overtly critical

Syllabus:  "...students will be expected to demonstrate the critical thinking and problem-solving skills expected of students in an introductory course at [university]."

Administrator:  "You can't use the phrase critical thinking skills in your syllabus if you don't define what critical thinking is!"

Okay, fair point.  A first stab at it:

In the physical sciences, students demonstrate critical thinking skills by approaching problems and their possible solutions by employing the steps in the scientific method.

Suggestions?  (Aside from the awkward English...)

radar question

There's been a lot of (justified) press on how dual-polarization radar will revolutionize -- no, is revolutionizing -- our conceptual models of convective storm structure, our ability to identify storms that are  producing damaging hail or are tornadic, and more.

But I have a question: will this technology contribute to our understanding of convective initiation?

This isn't a positive/negative question.  It's just a question.  With regards to CI, does dual-pol offer anything, or are its benefits confined to the C instead of the I?  Any thoughts?

smudged up

This beautiful quote is not just true for academic affairs professionals.  It's true for us folks down in the trenches, too.  It's okay to call a classroom audible every now and then, to deviate from the script (or the slides).  Take a chance and explore something you or your students find interesting or even troublesome.  The payoff is usually worth it.

"Never suppose that your plans should be implemented exactly as you envision. You are not a portrait artist. People who lead academic affairs are impressionists. Mary Cassatt and Claude Monet painted people. The lines are all fuzzy, but the picture is worth a lot of money. Your work looks a lot better if it is smudged up."

From Faculty Focus.

She wore...red velvet

I don't remember seeing this before...but it looks just dreamy.

Don't be terrorized by terrorism

Get up tomorrow.  Go to church, go to work, go to school, go to the store.  When you change your plans, when you stop being normal, when you cower to fear, that's when they win.  Don't.  Don't be "terrorized by terrorism."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/travel/17london.html

Cost of introductory meteorology textbooks

One of the things that irks me the most in academia is the runaway cost of textbooks.  (A second thing is how we pass these costs on to our students, almost blindly--how many instructors know how much a student pays for books these days??)  Since I teach an introductory course in weather & climate every year, I thought it would be helpful to keep track of the latest editions of several popular titles.

Author(s)	Year	List Price	Amazon Price
Ahrens (10th)	2012	$209	$172
Ahrens "Essentials" 6th	2011	$188	$155
Ahrens "Essentials" 7th	2014	$196	$172
Ahrens "Extreme Weather"	2010	$171	$156
Aguado and Burt 6th	2012	$160	$135
Ackerman and Knox 4th	2013	$167	$152
Lutgens & Tarbuck 12th	2012	$155	$136
Moran (AMS)	2012	$140	n/a
Anderson and Strahler	2008	$123	$108
Nese and Grenci	2012	$103	$98

If you see errors or omissions, let me know.  I'll try to keep this list updated, for me and for everyone else.  (And maybe I'll add some commentary down the road.)

Last updated January 15, 2014

"Find your teacher heroes"

"If I have one piece of advice to give to new teachers, it would be to find your teacher heroes. Not your mentors. Your heroes."

http://www.notinteacherschool.com/post/42029896112/honoring-one-of-the-greats

My three:

• Sherry Crabtree, Mathematics, Northwest-Shoals Community College
• Ken Crawford, Meteorology, University of Oklahoma (now at KMA)
• Roberta "Bobbi" Webster, Geography, University of Alabama (now at Wyoming)

I would not be here today without them!