On time management.

I have fully settled into the new job. Things are well. I am, however, finding myself not having enough time to do, anything. Luckily enough, I have put aside thirty or so minutes for this long overdue blog posting. Truth be told, I have never really ever been that organized, or time-savvy as it were. The lack of time is punching me in the face like Liam Neeson in one of his action movies. 

Each week, my workday seems to be lasting longer and longer. 5, 6, even 7 in the evening at times. The good news is that I am actually accomplishing the work I set out to do. This was also a problem in my youth. Now, I must learn to consolidate work much like my debt, and pay over time. I have utilized things such as a calendar to improve my time management and to remind myself as to what day it is. These things really work wonders. 

Sometimes I feel as though I do not take enough advice from my cat. He knows how to live. 

Violo often times chooses to sleep. The entire day. 

I also find myself losing touch with my fellow educators. I tend to only leave my cubicle for coffee. Lots of coffee lately. Ergo, many trips to the bathroom as well. I'm sure my new time management skills will also help to assuage this as well. Not so much the frequent urinations, but the time away from friends. 

In other news, my swing dancing seems to be improving. At this rate, I shall be more than ready for next year's talent show. I have also changed my diet to that of mainly avocados. 

Well, my 30 minutes is up. Stay tuned for another exciting episode.

The Busy World of Ian Bee : Part One : Robots

So I am finally back into the swing of things with the new school year. While having only Saturday off may seem droll and lackluster, I actually prefer to keep busy. Too much rest causes my mind to become stagnant. That being said, I have much on my plate in terms of plans for this year. I hope to bring those plans to fruition in these few remaining months.

For starters, it is almost time for the new season for U.S. FIRST to start. For those unaware, FIRST is an annual robotics competition comprising of thousands of schools, clubs, and organizations with tens of thousands of students, teachers, and mentors helping to expand teamwork, ingenuity, and their overall goal of promoting what they like to call, "gracious professionalism." My school started their own robotics team last year. When the posting went out for the club advisor, I jumped at the opportunity. What better than a teacher of English to take over a club mainly involved with the exploration and implementation of science and technology. Then again, who doesn't love robots?

FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

Each year, FIRST creates a new game that becomes the challenge for teams across the world. Each team has six weeks to build a robot from scratch to both solve the game's challenges and compete with other schools at one of hundreds of regional competitions. The winners of these events move onto the finals held in Minnesota. For our school's inaugural season, the game was entitled "Rebound Rumble" In which we had to design a robot that would compete in a game of 3-3 basketball. We fared quite well considering who we were up against. Many thought our team to be a complete joke and had little to no faith in the abilities of citizens of Western Massachusetts.

I find something about lost causes very attractive.

My hometown has FIRST in its blood. My alma mater often had hundreds of students in their robotics club with tens of thousands of dollars in private donations and sponsorships. Because of this, Team 126, better known as Gael Force, has won many championships in its 20+ year experience with FIRST. 

The special name tags I created for our competition. 

Our team, Team 4410, The Cyborg Senators, were comprised of myself, a few incredibly dedicated faculty members, and eight of the most hard working students I have ever come across. Together, we spent those six weeks making fun of each other and eating lots and lots of pizza. Having not one engineer or computer programmer on the team made building a robot from scratch a seemingly insurmountable task. We were, however, able to create something that we were not only proud of, but were able to compete with at our competition at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I remember vividly the day I told the team that by the end of the six weeks, we would be absolutely sick of each other. Which we were. These students, for those six weeks, would go to school normally. After school, they would spend 4-5 hours extra eating pizza and building the robot. This is dedication that I was simply incapable of at that age. 

Six weeks of blood, sweat, and tears.

After many trials and tribulations, we made our way to WPI for our competition. The competitors were fierce and not very friendly. Nonetheless, we made some friends. and we were able to place 15th out of 32 schools. Not to shabby for a robot that couldn't throw a ball... The entire team was present when we presented our work to the district's school committee at their meeting a few weeks after the competition. 

It took us six weeks to get that light bulb to light up.

Unfortunately, some members of our team moved away and will not be returning for the 2012 season. In fact, my first meeting for the Robotics Team was last Wednesday. I had one student show up. She was in extremely high spirits, however. I take solace in the notion of continuing to advise a club that had such a profound influence on not only me, but its members as well. It is a six weeks that I am very much looking forward to. 

Prepping the robot in our cubicle

For those interested in the program, here's a few starting points. 

1. U.S. FIRST Official Website
2. YouTube Footage of our team winning our last qualifying match!

To eat the omelet, turn to Page 86.

For my inaugural post dedicated to literature, I have decided to delve into a series of books that I hold very dear. The "Choose Your Own Adventure" series was a childhood favorite of mine. For those who may be unaware, this series of books, most popular during the 1990's, placed the reader as the protagonist. The first few pages read like an ordinary novel but would then abruptly stop and give the reader two or more choices. These choices would then lead the reader to another page of the book to continue the story. The choices made would ultimately affect the outcome of the story. Back in the early nineties, this was the closest thing we had to "interactive." That, and Sega Genesis.

I remember many years ago in middle school going down to the library during class each Thursday to return and pick out a new book for the week. Truth be told, I was never much of a reader in my youth. Sure, I read the books in school... for the most part. But my idea of fun on a Saturday seldom involved a good book. I enjoyed very short stories. Books with a lot of pictures were also a plus. Because of this, I would often take out books in the EyeWitness series (A series that I shall talk more about later!).

On with the flashback!!!!

So, there he was. A chubby ten year old boy wandering around a simple looking school library looking for something interesting to read and/or flip through. Suddenly he comes upon a small white book with a funny cover. The book was called, "The Cave of Time." I remember the cover had some kid in a green shirt riding a horse in front of a ghoulishly looking bearded figure.

Just. Awesome.

The Cave of Time was the first in
the Choose Your Own Adventure series

It has been many years since I have read this book so I cannot really remember what it was about. I do, however, know that it involved time travel. Time travel, as we all know, is the coolest thing ever. With forty different endings... it was like reading forty books! It was slightly overwhelming for me at the time to even fathom. While I cannot recall the overall plot of the story, I can certainly remember the story ending in my death several times. These stories were notorious for having dozens of endings that ended in gloom and doom.

Certain death.

Bad endings.

Often times I would sneak a peak at a choice to see if it lead to the good ending or to my certain demise. Today that would be considered cheating by my standards. At the time, however, it was called...

Skill.


Needless to say, I would spent many more library days choosing new books in this series until I had read them all. It certainly piqued my interest in reading in general as well as in science fiction. Soon after this, I moved onto the Norby series by Issac Asimov.


Upon further reflection of this series. I often ponder the twists and turns of my own life. Large or small, every decision has made a profound influence on my life. Less than desirable outcomes have created loose threads on my journey. At times, I wish I could tug on those threads to remove them. I now realize, however, that pulling those threads would unravel the tapestry of my life. And we cannot have that, now can we? It is all apart of the grand adventure!

For those interested, these books can still be found at many bookstores. I recently discovered a lot of these at my local Barnes & Noble. Of course, you can also find them online for pennies on the dollar. Much to my jubilation, I discovered that, a few years ago, another publishing copy bought the rights to this series and started to release new stories. Better still, digital copies of these books are slated to be released for the iPhone and iPad. For those interested in this series, here are a few starting points.

1. The Official Website of Choose Your Own Adventure
2. Choose Your Own Adventure books on your iPad!

The Denim Deficiency

After many hours and many cups of coffee, this first week of school has finally come to a close. While it was a lot of work, I can happily say that I am settling into this new position nicely! Now, with the long weekend just beginning, I can sit down, put my feet up, and and do what I do best. Reflect.

This, of course, brings me to a tradition which I hold very dear. A certain tradition that I was introduced to during my first year on the job. Perhaps providing a little back story may clear things help you to understand. To my knowledge, many professions follow a similar tradition taking place on the Friday of every week.

Casual Fridays.

The idea is sound. A way to wind down the work week by allowing associates to ditch the suit and tie for something more comfortable. Jeans are a must for casual Friday.

I, personally, am indifferent towards denim.

In any event, at first I was elated at the concept of dressing down. After all, who doesn't love Fridays? Even better, who doesn't love to be reminded that it is, in fact, Friday? Thus, for several months I participated in the event, waded around in comfort, and was unsatisfied.

I started to think on the notion that many students believe that teachers are not real people. I know I felt the same way when I was in high school. I used to think that teachers went home and did teacher stuff. Teachers did not go to movies. They did not play video games. The list goes on and on. Perhaps a dress-down Friday was also a way to make the teachers seem more normal, albeit slightly, to students.

Regardless, the plain and simple truth of the matter is that I am not normal. That is why I got into teaching in the first place. That, and to save the world, of course. Enter...

Bow Tie Friday.

The truth of the matter is that many people have only worn a bow tie a few times in their life. Wearing one to your senior prom, or your retirement party. You may not notice yet, but this phenomenon of sorts is sweeping the nation. Bow ties have made a resurgence. Much like Nutella, or The Psychedelic Furs have. Perhaps wearing a bow tie is my way of going against social mores. Going in the opposite direction and choosing something that is considered more formal as opposed to less formal.

Or it could just be that I just look so good in them. So good.

The first Bow Tie Friday of the 2012-2013 school year

They really are not that expensive either. In fact, I get the majority of my bow ties on eBay for 99 cents each. Of course, I consider myself very skilled at sniping auctions. It is all part of the fun.

Its fun.

So now is the time to act. Self-tie or clip-on. Find a bow tie and help me on my journey to restore formality and dapperness to the human race.

Some starting points...

1. Article from Examiner
2. Article from The Wall Street Journal
3. A great place to snag your own bow ties