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I'm a bum
We closed today at 2:00pm Actually, I am homeless. Not to say that I am living on the street, but Julie and I finally sold our house! We closed today at 2:00pm. Hooray!
Tallahassee house STILL for sale (with POOL!)
An offer on our house just fell through, so it is back up on the market. Spread the news and help us sell this house. It is a great deal. We just lowered the price to $175,000!
We're off to cooler climes
In case you hadn't heard, Julie, Sage, Noah, and I are off to cooler climes. I recently got a position as an instructor for the Geography Department at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
The house has plenty of room for guests . . . We found a cute little -- actually, it is HUGE -- house to rent in a great neighborhood. The house has plenty of room for guests, space for our new disc golf basket out back, and a giant play room downstairs for the kids. Did I mention the deck? The two car garage? Yes, we'll be living in style. And we have the option to buy at the end of our lease. If you're interested, check out these pictures of our new house.
Our Tallahasse house is for sale
We are selling our house in Tallahassee, Florida to move to Bowling Green, Ohio. I will be teaching at Bowling Green State University starting in June.
Spread the news and help us sell this house. It is a great deal!
Dr. Todd
For me, it was really incredible to see the final project all come together... I wanted to share this very exciting news with all of you! On Friday afternoon Todd successfully defended his dissertation. It ONLY took close to 7 years, 2 universities, taking and passing his comps 2 times, 2 separate PhD projects combined, 2 competitive grants he received (one from NASA and one from CIRES), 2 kids, living in 2 states and 4 homes, and 2 trips to Greenland and 1 to Peru.
Todd did such a wonderful job presenting his research on Friday at his defense and he was surrounded by family and some of his closest friends who drove many hours to be here with him. For me, it was really incredible to see the final project all come together, all the bits and pieces tied together for one incredible project- because, hey, I went through all of those almost 7 years of this with him. Since Sage was 2 months old, and throughout all of Noah's life, their Daddy has been "busy working" on his PhD, but this weekend they (and me too) got to enjoy Todd's company all weekend long!
I couldn't ask for a better birthday present... Todd will graduate on April 27th, the night before my birthday. I couldn't ask for a better birthday present- as many of you know, I am ready to not be married to a student. Todd has been a student every day of the almost 9 years we have been married. He is searching for jobs now- and who knows where our next stomping grounds will be!
Happy Monday to everyone!
-Julie
A Doctor in the house
Hooray! On Friday, I sucessfully defended my dissertation, "Assessment of Mass Balance of Glaciers From Small Tropical Glaciers to the Large Ice Sheet of Greenland."
I intend to publish at least three papers from this research, two of which I have been asked to publish for a couple of years now. I'm also working on a book chapter with my colleagues at GLIMS.
Almost PhinisheD!
On Friday, March 23rd, I'll be defending my dissertaion! Woo hoo! The first 45 minutes or so is open to the public and you're invited. It's at Florida State campus, Bellamy, room 317 at 4:00pm. Party to follow.
Accumulated teaching evaluations
Hands down the best professor I have ever had. Over the last 9 semesters I have taught 11 classes at TCC and have gotten student evaluation results from 5 of those classes (student evaluations are not given in summer classes for some odd reason). Below is a table of the accumulated results of those surveys. (Click read more if you don't see the table.)
| Always | Average | Sometimes | Low | Never | |||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Skipped | Average | |
| 1. Explains subject matter clearly. | 110 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.90 |
| 2. Presents subject matter with enthusiasm and interest. | 110 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.99 |
| 3. Explains what is expected of students. (States assignments clearly.) | 105 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4.92 |
| 4. Uses class time effectively. (Organizes classrooms presentations.) | 111 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.92 |
| 5. Stimulates interest and curiosity in subject matter. | 105 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4.86 |
| 6. Presents meaningful applications of subject matter. | 111 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4.92 |
| 7. Allows reasonable time for questions and comments. | 110 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4.91 |
| 8. Listens to opinions of other people. (Accepts other possibilities or alternatives.) | 110 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4.87 |
| 9. Is fair and consistent in grading policies. | 107 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4.91 |
| 10. Is willing to help students with course work. | 105 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4.90 |
| 11. General estimate of instructor. | 114 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4.93 |
| 12. Additional comments (complete and unedited). | "Hands down the best professor I have ever had. Class flies by and I can't wait to get back." (MET 1010 Fall 2005) | ||||||
| "Todd Albert is an excellent instructor. This has been a meaningful, interesting, and inspiring experience." (ISC 1140 Fall 2006) | |||||||
| "Making a note on Mr. Todd Albert's enthusiasm and interest - he has done an emaculate job on presenting the subject matter. I myself, have never found Science as interesting as I do now - b/c of his apparent love for teaching science & being a scientist. I am more than glad to of gotten him as a teacher." (ISC 1140 Fall 2006) | |||||||
My rough students statistics are as follows:
Male: 40%
Female: 60%
Black: 29%
Hispanic: 9%
Students that took more than one of my classes: 11
Total: 370 students (just at TCC)
Recent photos of the kids
You've been asking us for recent pictures of our kids. Well, here they are!
Of course, some of these "recent" photos are from last year, but to many of our friends from around the world, these are recent. Let me know what you think!
My Favorite Hong Kong Cinema and Martial Arts Movies
I am often recommending Martial Arts and related films to friends and students. Finally, I've devised a list of my top choices of movies from the Chinese / Hong Kong Cinema! Enjoy!
