "No".)
"We are not mathematicians, we're physicists. We want to actually solve something in a finite amount of time." --My physics professor
In physics today we learned Gauss's Law, the first one of Maxwell's equations! Since my physics professor is so good, I actually understood it this time around. Physics is so awesome, you should all take it when you go to college. It's way better than high-school physics classes.
Anyway, enough gushing over how ~*AMAZING*~ college is; it makes me sound stupid. Also, it's very rude since no one reading this is in college, and I'll end up making people feel left out. My sincere apologies.
And another quote of the day, from a question the 18.03 class got asked today:
Alice jumps out of a plane with a parachute [we had just learned an equation for this] and 20 seconds later Bob jumps out with an identical parachute. Will they have the same speed at any time before they reach the ground?
1) Yes.
2) No.
3) Not enough information.
4) I don't know.
5) 42.
(I chose "42", by the way. The real answer is "No".)
9.10.2010
More Classes!
Captain's blog, stardate 2643.3...
So. Yesterday I had classes. Maybe I should talk about that. Righto, here goes.
I got to sleep in, because my first class (math recitation) isn't till 11am. Some of you high school kids might not know what recitations are. If you do know, go to (*). Else, continue reading. (I have a tendency to think "else" instead of "otherwise". Too much time messing around with calculators, I think.) As you probably know, most introductory classes are very large. To make sure everyone can keep up, the class gets split into recitation groups. Each group has its own recitation, typically taught by a grad student/TA. During recitation, we review what went on in the lecture, get questions answered, and do practice problems.
(*) Good for you, you know what a recitation is. So yeah, I had math recitation, and it was pretty cool but kind of silly because what we did in class was mostly review, so we reviewed review. (If you analyzed a theater critic's writing and then went over what you'd written, you'd be reviewing a review of a review of a revue!)
Right afterwards was chemistry recitation, pretty much the same deal of reviewing review. It will get better though.
I have swim class right after chem recitation, so I rushed over to the sports center and asked where the entrance to the pool was, only to find out that phys. ed. classes don't start until next week. Yay.
Then I had Shakespeare class in the afternoon; we are reading The Tempest and have to finish it by Tuesday, so that should be fun! An excuse to do some reading! Oh gosh, I'm going to have to write English papers eventually....
I auditioned for the concert choir and got in, so that should be extremely fun.
And that's pretty much all that happened yesterday (other than me doing problem sets, which you probably don't need to hear about.)
*Sneak peek at what's happened so far today*
"Physicists are like babies; they still smash things together." --My chemistry professor
What my college tuition is paying for: Hundreds of Ping-Pong balls, to be thrown at styrofoam balls suspended in the air as an imitation of the Rutherford gold-foil experiment!
Chem professor: *does calculations* Based on the number of balls which rebounded, the radius of the styrofoam balls is 1cm. It's amazing, it comes out right every year.
Everyone: Yeah, when you do all your calculations with 1 significant figure...
Me, thinking: If we still had IDs called OSIS Numbers, like in high school, then my ID # would be a MITOSIS munber!
So. Yesterday I had classes. Maybe I should talk about that. Righto, here goes.
I got to sleep in, because my first class (math recitation) isn't till 11am. Some of you high school kids might not know what recitations are. If you do know, go to (*). Else, continue reading. (I have a tendency to think "else" instead of "otherwise". Too much time messing around with calculators, I think.) As you probably know, most introductory classes are very large. To make sure everyone can keep up, the class gets split into recitation groups. Each group has its own recitation, typically taught by a grad student/TA. During recitation, we review what went on in the lecture, get questions answered, and do practice problems.
(*) Good for you, you know what a recitation is. So yeah, I had math recitation, and it was pretty cool but kind of silly because what we did in class was mostly review, so we reviewed review. (If you analyzed a theater critic's writing and then went over what you'd written, you'd be reviewing a review of a review of a revue!)
Right afterwards was chemistry recitation, pretty much the same deal of reviewing review. It will get better though.
I have swim class right after chem recitation, so I rushed over to the sports center and asked where the entrance to the pool was, only to find out that phys. ed. classes don't start until next week. Yay.
Then I had Shakespeare class in the afternoon; we are reading The Tempest and have to finish it by Tuesday, so that should be fun! An excuse to do some reading! Oh gosh, I'm going to have to write English papers eventually....
I auditioned for the concert choir and got in, so that should be extremely fun.
And that's pretty much all that happened yesterday (other than me doing problem sets, which you probably don't need to hear about.)
*Sneak peek at what's happened so far today*
"Physicists are like babies; they still smash things together." --My chemistry professor
What my college tuition is paying for: Hundreds of Ping-Pong balls, to be thrown at styrofoam balls suspended in the air as an imitation of the Rutherford gold-foil experiment!
Chem professor: *does calculations* Based on the number of balls which rebounded, the radius of the styrofoam balls is 1cm. It's amazing, it comes out right every year.
Everyone: Yeah, when you do all your calculations with 1 significant figure...
Me, thinking: If we still had IDs called OSIS Numbers, like in high school, then my ID # would be a MITOSIS munber!
9.08.2010
Classes!
Captain's blog, stardate 2384.6....
So. I should probably be doing homework right now, but I just did some physics so I'm in a relatively good mood. I'll probably buckle down and work on chemistry for a bit after I post this.
Chemistry? Yeah, chemistry! I know I said before I was taking biology, but as it turns out that didn't work with my schedule, which is great for me because I don't even like biology. I'll have to take it next term though. Woe is me. Who cares, though, as long as I get to take physics, math, AND chemistry all in the same term?
Allow me to recount for you the dramatic events of my first day of MIT classes. To further immerse you in the narrative, this will be written in the present tense. To give me a chance to have some fun, it will be written over-dramatically and in stilted prose. (Just thought I should warn you.)
7:51 AM. Thunder crashes outside the window I fortuitously closed last night, waking me before my alarm clock gets the chance. I peer out the window with still-blurred eyes, to see rain pouring down outside. (This is an auspicious beginning for the day. After all, children born during storms in stories are often marked for some greater destiny. Why not those who start college during a storm?) Combing through my mind to try and remember where I put my umbrella, I prepare myself for the day ahead. Where are my notebooks? I realize to my shock that I have none. Check the schedule again. There will be time between physics and chemistry.
I hastily toast some bread for breakfast and leave with it; the time between my awakening and my necessary departure seeming to have slipped away without my noticing. The storm has passed by the time I leave my dorm, and the sky has brightened--another auspicious sign; overcast skies usually foreshadow tragedy of some sort.
I arrive at the building of my physics class, check the room number on my "schedule" (in reality nothing more than my hastily scribbled list of classes, locations, and times) and eventually find my way to it. One slight problem presents itself before I even walk in the door: The classroom does not exist. Perhaps one of the students accidentally divided by zero? Idle jokes will get me nowhere. If there were a computer anywhere nearby, I could check the class location online. But no such machine is readily available. Finally I give in to temptation and use the Internet access on my cell phone, a technique normally forbidden as I do not have a data plan which includes the cost of said access.
The risk pays off. I find myself in an underground chamber (the classroom is in the basement) filled with round tables. Already late, I take an empty seat where I can find it.
Then the lecture begins. It starts as nothing of note, logistical announcements and basic review. Then, as an indication of things to come, Maxwell's equations appear on the projector screen. I stare, entranced. Until today, I had never realized how stunning they were, how mysterious at first and then beautiful. Every curve of every integral sign calls out to me. And I realize I've forgotten how much I love physics.
Today physics lasts for two hours. Afterwards, I purchase my notebooks, leave some in my dorm room, and set off for chemistry. Yeah, chemistry. No sweeping equations here, no gleaming integrals, but it's still refreshing in a down-to-earth sort of way. I haven't officially enrolled yet; my advisor still hasn't given me the forms to add chemistry and drop biology. I enjoy the class anyway.
A longer break this time, enough for me to eat and relax in my room for a while. Then comes the high point of the day. (If a math lecture at the end of an exciting day of classes is not the definition of the word "apotheosis", I don't know what is.) Differential Equations, finally. I look at the syllabus. Within a few weeks, we will learn topics I have never been exposed to. Some of these techniques are things I've never even heard of.
I emerge from the lecture hall, euphoric.
(N.B. Euphoric is another of those words which deserves to be used, but not too often or it will lose its meaning.)
Well, hopefully that little narrative satisfies; I have chemistry homework to do.
Yeah, chemistry.
So. I should probably be doing homework right now, but I just did some physics so I'm in a relatively good mood. I'll probably buckle down and work on chemistry for a bit after I post this.
Chemistry? Yeah, chemistry! I know I said before I was taking biology, but as it turns out that didn't work with my schedule, which is great for me because I don't even like biology. I'll have to take it next term though. Woe is me. Who cares, though, as long as I get to take physics, math, AND chemistry all in the same term?
Allow me to recount for you the dramatic events of my first day of MIT classes. To further immerse you in the narrative, this will be written in the present tense. To give me a chance to have some fun, it will be written over-dramatically and in stilted prose. (Just thought I should warn you.)
7:51 AM. Thunder crashes outside the window I fortuitously closed last night, waking me before my alarm clock gets the chance. I peer out the window with still-blurred eyes, to see rain pouring down outside. (This is an auspicious beginning for the day. After all, children born during storms in stories are often marked for some greater destiny. Why not those who start college during a storm?) Combing through my mind to try and remember where I put my umbrella, I prepare myself for the day ahead. Where are my notebooks? I realize to my shock that I have none. Check the schedule again. There will be time between physics and chemistry.
I hastily toast some bread for breakfast and leave with it; the time between my awakening and my necessary departure seeming to have slipped away without my noticing. The storm has passed by the time I leave my dorm, and the sky has brightened--another auspicious sign; overcast skies usually foreshadow tragedy of some sort.
I arrive at the building of my physics class, check the room number on my "schedule" (in reality nothing more than my hastily scribbled list of classes, locations, and times) and eventually find my way to it. One slight problem presents itself before I even walk in the door: The classroom does not exist. Perhaps one of the students accidentally divided by zero? Idle jokes will get me nowhere. If there were a computer anywhere nearby, I could check the class location online. But no such machine is readily available. Finally I give in to temptation and use the Internet access on my cell phone, a technique normally forbidden as I do not have a data plan which includes the cost of said access.
The risk pays off. I find myself in an underground chamber (the classroom is in the basement) filled with round tables. Already late, I take an empty seat where I can find it.
Then the lecture begins. It starts as nothing of note, logistical announcements and basic review. Then, as an indication of things to come, Maxwell's equations appear on the projector screen. I stare, entranced. Until today, I had never realized how stunning they were, how mysterious at first and then beautiful. Every curve of every integral sign calls out to me. And I realize I've forgotten how much I love physics.
A longer break this time, enough for me to eat and relax in my room for a while. Then comes the high point of the day. (If a math lecture at the end of an exciting day of classes is not the definition of the word "apotheosis", I don't know what is.) Differential Equations, finally. I look at the syllabus. Within a few weeks, we will learn topics I have never been exposed to. Some of these techniques are things I've never even heard of.
I emerge from the lecture hall, euphoric.
(N.B. Euphoric is another of those words which deserves to be used, but not too often or it will lose its meaning.)
Well, hopefully that little narrative satisfies; I have chemistry homework to do.
Yeah, chemistry.
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