Training Log Archive: barb

work commute

To Fresh Pond, then biking around setting controls for the 5th grade O trip, which was a success. It's really smooth now. The teachers do all the teaching; they train the kids on mapreading and compass and teamwork and routeplanning; all I have to do is check in with the rangers, print a few maps, give the classes compasses to train with, check that the street-O answers are still valid (hydrants and houses change color, etc.), then show up on the day and hang controls and watch it unfold.

Teams do a street-O to the park, then the usual landmark control + team control mission; puzzle pieces are in the envelopes.

A gorgeous day: bright white light bouncing off ripples on the water; lazy summer sound of airplanes but enough leaves on the ground to suggest autumn; kids laughing and rolling down the grassy slopes.

C • GPS? 2

To my book group and back.

work, then scouted the controls for tomorrow's 5th grade street-O to Fresh Pond (which might get rained out...). A lot of the clues involve the color of houses or fire hydrants, which can change year to year.

DD run

C • Should that not read... 3

work, epigenetics class, home.
And a brief ride to meet my boyfriend from *29* years ago for lunch. As I approach my 50th bday, I am marveling at the vast stretches of time that have passed since I was young.

C • Eric? 2

Excerpts from my brainstorming emails with the 5th grade teacher at the Morse school; the goal was to write up a grant application (bus costs, printing, A meet entry fees) and to include relationship to Massachusetts' learning standards ("frameworks"):

FALL focus: Use maps to navigate efficiently from point to point. Culminating projects: compete in a national orienteering meet.

SPRING focus: Team-building and problem-solving. Culminating project: as a team, use topographic maps to plan and execute a route that visits off-trail locations in the woods. Penultimate project: build a 3D model of the woods they will actually be visiting; use it to do the route planning.

• 
  History and Geography #6. Distinguish between political and topographical maps and identify specialized maps that show information such as population, income, or climate change.
  We will be using topographical maps that include specialized information of great use to them in their navigation.
  
• Earth and Space Science #14. Recognize that the earth revolves around (orbits) the sun in a year's time and that the earth rotates on its axis once approximately every 24 hours. Make connections between the rotation of the earth and day/night, and the apparent movement of the sun, moon, and stars across the sky.
  We will be learning about the position of the sun in the sky at various times of the day -- and how we can use that in navigation. This makes it very real.
  
• This one is grades 6-8, and we'll be laying the groundwork for it: 1. Recognize, interpret, and be able to create models of the earth's common physical features in various mapping representations, including contour maps.
  
• Technology/Engineering: 3.4 Identify and explain how symbols and icons (e.g., international symbols and graphics) are used to communicate a message.
  
• From the appendix to science frameworks - suggested additional activities.
  Standard #1, grades 6-8: from a contour map, build a model that shows the physical features of a selected area and the loations of wildlife/plants.
  Grades 3-5, Standard #12: Visit local sites that show the effects of glacial advance or retreat on the landscape (e.g., drumlins, kettle ponds). (There are glacial erratics in the woods, for example.)
  
• Just generally: getting out in the woods, observing things - and then following up in an inquiry-based way, on observations that the kids have about the plants and animals, or man-made features (like the mysterious stone walls in the middle of the woods).
  
• There is definitely some math - scale, estimation...
  
• Health - http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/health/1999/109...
  
  • So this is definitely a physical activity
    
  • Teamwork is mentioned in the frameworks.
    
  • Section on mental health - being able to deal with emotions in a constructive manner will be part of this; decision-making; communication.
    
  • Section on interpersonal relationships: communication
    
  • Section on safety: communicating in an emergency; role-playing potential scenarios; working out action plan ahead of time.
    
  
  
• I have not head time to look at the English Lanugage Arts; that might be relevant too. http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0311.pdf
  

Later:

Looking at the standards has given me some more ideas. I'm looking at the English standards.

I know that I could easily get a writeup of the kids' experience in learning about orienteering and competing in a national meet written up in the NEOC Times (the local club's newsletter). It's quite likely I could even get it published in Orienteering North America. Why don't we think about having kids work on narratives that describe their experience, starting from learning about it? At a minimum, there could be a regular reflection written, maybe a paragraph or two, after each of our activities, and we could then draw quotes from that to build the story, plus photos. Another approach might be for the class to do a group composition. Maybe the individual pieces could be written by kids as homework or something, and then they could talk as a class about how to pull it together into a story. Wouldn't it be neat to see a published product of the kids' group writing?

We could also consider seeing if the local paper(s) would be interested in doing a story on the kids' experience. Or maybe some kids might like to write an opinion piece about this way of learning, or about the value of orienteering to education, or who knows.

Grade 5 students, from page 27 of the ELA standards (March 2011):

1. Write opinion pieces on topics of texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. (details omitted...)

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. (details omitted, but they include the option o fusing illustrations and multimedia!)

3. Oooh! Oooh! Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear sequences.

• 
  Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
  
• Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
  
• Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.
  
• Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
  
• Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
  

Wow, keyboarding skills are part of the grade 5 standards. type 2 pages in a single sitting... They say to use technology to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others. Hm, here is another idea: there is an orienteering training blogging site called AttackPoint. I record my (paltry) exercise there. Kids could each create an account, and then if they do training (running, biking, or actual orienteering training), they can log it. This would allow interaction because you can read and comment on each others blog. "Good work!" or whatever. Like an old-fashioned Facebook for orienteers.

Later:

Also, we could probably get a "How to orienteer" piece posted on the Orienteering USA website in the Education section. Certainly in the NEOC section.

So, choices that kids might have for a final written product would include:

• Narrative of their experience
  
• How to orienteer
  
• Opinion piece about the value of orienteering or this project-based learning

Night orienteering with Isabel at Nobscot. It was very pleasant orienteering with her. She's good at spotting features and has a good attitude...

Beginner - Splits

The junior high field trip was postponed to October 7th due to weather.

The Graham and Parks 5th grade classes have started training for their outing to Fresh Pond.

I'm starting to work on the Morse School 5th grade activities for the year. In an exciting development, the entire class is going to compete in the CSU A-meet sprints in October, as a field trip! They've made special arrangements to keep the kids past the normal end of the school day.

C • Sprint 6

To the federal courthouse, where I was randomly not selected for grand jury duty. 23+15 were selected for a jury tackling health care fraud and terrorism; 5 more were selected as alternates for an existing grand jury on organized crime, which is the one I thought would be amazing. On the way home I rode past Hanover Street, and instinct diverted me into Mike's Pastries where I purchased four scrumptious looking canolis. Canolis from Mike's were a regular treat back when I was an undergraduate, THIRTY years ago...

favorite word found on the internet today: unexpectancies

OK, so there is no AOC on the googlenets, so I guess it is wide open. Maybe we can get advice at Helmund.

C • trail-o 5

Tomorrow is World Alzheimer's Day. Figured I'd mention it now as I'll have forgotten by tomorrow.

Parked in the loading zone at Dunkin Donuts, and was hoping one of the police people would challenge me so that I could make a carbo loading zone joke. Instead they just smiled and said hello.

Met this morning with the jr high teachers in preparation for Friday's field trip. I have one kid in a wheel chair, who was rescued from an orphanage in Afghanistan a couple years ago, and brought to the US for surgeries. The Cambridge woman who brought him back has adopted him, I think, anyway, she goes as his mom. He is going to be in phone contact with the teams, and keep track of where they are. Not as technology-friendly as GPS tracking, but it gives him an important role and will be helpful for us to know where the teams are. He's also learning Catching Features, so he'll be able to give the team a demo at the assembly afterward.

Izzy is sick, and it's too bad because she can't play soccer for the time being. Bronchitis or something.

hospital to Harvard to home

To Burren to hear some bluegrass, then stopped by a street party on the way home, danced to Stayin Alive and crashed someone's living room to see the last half hour of Groundhog Day.

I love how google maps zooms in to orthotopic (graphic?) photos of the buildings. Maybe Catching Features could, like, fade into real footage from a movie for a section of a leg, if the O-avatar happened to be running the same route as, say, Matt Damon, in that real place.

I wonder if you could construct a Catching Features environment/background from the pictures of Venice in Google Maps. You have two sides of most buildings; just reflect seen sides onto unseen sides to complete the graphics. Then, when you're running along the same canal or bridge or back alley as James Bond in one of the three (or more) Bond movies shot in Venice, you segue into that footage for that stretch.

Maybe when I'm there I can shoot footage of every street, in both directions.

...
*available instant-play in Netflix
-only physical DVD
!not available at all

Training movies for Venice Street-O, sourced from Wikipedia as well as some other online list that was returned high on the google:

-Merchant of Venice (R), 2004, with Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph fiennes
*Dangerous Beauty (R), 1998, with Jacqueline Bisset, Rufus Sewell, Catherine McCormack. Period romance 16th century Venice; based on true story.
-Summertime, 1955. Katharine Hepburn. woman traveling alone; falls for married antiques dealer in Venice.
*Bread and Tulips (PG13), 2000. Italian with subtitles. This is the one about the housewife left behind when her family rides off on the tour bus without her.
-Only You (PG), 1994. romantic comedy.
-Rick Steves: Italy's Cities 2000-2009. Has a section on Venice.
*Ancient Mysteries: The Miraculous Canals of Venice, 2005. Narrated by Leonard Nemoy.
-Casino Royale, 2006, James Bond movie.
*From Russia with Love, James Bond
*Moonraker, James Bond 1979
!The Anonymous Venetian, 1970.
-Othello, 1995, with Kenneth Branagh
-Only You, 1994, romantic comedy
-The Italian Job, 2003 heist film.
!Nenu Naa Rakshasi - Indian - definitely want to see this - 2011 romantic action film.
-The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, superhero film adaptation, 2003.
-A Little Romance, 1979 romantic comedy, Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane
*The Honey Pot, 1967 crime comedy film.
[not yet available but in the Netflix database] Everyone says I Love You, 1996, Woody Allen. musical.
-Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
-Italian for Beginners, 2000 Danish romantic comedy. The film was made by the austere principles of the Dogme 95 movement, including the use of hand held video cameras and natural lighting, and is known as Dogme XII.
-Casanova (R), 2005, Heath Ledger
-Just Married, PG13, 2003.
-The Thief Lord, 2006 family film. I liked the book.
*The Wings of the Dove, 1997 drama.
!This is the Night, 1932 comedy. Cary Grant's feature film debut; he didn't like it.
-The Tourist, 2010 romantic thriller wiht Angelina Jolie & Johnny Depp.
!The Venetian Affair, 1967 spy film
!The Man Without Desire, 1923 British silent film. directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Ivor Novello, who also co-produced the film along with Miles Mander. The film was Brunel's feature-length directorial debut and has been described as "one of the stranger films to emerge from Britain in the 1920s"

C • A Little Romance 7

This morning's title: The Tragedy of the Missing Underwear.

I actually got the feedback that at the *other* house, the parents have no trouble stocking adequate clothing.

I was all proud of myself last night for staying cool for hours of helping my clearly acutely depressed kid through hours of trying to do homework, and pride goes before a fall, so then I fell this morning, by not staying very cool at all. I am not excelling at this parenting thing, and I'm not talking about the clothing piece of it.

...

I read some article about Svante Paabo recently, the very interesting man who took on the sequencing of the Neanderthal. One thread was how humans really do wipe out other species, and have been working on it for a very long time, though we've gotten particularly good at it lately.

C • rats 4

This and this have me thinking if we can just keep from killing ourselves off long enough, maybe we can escape the planet before the sun goes nova. Although with all the reading I've been doing for David's history class on how the white man wiped out the native Americans, I'm not sure that would be a good thing for the universe.
Galaxy-O?

Biked to G&P for a meeting with the teachers about the ongoing orienteering project, to culminate a week from Friday with a trip to the woods. Then to work. Then later to Izzy's soccer game.

C • long enough? 3

Paper was rejected. On to next journal...

C • next 4

Orange course, Pawtuckaway. Big Island first half.

Time is a guess. Pawtuckaway. Dave beat me by 15 min.

Beautiful weekend at Pawtuckaway. Theron & Elizabeth came along; we met up with Dave Gibbs (who asked me why I hadn't followed up with him on being a NEOC board member; I explained some but not the worst of it), and his kids Zak & Ozma.

Time approx.
Wicked hard night-O with Dave. 5 controls.

C • time exact 2

To school to teach orienteering, to work, to home.

I have always wanted to take the kids to the Biennale. We did try, once, when they were really little, but train problems meant we had just a few hours. (We were on our way from somewhere else to somewhere else.)

Now we will do it. AND get to do the Venice street-O too. It is just in time, because it is the last Biennale before David leaves home. Assuming he does leave home.

C • Biennale 4

Well, I just submitted a single-author paper on a mostly conceptual topic to Science. I fully expect to be laughed out of town.

Crazy life - school starting with all the hand-holding that can require; work totally heating up; orienteering responsibilities I should really shed until I'm retired... I have to prepare 85 individualized multi-page, color orienteering homework sets for Friday. Hm. Plus the lecture, which I'll give four times. My voice already feels hoarse.

So many things are going well though -- David passed his swim test for crew today. He turned in his first problem set for a Harvard computer science course. Isabel is enjoying school so far. I haven't been laughed out of town yet. Not yet.

Work commute, in the rain

OK, I have finished the final draft of this conceptual computer science slash molecular biology paper that I've been working on, off and on, since March! Hopefully I'll be able to submit it in the next couple of days, somewhere.

First day of high school

Compare to first day of kindergarten

NEOC meet, Horn Pond. Managed to get me, Dave and 3 kids to the meet. Isabel completed her course, in spite of being barked at by a scary dog whose owner assured her it was a nice dog but didn't exactly rush to control the dog. Izzy said she lost 5 minutes first having to stop and be barked at, and then waiting to punch until the dog and owner finally moved away because she thought the high pitched beep might anger the dog...

Hike with the family in New Hampshire. Some drama.

So Isabel has started practice for the freshman soccer team, and David has started, wait for it, CREW practice!
There are a lot of boat houses on the River Charles, I've realized.

C • Holy Cow 2