A "Cool" Science Experiment - DIY Air Conditioning

My house is about 60 years old. This means the attic is poorly ventilated, the walls are thin, and what little insulation that may have once existed has probably turned to clumpy wads of structural detritus. The result is that our house is consistently in the mid 80s throughout the summer. My wife and I have discussed central air a few times but there are some other home improvements that are higher priorities. So until I check a few things off my list, I'm stuck sweating it out.

Today I was looking around Instructables (which my sister-in-law accurately describes as "Pinterest for guys") and I spotted this tutorial on how to build a DIY air conditioner using a box fan, copper tubing, and an outdoor fountain pump. It was just too cool not to try. 

Here is the finished project. I zip-tied the copper tubing to the fan and then carefully attached the pump inside the styrofoam cooler. We already had the box fan, so the whole project only cost about $40. 

Before adding ice, I checked the air temperature with the fan on. Yes, that's a meat thermometer. I'm an English teacher, not a scientist. Give me a break. 

Add ice. I remember learning once that salt water has a lower freezing point, so I imagine that experimenting with that could improve the air conditioner's performance.

3.3 degrees cooler after running the pump for about 5 minutes! Ok, maybe that's not a lot, but I'd like to think of it as a starting point. I bet with some tweaks, this baby could hit the 5 degree mark.

Realistically, my homemade contraption would last about 6 minutes in a house with three kids under the age of five, so I'm taking it to school for the final days before summer recess. Not only will my students appreciate the (slightly) cooler classroom, but my DIY air conditioner practically comes with a pre-installed teachable moment about conductors/insulators, air temperature, and freezing point. What a "cool" way to review for the science final exam. 

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I'm Just a Teacher.

This morning, I returned a phone call from a mother of one of my students. The child’s father answered and was less than pleasant with me. After introducing myself, he tersely asked, “Are you someone important, or just another teacher?” I remained professional and politely deflected the aggressive statement, but below is what I would have liked to have said.

Yes, I am just a teacher. I just teach:

social skills
collaboration
self esteem
responsibility
civil duty
ethics
pride
humility
sensitivity
critical thinking
problem solving
drive
peer relationships
community building
leadership
trust
conviction
overcoming adversity
support
analysis
organization
public speaking
professional discourse
manners
honesty
character
focus
independence
perseverance

Oh, and I also teach your child how to read and write.

You're welcome.

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Facing Layoffs, Teachers Need to Advocate for Themselves

Like many states, New York is struggling with how to manage a bloated budget. Unfortunately, rather than trimming fat and implementing ways to spend wiser, education has become the target of severe cuts in state spending (my school in particular is currently forced to operate next year with a massive 17% cut in funding). Last year, states laid off 58,000 teachers nationwide, and projections for the 2011-2012 school year don't look any better.

Sadly, I have a personal connection to this. My sister-in-law, Amanda Wagner, is one of those teachers whose job will not be in the district budget for next year. Rather than be angry, she took the chance to share her insight via an editorial in The Buffalo News. Her overall message is a call to action; a plea for parents, students, teachers, and community members to take an interest in their schools. Too many see education as an almost invisible part of their community, and this can be dangerous as conditions slowly and quietly decline.

A few days after Amanda's editorial printed, someone posted a negative comment. Maybe this guy was just trolling, but I took the bait and we have been sparring back and forth. My goal isn't to make this person look foolish; I have a much deeper motivation.

I'm proud to be a teacher, and I truly believe that what we do on a daily basis makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our students. I have used the comment section of my sister-in-law's editorial to hopefully dispel some of the popular misconceptions of teachers. My hope is that immediately after reading my blog post, you will read her article and the comments. Think about what makes you valuable as an educator, and add your own comment. As professionals, we need to advocate for ourselves.

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The Problem isn't Facebook, It's the Users who Misuse

About three hours ago, I wrote a blog post about a class project I was working on where students had to create pretend Facebook pages for characters in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. After posting, I hopped on Twitter to send the link out to my followers. Surprisingly, one of the recent tweets from someone who I follow also had to do with the topic of Facebook. It was a link to the ABC News story of 6 middle school girls arressted after creating a Facebook event titled “Attack a Teacher Day.” Needless to say, it was an interesting juxtaposition to my post proclaiming the value in harnassing the social network’s popularity among students.

This is a perfect opportunity for a teachable moment.

We must remember that the problem is not the technology, but those who use it maliciously. Back in the days of note-passing, you wouldn’t blame the pencil for a bit of slander scrawled on a piece of paper, would you?

It must be our job as educators and parents to be positive role models when dealing with social media. The solution to problems such as the girls in Nevada isn’t blocking Facebook – it’s educating students abut the difference between wrong and right on the web.

One silver lining to this – the article says the girls invited 100 people to the “Attack a Teacher Day” event. Only 18 responded. This means 82% either ignored it or deleted the invitation. Hopefully this is a sign of fledgling digital citizenship.

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