What am I really after?

At our first book club meeting, Maggie asked us to write down one thing we really want to get out of this book. (Reminder…we are reading “What the Best College Teachers Do” by Ken Bain.) She asked us to reflect back, as we continue reading the book, and ask ourselves, “Am I getting out of the book what I hoped to get out of it?” “Has what I wanted to get out of the book changed as I continue reading?” She encouraged us to blog about our thoughts. So that is exactly what I’m doing.

At the first meeting, many of my fellow IU faculty mentioned that they were born skeptics. One person when so far to say that most academics are skeptics, that skeptics are even drawn to academia. I am not, by nature, a skeptical person. As I typed that last sentence, I suddenly doubted myself and had to take a moment to Google “skeptical.” In case you’re curious, the definition of skeptical is as follows:

skep•ti•cal/ˈskeptikəl/
Adjective: 1. Not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations.
2. Relating to the theory that certain knowledge is impossible.


Nope, I’m not a skeptical person. I am easily convinced. I’ve only read the first two chapters of “What the Best College Teachers Do” and I’m totally convinced that the six conclusions that Dr. Bain outlined will work to improve teaching. At least for some people. I’m willing to give it a shot. Even it doesn’t work for me, I will still believe that it worked for someone. Perhaps my lack of skepticism comes from my age. I have no doubt that I’m the youngest member of this book club. I don’t have the years of experience that sometimes leads my fellow professors to dismiss ideas and suggestions for improving teaching. Some might call this naivety. I prefer to call it my advantage.

But back to Maggie’s question: What do I hope to get out of this book? I hope to learn the strategies of the best college teachers, practice those strategies, and eventually develop habits that will improve my teaching. Sure, I dream of someday being recognized or referred to as one of the best college teachers, but mostly I just want to be the best college teacher I can be. This is my first year teaching, so there really isn’t a better time to start.

And lucky me! Chapter one outlines six strategies/characteristics of the best college teachers. They are:
1. Know your subject extremely well
2. Treat all elements of teaching, including lectures, discussion sections, problem-based sessions, as serious, as demanding and as important as your research and scholarship
3. Expect “more” from your students
4. Create an environment where students are inspired to “grapple with ideas”
5. Reflect a strong trust in students
6. Develop a system to assess your own teaching efforts and to make appropriate changes

Suddenly I don’t feel so “lucky.” As a first-year teacher (and a teacher who hasn’t been taught to teach, mind you) I’m overwhelmed.

Winter Break Reading List

Over the winter break I began reading for fun again. I always find time in the summer to read but somehow during the school year I rarely make time for reading for pleasure. In an earlier post I mentioned that I found it difficult to get my mind off of work, even when I was at home. I discovered that reading for fun was an easy way to get my mind more in the moment. I take an hour or so to read a good book and suddenly I'm more relaxed, not stressing about what needs to be done for work, and I can focus on my family. Here is a visual list of the books I've been reading.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck was given to me as a Christmas gift. I've only read about half of it, but I really love it so far. It is unlike any other book I read over the break. It is very descriptive, takes my full attention, and is truly beautifully written. I can't wait to finish this book, but it definitely isn't a book that can be rushed through.

I recently joined a book club as part of the PEO chapter I joined in Bloomington. Our first book of 2012 was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I never would have read this book on my own, so I'm already glad I joined this book club. It was an amazing (true!) story about a woman whose cells continued living long after she passed away and made significant contributions to science.

I rarely pick up books that a part of a series because I have a difficult time committing to a set of characters for an extended time period. But I had heard so many good things about The Hunger Games that I could no longer avoid reading it. In addition, I always prefer to read the books before I see the movies and the movie is set to come out this spring. I had no regrets reading this book, it was fantastic. And I was not ready to end my "relationship" with the characters, so I'm glad there are still two more books!

Finally, I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Again, I was pushed to read this book because the movie was set to come out over Christmas. Although I wasn't quite as enamored with this book (it was slow in the beginning) I'm glad I read the book before seeing the movie. I'm not as eager to read the second two books in this series, but I probably will eventually. I can't believe I started two trilogies in one month! That is so unlike me!

I'm always on the look out for new books to read! What books would you recommend? What books are on your list to read?

IU Plaid Contest

I'm excited to announce the next phase of the IU Plaid Contest! Last semester, SIFE-IUB (Students in Free Enterprise at Indiana University - Bloomington) invited students currently enrolled as undergraduates to enter designs into the Official IU Plaid Contest. We received over 25 designs! For more information about the contest, click here. The SIFE student group narrowed down the selection to the top 6. Those top 6 designs were sent to a select group of judges consisting of:

3 alums of the Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design department at Indiana University, Bloomington:
- Michael Ping, Project Manager, Kohl’s Department Stores
- Amy Levin, Founder/Creative Director, College Fashionista
- Jessica Quirk, Personal Style Blogger, What I Wore

2 representatives of the College of Arts and Sciences:

- Kirstine Lindemann, Senior Assistant Dean and Director, College of Arts and Sciences

- Jean Robinson, Executive Assistant Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

1 representative of the Bloomington, IN community:
- Judith Rose, Textillery Weavers

These fantastic judges chose the top 4 designs which are now available for online voting. Anyone associated with Indiana University (including alums, current students, parents, faculty, staff, etc.) or even anyone who just likes plaid is invited to vote for their favorite design. Help us choose the Official IU Plaid that will be licensed and trademarked through Indiana University. Visit the Official IU Plaid Website.

Which design is your favorite?

Bloomington Ice Storm

Over the weekend we had a mini ice storm blow through Bloomington. It has slowly been warming up but I noticed the grass and a few branches are still covered with a thin layer of ice. I just love how beautiful the grass looks individually coated in ice. Huxley, however, does not see the beauty. He rotates holding up his poor paws off the ice-covered grass. He looks up at me with those big, sad, puppy eyes begging me to get him off this awful grass. Well, Huxley is in luck, it is supposed to warm up to 50 degrees today, so that grass should be free of ice by tomorrow. And lucky for me, Eric took these amazing photos of the grass and branches before all of the ice melted away.

This girl got a new hair dryer!

Not long ago the good people at Misikko sent me a new Hana Professional hair dryer to review. Prior to this I have used relatively inexpensive dryers available at bargain retailers because – let’s face it – hair dryers can’t be all that different. So what sets a professional dryer apart from an inexpensive dryer? I’ll attempt to answer that question below, and also provide a few other tidbits of information.

First things first – I need to show you what comes in the box. This product is clearly set up to be gifted. It comes with a variety of neat accessories, and even a plush toy. Check out the pictures below.

The dryer is aesthetically impressive. It is more compact that many bargain store dryers, and the weight of the dryer is distributed evenly resulting in a balanced feel. Not including cord weight, my old dryer weighs in at 1lb 2.7oz, while the Hana weighs 1lb 4.5oz. Trust me, 1.8 additional ounces is difficult to notice. The Hana seems to be comprised of superior components. The twelve foot (yes, twelve foot) cord is both flexible and tough, the scratch-resistant plastic casing is sturdy, and the switches feel durable and of high quality. Additionally, the mesh guard for the fan intake is removable for cleaning! What a great feature!

On to performance. There are a few metrics that come to mind: airflow, heat output, power consumption. In a thorough review, these and other metrics would be compared for a variety of brand new dryers. Unfortunately, my lab/apartment isn’t equipped for such an extensive project. I’ll do my best, though.

There is a tremendous airflow difference between my old dryer and the Hana, although I don’t have access to an airflow meter to back it up with numbers. The Hana’s low speed setting clearly moves more air than my Conair’s high speed setting. That extra weight mentioned above is certainly a result of the powerful fan. The dryer draws 1700 watts, but this number is really useless without a comparison. CHI makes two professional dryers in a similar price range, and they come in at 1300 and 1500 watts.

In order to measure heat output, I placed a standard analog kitchen thermometer across the dryer’s nozzle and allowed it to run for two minutes before taking a temperature measurement. The Hana reached 152 degrees Fahrenheit, while the Conair reached 143 degrees. Also important is how quickly the device can heat up/cool down. I measured this by depressing the “cool” switch on each dryer, holding my hand over the cool air, and releasing the “cool” switch. I timed how long it took for the air to become intolerably hot. For the Conair, it took between seven and eight seconds. The Hana took between four and five seconds.

So, how does all this tie together? To gauge overall performance, I’m offering a rudimentary but comprehensive measure – average dry time. Assuming I begin drying my hair with about the same amount of wetness and using the same drying technique, the amount of time needed to dry my hair on the same settings for each dryer should indicate whether one dryer is – generally – more effective than another. So I averaged three dry times for the Hana Professional and my Conair. The average dry time for the Conair was 3:49, while the average dry time for the Hana was 2:36 - approximately a 32% reduction in dry time. Not too shabby. My suspicion is that this time savings would translate proportionally to different hair styles and drying methods.

One last performance note. Like almost any dryer of merit, the Hana Professional features an “Ion” system for reducing static electricity, and therefore reducing hair frizz. My Conair has a similar feature, so I won’t be able to compare performance very well. I didn’t notice a marked reduction in frizz.

If you are going to spend $194 on a hair dryer, it should out-perform entry level alternatives by a significant margin. In nearly every way, this dryer outperforms the rather ubiquitous bargain store model I had previously used. Additionally, it comes packaged as a fantastic gift. I highly recommend it to anyone ready to step up to the plate on price. Misikko makes a variety of other hair products including T3 hair dryers, hair straighteners, and other accessories.