MVEMJSUNP or MVEMCJSUNPE

What??? Well, MVEMJSUNP is known to many of us as My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas or My Very Eager Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Pins. Remember those mnemonics from elementary school to help remember the correct order of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto? Well now we have a new one thanks to the addition of two planets, Ceres and Eris (aka 2003 UB313), to our solar system. Say what? Well, it turns out they've always been there, but were recently voted in as planets - dwarf planets actually. But thanks to a little girl's winning mnemonic we can win the million dollars on "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?", the famed Fox show. (Well maybe not so famous but hosted by a bit more famous Jeff Foxworthy.) To help us all remember the order MVEMCJSUNPE we now have My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants. Ridiculous! We now get: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Eris. This is according to National Geographic, who hosted the competition the young lady won.

But, wait! Based on the published findings of IAU (International Astronomical Union) in 2006, our solar system really only has 8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They also found that there are 3 dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, and Eris. To avoid confusing our children perhaps we should just learn MVEMJSUN. The new mnemonic could go something like: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Noodles. Sorry kids, Pluto is now just a dwarf planet. With only 3 in that category, you are better off just memorizing Ceres, Pluto, and Eris as opposed to a silly mnemonic. Oh and in 2009, when the IAU reconvenes, we may yet learn of new confusion. For now, we can say that we have somewhere between 8 and 11 planets. Feel free to pick the ones you like most, everyone else does.

Goodreads

I found Goodreads on Nicole's blog and explored the concept a bit further. The site is basically a collection of book reviews and allows people to swap books. I was more interested in the little script they have that lets me show what books I've read recently. So, below my blog archive, you ca now find my list of read books. Click on a book and you'll see a brief review. I am still updating reviews, so don't expect too much just yet. You can also look at books that I am currently reading and books that I plan to read. I am always looking for new ideas. Feel free to share!!

I can't believe I have read so many fantasy books. I'm impressed, as is Kristen. I love the escape they provide from my frequent reading from scientific literature and other more non-fiction/religious texts.

I am currently re-reading Jesus the Christ by James Talmage. I love this book and wish I had more time to explore the notes at the end of each chapter as I did while serving my mission.

Brisingr by Paolini

Well, by luck I found out that Brisingr is the title of Paolini's 3rd book of his once supposed trilogy and now planned four book series. The first two are Eragon and Eldest. A good deal of info can be found here. It won't be released until September 20, 2008, but I am putting it my short list of things I want. :) It is already on sale at amazon.com for $16.50 plus an additional 5% off because it is a pre-order book.

In other happenings, my class today went really well, at least in my opinion. I used a software application from graduate school to help explain some difficult concepts relating to action potentials in neurons. The students seemed to really enjoy it. I especially like that it saved me from writing more on the blackboard. I really don't like using chalk. Whiteboards are definitely the way to go!

Teaching finally

Today was the day. I finally had the opportunity to provide instruction to some of the greatest minds around. Scary thought! For the next few months I will spend 3 hours every Monday teaching 2 sections of Neurobiology of Behavior. Each section is 90 minutes long and both are back-to-back. Fortunately they are in the same room so I just plant myself and hang around for 3 hours.

My first day went pretty well. I was prepared and I felt that the students wanted to learn and that always makes teaching easier. I am glad I brought a large nalgene water bottle - one of my Valentine's Day presents from Kristen. Talking for 3 hours can really dry out your throat.

I am excited for the future and look forward to facilitating the learning process for these students.

In other news I will be doing an outreach program demonstrating labs about Neuroscience and embryology. I am excited for the opportunity!

Follow-up impressions

Now that class has been going on for 2 weeks here are my revised impressions. I still love the room layout. The seats are quite comfortable, though the desks are small. What's new about that on a college campus though? One would think that some company out there could make a desk for college-aged adults that could at least fit a notebook - especially at Harvard of all places.

Shopping for classes is indeed an administrative nightmare. The third week of classes is rapidly approaching and my sections are still not finalized. To complicate matter further, the first sessions were supposed to begin on Monday, the 11th. But, that day passed without sections, so they were rescheduled for next Monday - yes, President's Day. I am sure the students are just as happy about meeting during a school holiday as I am. Isn't shopping wonderful? Whatever happened to designing a catalog with a class of 300 students divided into 20 sections with 15 student each? You could even break it down a bit further by having 16 sections with a cap of 18 students and still get 288 to register, which is more or less this year's class. Even with 20 sections with an 18 student cap some sections may have only 7 or 8 students. All the better for the instructor and the student. 7:1 is much more manageable than 18:1. Why? I ask again WHY?

I must give credit to Josh Sanes and Jeff Lichtman. They are giving excellent lectures. Albeit the material is being covered a bit fast for what many students can keep pace, but hey this is college and we are at Harvard. Hold tight we are in for a fast paced ride. But, to be fair, I think the lectures are great and the material quite fair. Even the reading assignments are manageable. Although to be honest I haven't been keeping up with the reading in the book. I had two years worth of graduate courses covering this material and have been to countless lectures and seminars diving into many more of the particulars covered. I hope I understand what is being covered in a basic neurobiology course catered to students with little scientific background. I'll find out what the students think of my understanding of neurobiology during my first section on Monday.

I love being on the other side of the coin!! I hate laptops....no laptops are fine-its the finger pounding rapidly on keys that drives me crazy! Much of what is being said is written verbatim on the pdf handout. Rest those fingers and open your minds! Oh and turning off cell phones would be a polite thing to do.

Harvard First Impressions

I participated in my first undergraduate Harvard class this past week. I should probably set the stage a bit before expressing my opinions. I am not a student; I'm a teaching fellow for this course. This was an experience from the first class of the semester. The course is open to students all across campus and has no prerequisite.

My first impression was that the room was amazing. It reminded me more of a theater than a classroom. I've met in large lecture halls before at other campuses, but this was WAY nice. The projection screen was huge, contributing to the theatrical feeling. The seats were quite comfortable, but the desks, like always were quite small. I also got to see the prep room, which is just amazing and reminds me of the space I saw at the Shakespearean Arts Festival behind one of their theatrical stages. In other words it is huge and has just about anything for various lecturer needs.

My second impression is that of the students. Because this is the first class, this means Harvard is still abuzz with students shopping for classes. Yes, I said shopping. Students have not registered formally and are literally looking in on classes before deciding if they should take it. Hence the term shopping. To illustrate the shopping phenomenon, when this class began the hall was full. A seat was scarcely available with some students standing in the back. As the class wore on students trickled in and out. By the end of class, the number of empty seats was quite evident. What fun for a person lecturing and having to watch as student literally walk out on them. Its a good thing I don't start any instruction until after this shopping period and the students are divided into sections. (Oh yeah, sections aren't decided until shopping is done. What an administrative nightmare!!)

My third impression is one that may change as class goes on. To me it appeared that the instructors were going out of their way to sell the course to the students. The lecture was quite entertaining and involved some fun interactive aspects. That's pretty amazing for a class of about 300 students. I would be most impressed if lectures continue to be as dynamic, fun, and entertaining. However, I suspect that the lectures will probably droll off to what I've come to expect from science classes in such a setting. Only time will tell.

Finally, I love not being a student!! I am free to look around and see what students are frantically writing down in their notebooks or typing on their laptops (the front row should be dubbed laptop-row). Come on! It is the first day of class. Students are still shopping for classes. The course was outlined and the syllabus reviewed. I saw some students with multiple pages of notes. Crazy! Well, perhaps not. I'll see how note taking goes as the course goes on. I bet having the presentations available on pdf before class will affect those pen speeds and the carpal tunnel.