Wind Turbine Project Part 3

Students from the Engineers with a Mission PIT Crew (Project Implementation and Testing Crew) continue to move forward with our wind turbine project. These pictures are from work done on winding coils. They kobbled together a coil winding gizmo to help them with the many, many loops of wire that needed to be held tightly together.

Tayo is in charge of the alternator construction, and the first step is winding the coils. Tayo and Karen are shown taping the wound coils so they don't unwind. Sproing!

Eventually, these coils will be placed near rotating magnets in the turbine. The rapidly changing magnetic fields will induce electrons to course through the coils like blood through a beating heart. I couldn't "resist" posting a little edu-tainment video on magnetically induced currents.

Looking on the Bright Side

We told Jono that we intend to have him repeat first grade today. It went something like this:
The M and I sat down on the couch with him and she said
"Jono, guess what? You get to be in Mrs. W's class again next year!"
"Am I being held back?" he says.
I didn't even know he knew what "being held back" meant. But he knew.
The M says, "Well, yes. Your papa and I think that would be best for you, and we always want what's best for you. And Mrs. W is excited because she loves you and is happy that you get to be in her class again next year. You will be her special helper because you will know how her classroom operates and you can help all those new kindergartners coming in next year."

We went on to explain that he was not being forced to repeat because of his grades, but we thought it would be better for him to improve his reading and handwriting before moving on to second grade.

He said, "I really like that idea, and I'm never going to change my mind."

Well. I couldn't ask for more than that.

We went on to do some role-playing with him to help him deal with anyone that might tease him. I think he is confident and prepared. I am relieved it didn't upset him.

A New Blog Persona for my Wife

In order to try and protect our privacy from stalkers and the paparazzi, I have referred to our family by nicknames and abbreviations. My wife has been M, my oldest son D, and my youngest Jono. I refer to myself only as "The Middle-Aged Fat Guy".

I have decided that M needs a new name. Something with more snap. Here are some of the names under consideration:

"The M" like the guitar player for U2, "The Edge",

"Wife M"

"M Unit" or perhaps just "MU" for short.

"Mama" which is what she is often called around the Orangehouse anyway,

"Genvieve" because my grandmother always thought she reminded her of an old friend by that name,

"M-ster",

"M-theory", short for "master theory", which is what physicists are now calling string theory with a view towards unification,

So what do you think? Shall we put it up to a vote? Give me some new ideas.

Jono's Reading Problem

Jono had two significant appointments yesterday. One was with his pediatrician (a check up) and one was with the school councilor (an IQ test and a test for dyslexia). It's mostly good news. He is average height for his age, but below average in weight for his age. I'm not surprised by this, the boy eats like a bird. Everything else is just fine.

The tests at school showed that he has a high IQ, but that he is not reading on par with his IQ. We knew that already. So what's the problem? The tests show he does not have signs of dyslexia! She did say he was "kind of wiggly". Ha! No surprise there either.

His wiggliness may be reflexive of a lack of maturity, or of ADD. I don't really think he has ADD because he can focus when he wants to and doesn't show some of the other signs. So I think it's just immaturity.

This is resulting in his teacher having to reteach him things she has already shown the class. He doesn't ask questions if he doesn't understand. Instead he just sits there and does his own thing until she notices.

"Jono, do you understand what you're supposed to be doing?"

"Umm... no, not really."

With all this, we have decided to go ahead and have him repeat first grade. We're going to have one more conference with his teacher, but I'm pretty sure that's what we're going to do.

We are having some angst, however, about telling him. We obviously want to put a positive spin on it, like "Jono guess what? You get to be in Mrs. W's class again and be her helper next year!" or some such. Can I get some advice from the blogosphere?

Central Slice Theorem

Thanks to Bob for being a guest speaker in my Bioinstrumentation class today! He was engaging, funny, and took us all on a mathematical journey into imaging systems. Here he poses with a free-handed Fred Flinstone to illustrate the Central Slice Theorem in computed tomography.

Tomography is used to recreate 3-dimensional images in the medical field. CT scans, ultrasound, geological imaging, and cartoons all use tomography. Yabadabado. The image below is from one of my students, Yasaman, who's cousin, Sam, is being treated for cancer in his neck. The egg-lookin' thing in his neck is a tumor. Here is his blog.

Join me in a prayer for Sam: Father God, you are the creator of all of us. Thank you for giving Sam a good mind and a good attitude during his illness. We pray for his health and healing in Jesus' name. We pray for peace for his family, and wisdom for his doctors. Amen.