![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zyzylyMan, traffic was bad again today. I left home at 6:25 and didn't get to work until 7:15. I don't complain about it--no point. Who you going to complain to anyway, and what they going to do about it? lol.
I wanted to be there by 7, because I told a student I would be there at that time, and didn't want to make her wait. She got there at 7:20, so it was ok. She wanted to talk about the content I presented last week on fluid and electrolytes. She is a bright student, but gets confused by test questions, and looks for answers that aren't in the question. We reviewed a bunch of sample questions.
I could see what was happening. She was reading more into the question than was there. One of the best things I ever learned was how to figure out what a question was asking. The question itself always has clues to what the correct answer is. The secret is not to get distracted by information that either isn't relevant, or by mentally adding information that isn't there.
We worked about 20 questions, and I showed her how to take them apart and figure out what they were asking. At the end, I think she was seeing it. I'll meet with her after the next test and see how she did. I wish more students would take advantage of office hours.
Most of the rest of the work day was spent catching up on the stuff I didn't get to yesterday, and working on my sepsis lecture. My colleague presented the first draft of next semester's calendar for review. Normally we go through at least 8-10 revisions before it looks good, but this one, the first draft, looks perfect. I think she has it dialed in.
In the moments before I woke up this morning, I had a dream about a big plate of spaghetti. After I was awake, I decided I would make spaghetti for dinner. I found out there was a small market near the school that has a real meat department with real butchers, so I went to take a look. It's the real thing. I bought some freshly ground beef and some italian sausage.
I made spaghetti and meatballs. For the first time, I wrote down my meatball recipe. Not that I won't adjust it as needed, but I need to have a good base to work from these days. I forget things.
Whenever I make meatballs, I think about a guy I worked with back in the early 80s at a clinic in Oakland. He had recently arrived from the Philippines. His name was Paul, but when he said it, it came across as Bah-ool. So I called him Bowel. One day I asked him what he brought for dinner and he told me "Mitball". I thought that was funny. I was young and ignorant.
Little did I know at the time that I would eventually belong to two families of immigrants that I loved, who had to learn to pronounce words in English, and how brave they were to attempt to use the language that was so foreign to them. When I think about Paul today, as I make meatballs, I imagine him as an American immigrant success story, who made the most of what this country offered him.
They're so light 'n fluffy-white
We'll raise a fortune by tonite
They're so light 'n fluffy-white
We'll raise a fortune by tonite
They're so light 'n fluffy-brown
They're the finest in the town
They're so light 'n fluffy-brown
They're the finest in the town
Good morning, your Highness
Ooo-ooo-ooo
I brought you your snow shoes
Ooo-ooo-ooo
Good morning, your Highness
Ooo-ooo-ooo
I brought you your snow shoes
--Frank Zappa
I wanted to be there by 7, because I told a student I would be there at that time, and didn't want to make her wait. She got there at 7:20, so it was ok. She wanted to talk about the content I presented last week on fluid and electrolytes. She is a bright student, but gets confused by test questions, and looks for answers that aren't in the question. We reviewed a bunch of sample questions.
I could see what was happening. She was reading more into the question than was there. One of the best things I ever learned was how to figure out what a question was asking. The question itself always has clues to what the correct answer is. The secret is not to get distracted by information that either isn't relevant, or by mentally adding information that isn't there.
We worked about 20 questions, and I showed her how to take them apart and figure out what they were asking. At the end, I think she was seeing it. I'll meet with her after the next test and see how she did. I wish more students would take advantage of office hours.
Most of the rest of the work day was spent catching up on the stuff I didn't get to yesterday, and working on my sepsis lecture. My colleague presented the first draft of next semester's calendar for review. Normally we go through at least 8-10 revisions before it looks good, but this one, the first draft, looks perfect. I think she has it dialed in.
In the moments before I woke up this morning, I had a dream about a big plate of spaghetti. After I was awake, I decided I would make spaghetti for dinner. I found out there was a small market near the school that has a real meat department with real butchers, so I went to take a look. It's the real thing. I bought some freshly ground beef and some italian sausage.
I made spaghetti and meatballs. For the first time, I wrote down my meatball recipe. Not that I won't adjust it as needed, but I need to have a good base to work from these days. I forget things.
Whenever I make meatballs, I think about a guy I worked with back in the early 80s at a clinic in Oakland. He had recently arrived from the Philippines. His name was Paul, but when he said it, it came across as Bah-ool. So I called him Bowel. One day I asked him what he brought for dinner and he told me "Mitball". I thought that was funny. I was young and ignorant.
Little did I know at the time that I would eventually belong to two families of immigrants that I loved, who had to learn to pronounce words in English, and how brave they were to attempt to use the language that was so foreign to them. When I think about Paul today, as I make meatballs, I imagine him as an American immigrant success story, who made the most of what this country offered him.
They're so light 'n fluffy-white
We'll raise a fortune by tonite
They're so light 'n fluffy-white
We'll raise a fortune by tonite
They're so light 'n fluffy-brown
They're the finest in the town
They're so light 'n fluffy-brown
They're the finest in the town
Good morning, your Highness
Ooo-ooo-ooo
I brought you your snow shoes
Ooo-ooo-ooo
Good morning, your Highness
Ooo-ooo-ooo
I brought you your snow shoes
--Frank Zappa
no subject
Date: 2017-09-27 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-27 11:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 04:28 am (UTC)So post yer meatball recipe already!
Mine: 1 pound ground meat, one egg, a whole bunch of shredded hard cheese (usually parmesan), maybe two milliliters of worcestershireshireshire sauce, all mooshed together, and then right before it gets formed, about the volume of the egg worth of panko, then moosh it all up and form it into golfball-sized meatballs.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 04:37 am (UTC)The last concert I attended before going into the military was Frank Zappa at the old Cow Palace in San Francisco. It was such a good show--Zappa was a genius, and an incredible guitar player.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 12:41 pm (UTC)This seems to me to be a treatable syndrome, though, as I think test skills can be learned. It's great you took this time with her, as this may help her beyond your class.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-29 03:27 pm (UTC)