Happy Birthday Mr. Darwin!!!

On february 12th, 1809 Charles Darwin was born, and so was Abraham Lincoln, the former in Shrewsbury-England, ans the latter in Spring Farm, Ketucky-USA. They both had significant work and imprtance in World History in the case of Darwin; and US History in the case of Lincoln.
But let's focus on Darwin. I was fascinated by his theory when I started reading about it, and even though many scientists have tried to prove him right or wrong, it is undeniable that his theory clarified the way we approached to changes of living organisms. This comment is like a double-edge sword because Charles Darwin's ideas have been criticized and disputed since the publication of The Origin of Species, his masterpiece. And even though it is the book that marked his evolutionary theory, he only mentions the term Evolution only once in his book.
Many have psychiologically analyzed Charles Darwin's ideas, work and life in general. Most of his work was a direct and indirect influence of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin, nothing less than one of the leading minds in the 19th century England.
Darwinists and NeoDarwinists, such as Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) and Stephen Jay Gould (Ontogeny and Phylogeny) have had a hard work critizicing but maintaining Charles Darwin's ideas fresh, current and far from any expiration date.
I recommend to see the series of Darwin's life as part of an english production.. There are also a good number of video lectures by Standford University. Check them out.
Of course, speaking of evolution and Darwin I just cannot let pass the new concept in evolution mentioned by Juan Enriquez in his 2009 TED lecture, the Homo Evolutis. this is a very current, dynamic and entertaining presentation of today's crisis reality, robotics, scientific advances and evolution.

Such a Degenerate!!!

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about the 90,000 sex offenders kicked out of MySpace. I'm actually going to mention something that puzzled me when I was in my undergrad years. The Degenerated Genetic Code.
Our genetic code, or set of instructions coded in the DNA, is what alllows each cell in our body to synthesize proteins. Proteins are molecules of life formed by a chain of aminoacids that acquire a specific shape and function by folding its components into intricate 3d structures.
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is composed of nucleotides, or genetic "letters": A (Adenine), T(Thymine), C(Cytosine), G(Guanine). Three of these letters together form a codon (triplet), or "genetic word". The meaning of each of those words is an aminoacid. When a long string of "genetic words" are read, a long chain of aminoacids is produced. This is done making a usable copy of DNA, called RNA (Ribonucleic Acid), a template made from DNA that can be read and then destroyed. The differences between DNA and RNA are: DNA is a double chain molecule, whereas RNA is a single chain molecule. DNA contains the nucleotides: A, T, C, G. in RNA, the nucleotides are: A, C, G and U (Uracil). Uracil replaces T in RNA.
It was well known that the positioning of each genetic letter (A, T, C, G) in the triplet or codon, would determine a different type of aminoacid. However, it had been found that when the first two letter positions remained constant, and only the third letter was changed, it could be observed that the aminoacid produced was the same. This is called Degenration of the Genetic Code.
However when the first or second letters were replaced or changed, a different aminoacid was produced, and the resulting protein usually was defective, or misfolded, useless for its original purpose in any case.
This is something like genetic synonimity, if the term can hold the analogy. Because more than one triplet could "mean" or produce the same aminoacid.
I just came across a report from the American Journal of Human Genetics that takes this degeneration to a research study that found that 1 in 200 genes can be superfluous or dispensable.
Here is the link to the article, take a look at it.

Class Management - January 29th, 2009

Most people think that the teaching profession is not as honorable as it is. It is a very common thought that long vacation periods during the summer were an attractive portion of the profession. However, vacation periods for teachers are usually less than regular professionals in other areas. Teachers don't stay still during the time off, because they keep finding resources, new tools, best and more suitable lesson plans, etc.
In a world were globalization is our daily bread we can only think of the teaching profession as one of the more demanding of all. Because the available amount information is immense, and is growing exponentially. Those who choose to continue teaching the same contents from the previous year without any updates, will fall into the less visited or solicited teachers.
Kids demand a lot of attention, patience and respect. Most of what they are not willing to reciprocate until further their adulthood.
The following video is about class management and was produced in 1947, amazing.


And in this more "current" video made by students and teacher, you can see that the approach is significantly different from that used 60 years before.


How should we conduct our classes? Is there one masterplan? Can we simply extrapolate techniques to handle classroom behavior? The answer is simply NO!!!

Even though there are general guidelines and classroom behaviors that are universal, it is the student population what makes a customized adjustment necessary in order to succeed as a teacher and as a learner. Moreover, student population must be seriously polled to learn about the cultural differences and the nationalities from our students. I learned about CUltural Competency when I was trained to be a Medical Interpreter. And at this point in time, I think every profession should have a mandatory Cultural Competency course to be able to notiuce that different cultures have specific and vital differences within their own cultures.
It is very important to consider the mother language of most of the majority of the student population, but also consider that minority mother languages. this is important at the time of reviewing difficult concepts in subjects such as Science, History and Geography, as well as others. Private Bilingual Schools are a great example of that. But more important, is the public schools in certain countries such as: Canada, USA and England, where immigration is a serious issue to consider in public education.

For now, I must read a lot about teaching in bilingual environments, and I have to read that in more than one language as well.

I finish this post with a question: Should teachers in the future be proactive, facilitators, multiculturally-competent bilingual professionals?

Missing them.....

It sounds ironic when you say that you miss work. Especially when you are a few days from your time off work, enjoying the holidays. However, as much as I want to rest and have fun with my family, can I stop working? Or, at least, can I stop searching for resources and new things to offer in and out of the classroom?
Yes! Vacations all summer, woohoo!!!........not really. I guess that's the fine print when you sign the professional contract to become an educator (working 8 hours at school and several more at home). I didn't leave for vacation time and I can't stop working about the curricular challenges for 2009. My country's academic year runs from march to december. So the holidays mark the end of the academic year too.
I tried to stay away from my tools of research: twitter, ning, monitter, etc. But, even though disconnected for a while, I know I can't get too far from from it. The rest of the world is learning and teaching at all times.
I use lots of videos in my classes, I found the next video from daibarnes at twitter. The US spends thousands of dollars per student every year, my country barely spends tens of dollars per student every year, and I think bioth have similar results in primary and secondary schools. This is no irony, it is a reality. Something that we have to face and that we must change.
The world says technology is the solution. I'm a huge fan of technology, I use it in all my classes, but I think technology alone is not the solution. We must not rely solely on that. The contribution that parents bring to students' performance when they get involved in their education is incomparable.
Get involved in your children's education and you'll see that education and many other areas of interest in their lives will improve.

Welcome Members of DIM-Barcelona, SPAIN

Thanks to our visitors from DIM Barcelona-Spain, one of the greatest and most diverse cities in the world. Home to the best soccer team in the world, Barca FCB.....Can you tell I'm a big fan?
My blog is dedicated to the process of Learning anything interesting, with a tendency to explain and question things from the Science's and Technology's points of view, or at least I try to.
I hope you can enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Gracias a nuestros visitantes del DIM Barcelona-España, una de las más grandiosas y más diversas ciudades del mundo. Hogar del mejor equipo de fútbol del mundo, el Barca FCB.......¿Se nota que soy un gran fanático?
Mi blog está dedicado al proceso de Aprendizaje, con tendencia a explicar y cuestionar las cosas desde el punto de vista de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, o por lo menos eso intento.
Espero que disfruten leerlo tanto, como yo disfruto escribiéndolo.

Twisted Ankle - December 1st

I twisted my ankle two days ago playing basketball at a school activity. I guess the intensity of the game and being out of shape caused that. Anyway, my case is very similar to many others suffering from overweight. Limb and hip injuries are very common in overweight people, because knees, feet and ankles have a limit to support the body's weight.
So, Ive spent the whole day working in the computer and producing a lot. Browsing the links that I receive daily stumbled upon this video, that even though is titled Ankle Injuries, has nothing to do do with the physical phenomenon, but a lot with patience and creativity. Take a look at it.


Fujiya & Miyagi- Ankle Injuries from Insound on Vimeo.

Widgets - December 1st

I just found out this website called Sprout, it allows you to create your own widgets easily to promote things or to present information in an interactive way. I think it's a great way to make your web surfing more dynamic.



For those of you who have blogs and wikis, this list of places will also serve their purpose: