New York State of Mind

I've been on Summer Holiday for the past three weeks now. It has been wonderful. Right after graduation I traveled to Buffalo for a workshop on teaching and writing case studies in science classes. I originally wanted to learn about problem-based learning (PBL) but I couldn't find a workshop so the Buffalo conference was actually my second choice. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to learn that PBL is just one of many kinds of case studies. The workshop was enlightening and intense: I had homework til midnight every night. The final exercise was actually writing a case study from scratch and then teaching it to 12 students paid to be there. The old adage is right; "You learn by doing". I still haven't read the comments on my presentation though. I'm hard enough on myself as it is.

After the workshop I tooled around Western New York for a week. What an absolutely beautiful state! I drove through the Finger Lakes region mostly. Here's a list of my favorite places:
Ted's Red Hots (Buffalo landmark--charcoal grilled hot dogs. I feel bad I didn't sample the Loganberry Drink)
Albright-Knox Art Museum (Buffalo-Awesome collection of modern and contemporary art--home of my favorite Pollock)
George Eastmann Home and Photography Museum
Joseph Smith Farm and Sacred Grove
Canandaiga (Beautiful finger lake shore--best ice cream cone I have ever had--Snickerdoodle)
Women's Rights Museum (Seneca Falls)
Corning Museum of Glass (Mind-blowing: Not to be missed)
Ithaca (Cornell University)
Museum of the Earth (Crazy good fossil museum in Ithaca)
Oneida Community Mansion (Fascinating Utopian Community)
Fort Stanwix (Rome--Important Battle In Revolutionary War)

Susan and Mr. B are doing great! I've been walking Beebo twice a day. Susan is decorating the backyard with lotsa pretty rocks. I've been working very hard to radically transform my non-majors course. But more about that later.