Chapter 2: Don't Call Her Rosy

Whew! It's been awhile since my last post regarding Women's Herstory Month. Since our last excursion into achievements of women in math and science, I have been bogged down with grading papers, outlining and executing sufficiently engaging lessons to teenagers, completing my final Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA; or Total Pain in the A_ _) for my credential program, and not getting enough sleep.

Just to give you an idea of how unkempt this has made me, I had to refer to a facebook post to see the last time I showered. My optimistic guess was Wednesday. It was Tuesday evening. (It is now Friday; not to worry, dear Boyfriend, I did shower this morning.) I stand by the claim that can only be indicative of pure genius. Case in point:

What does all of this have to do with Herstory Month? Well it is indeed my own story, but it is also a story common amongst many geniuses or achievers that our work supercedes cleanliness. Who wants to shower everyday, anyways?

This entry is dedicated to one of those hard-working women, whose hours spent working in a dark and poorly-ventilated university laboratory should have been rewarded with a weekend spa getaway (and a Nobel Prize) -- instead she was only rewarded with obscurity. The stolen work of Rosalind Franklin made a name for James Watson and Francis Crick, and only recently have people begun to pay her lip service for her contribution to molecular science and DNA:

Chapter 2: Don't Call her Rosy

Rosalind Elsie Franklin came from London and was a very strange child. She did not express a creative side and was only interested in that which was empirical and logical; in school she excelled in math, science and sports. She was like a little adult, and did NOT enjoy being called nicknames like Rosy. It was probably not known at the time but Franklin was most certainly half-Vulcan, too.

As a university student, Franklin studied chemistry and quickly became an expert in the field of x-ray crystallography. Upon receiving her PhD from Cambridge in 1945 for her work on the porosity of coal, she continued research in France where she was treated as an equal amongst male colleagues, something that she rarely experienced in England.

When opportunity struck to do research on the structure of DNA at King's College, she leapt at the opportunity but also realized it would mean she would not be working under the best conditions. Her laboratory was set up in a leaky basement in the Biophysics department and despite her credentials and meticulousness at working under a microscope, she was given only one assistant, Maurice Wilkins. Franklin and Wilkins worked many hours interpreting the crystallography of the structure of DNA, but they were not the only ones seeking the secrets of its structure. Over at Cambridge, James Watson and Francis Crick were using models and their knowledge of molecular cell biology to attempt a replica of DNA. There was no friendly collaboration between the two institutions as the field was very competitive -- whoever discovered the structure of DNA would surely attain fame and a place among other science immortals like Galileo, Newton, and Einstein.


As time wore on and Franklin continued her research with her assistant, Wilkins grew weary. He felt that they had surely acquired an accurate picture of the structure of DNA implying a double-helix, but Franklin wanted more research to solidify their hypotheses. Crick knew that they were working in the same area he and his partner were, and inquired them about it. While Franklin was hesitant to share much with him -- she either wanted to be certain of her claims, or Crick had rubbed her the wrong way upon their first encounter (the whole "Rosy" thing) -- Wilkins willingly shared the image. He did this without her permission or knowledge after the fact and this remains a topic of controversy in the science community.


The rest is pretty much history: Franklin returned to her work without viewing it as a great loss -- so long as the knowledge had been uncovered she felt she had done her part (but for the sake of argument I'm certain she was just a *little bit* pissed). She used her knowledge of x-ray crystallography and experience examining the structure of DNA to study the structure of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus, and RNA.

Francis, Crick and Wilkins jointly won the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA a few years after Franklin died of ovarian cancer at the age of 37. Watson penned an account of his and Crick's "discovery" of the structure of DNA entitled The Double Helix. In 1987 a film version was made, "The Race for the Double Helix," which contains a scene of Wilkins giving Crick the well-known Photo 51 indicating the double helix structure.


So, how do I feel about all of this? The angry Feminazi in me wants to go on a tirade about how MEN have the need to control everything and MEN are responsible for this figurative weight on our shoulders and MEN just need to be a little more open to collaboration and consent, dammit.


But there is another voice in me that says that people's shit gets stolen all the time. Who invented Calculus -- Newton or Leibniz? Who created pyramids first -- Aztecs or Egyptians? In "Race for the Double Helix" there is a poignant moment after Photo 51 has been taken and Francis and Crick have made their DNA model, and Franklin is examining it. The look on her face is not one of spite but of engaged curiosity and recognition.

Recognition that they have finally created a visual structure for that which cannot be seen. They have finally placed names and chemicals and combinations for that which makes every living organism unique as well as a part of something whole.


They have finally created another way for me to fail that Chemistry test!


Celebrating the [too-short] life and amazing work of Rosalind Franklin is just one facet of Women's History Month and the greater subject of feminism. To take a step back and not be angry, or lose sleep over disadvantages that have occurred in the past to women making a name for themselves amongst male colleagues is the right path towards striving for equality.


(I know this ended abruptly but I have a yoga class to get to!)

Introduction & Chapter 1: Sophie Germain

Introduction: (Holy crap, March is here already!)
One important reason to love this in-between seasons, almost-Spring month of March is that it is a time to celebrate Women's History.

Something you all should know about me is that I love talking about women. I love talking about the roles they play in their lives. I love talking about their strength, their perseverance, and the crap they've had to endure to get to where they are now. And I love saying all this wearing a skirt and make-up.

Since the beginning of time, these double x-chromosomed creatures have birthed new beings and raised posterity for generations and generations. But, they have also developed similar mental and physical capacity as their male counterparts, too! Indeed, the role of women has diversified itself through the ages, evolving from gatherer and homemaker to Computer Scientist Barbie.

Regardless of one's own opinion of how this progress helps or hinders the meaning of a female-bodied persyn's worth, the meanings behind the struggles endured to attain equal rights should still be noted and celebrated.

Chapter 1: Sophie Germain

Germain grew up in 18th century France to a very traditional bourgeois family -- her father worked as a silk merchant and little is known about her mother or her interests. Sophie and her father held very different opinions about what women should be doing with their time. Sophie would plow through the books in her father's library, absorbing all information like a sponge and craving more. She took a liking to mathematics, particularly Calculus and Number Theory, and would study the works of Newton and Euler by candlelight.

Her father caught her studying at night many times and often confiscated her materials, leaving her body cold and her mind hungry. When she did not have a secret stash of papers and writing utensils to fall back on, the nights were long and torturous. After finding her asleep at her desk on more than a few occasions, her slumbering face set atop of papers with equations and calculations, her mother secretly supported her educational endeavor.

Germain finally got the opportunity to exchange correspondence with Adrien-Marie Legendre, who was lecturing on number theory at the Ecole Polytechnique. She had no choice but to write letters as a man, and they soon became distant colleagues working to solve Fermat's Last Theorem.

Over the years Germain collaborated with Friedrich Gauss on the [in]famous Last Theorem, finally revealing her true identity and gender, to his amazement and awe. Although their correspondence ceased as their areas of study shifted, it is a pivotal point in women's history (and the history of mathematics) that Germain was considered an equal colleague of so many influential mathematicians.

Sophie Germain was one of the first female mathematicians that I learned of once I began pursuing the subject as an avid 7th grader. To me, mathematics and the patterns found therein gave the secrets to some kind of magic. Math was something a lot of peers my age, a lot of female peers, would typically dismiss as "too hard" and I found myself enjoying the challenge rather than despising it. The curiosity and the risk-taking involved at getting an answer "wrong" is the good-stuff in life: it gives us feedback that we can use to make things better, gives us evidence with which to predict what will occur next, and it gives us the faith to know that we can always give ourselves another chance to make something perfect.

Letting the hot air out

Pennsylvania English teacher vents and doesn't get away with it

This blog entry shall be brief as I have a lot of work to get done before the week begins again -- I don't disagree with the fact that a teacher blogged about a few terrible days at work, or with the choice of words she used as she could best describe her perception at the young people's [mis]education. I am in complete support of a person venting, as people will do, on their own personal blogs, be they public or private -- and I believe hers was private; or, at least, it did not name specific students NOR did it mention the place she worked.

I just feel that, as an educator, we are looked upon to find the diamonds in the rough, or to help maintain the ones that already stand out among the others. As an educator, it is up to us to maintain ourselves as people of emotional, mental, and physical stability -- not as superheroes or even super humans; rather, as people you can see yourself going to for help or for someone to talk to because nobody else will listen to you. It's a lot to live up to, but I have always stood that if you keep things positive, and keep Work Life at work and Home Life at home, you will have success in those with whom you interact. Positivity is a huge component in my teaching philosophy that I've developed over the years and it's helped me to befriend, not antagonize, the young ones I see and teach everyday.

Do you remember what high school was like? Angst, misconceptions, drama, self-consciousness, body image issues, eating disorders, homework, material goods, grades, expectations everywhere . . . The last person I would want labeling myself and my peers as stoned slackers would be a teacher. When all else was collapsing around me, I found comfort in going to school, learning things, and watching my quirky teachers do their thing because I knew I could count on it to be there. Sometimes it wasn't, because nobody's perfect. If I could recall a time when a teacher called us any of the things this PA educator did in the classroom, it's since been overshadowed by the positive aspects of school.

A Mathematician Writes

One aspect that I really enjoy about working where I do is that I do not have to abide by any pacing guide, computer-generated tests or quizzes, or "script" created by a corporate office somewhere out in Texas that does not know my students to the depth that I do.

Of course, one aspect that would make my  job a lot easier is having a pacing guide, generated assessments and "scripts" to follow when I am feeling lost about how to better show my students the real-life applications of the Binomial Theorem or the Quadratic Formula.

Nevertheless, it gives me the opportunity to guide students through written reports to seek out math applications for themselves. For the last two years I've assigned a "Wonders of the World" writing assignment where students chose an ancient "wonder" or one created during/after the Industrial Revolution. After the reports are turned in, extra-credit posters and videos presented, we watch an episode or two of "Engineering an Empire," an amazing series from The History Channel.

 "The Aztecs"

Before my favorite video rental place in Berkeley closed down (RIP Reel) I'd get most of my videos or DVDs there to show my students. It was independent and had a plethora of obscure videos, with such subgenres as "Man vs. Shark" and showcased more than twenty great actors/actresses/directors' work with their own shelf of achievements.

My only critique was that their video collection was missing the original "Sleuth" starring Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier and written by Anthony Shaffer. I still have yet to see the 2007 remake from Kenneth Branagh, which WAS available at Reel. I'm curious how well Jude Law pulled off Caine's original role as the young, good-lookin' guy.

Humboldt County folk would recognize this store as a variation of Figuredo's, where I first checked out so many foreign and independent videos that my teeny weeny middle-school brain could hardly process. There I was first exposed to so many cinema greats: Almodovar, "El Topo," and "But I'm A Cheerleader." Those were the days I coveted Roger Ebert's job.

Tragedy struck in 2000 or 2001 when a kitchen fire from an adjacent Mexican restaurant spread to Figuredo's in McKinleyville and destroyed decades of work to build such a unique video collection. I remember mourning the loss for weeks, having to make the commute to Arcata if I desired the same hard-to-find titles. That Mexican restaurant is where I had my first chile relleno combination plate. It's never been the same.

But let me return to my original point: writing essays in math class? Yessiree, it is indeed one of the finer points of the scriptless classes I teach. It's a great way for writers to explore mathematical applications and for mathematicians to explore writing applications.

One of the best classes I took in college was Writing for Science, which combined my love of the written word with my passion for empirical knowledge. I brag to my students that I won second-place in an essay contest not for the self-congratulation, but to show them that all the logic and mathematical lingo that I thrust upon them in each 55-minute session can be used to further one's own talking points. That essay writing, just like mathematics, needs to follow a formula for success. Sometimes the writing will go off on tangents, sometimes it will be more rigid, and sometimes it will look and feel counterintuitive. But regardless the end result is clear, concise, and unique.

A Pirate Knits With Yarrrrrrn and Hunts for Purls

With the date of Stitches West (SW) fast approaching, this is what I imagine my brain has turned into:

A knitted I-cord brain stem could make for an EXCELLENT lasso!

Yes -- my brain has become a knit/crocheted mess! If my brain were made of yarn, its fiber content would change with the season. Right now it is 100% Peruvian highland wool, thinking of warm thoughts and keeping dry in the downpour of rain that is being experienced in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I have started a Knit List (teehee) of things that I want to search for this Saturday at SW. Last year I went in not knowing what to expect; I did stock up on many different yarns and accessories and books that I wanted to explore, but I feel like I had no direction. I was just groping at anything I could get my paws on, like so many eager children I used to view with envy on Nickelodeon as they blazed through a Toys 'R' Us on a competitive shopping spree.

The space in Santa Clara is so huge that one feels the need to rush through the aisles, and it's dizzying to weave in and out and try to see everything. With some guidance and a few modest goals for garments to knit this year, I feel like I have a chance to get a lot of loot this year that will go to good use.

Until then, I've managed to abstain from getting too many new knitting accessories -- with the exception of some beautiful sock yarn from the lys in WC.

And researching how to make pigs fly; you KNIT them!

Today at lunch is Crafting Circle; so far it's me and one other crocheting [male] student. All ya'll gotta get off Academic Probation, ya hear? No more lunch detention for you -- you belong with me, crafting into infinity! 

There are some pretty creative folk that I'm sad to say are victims of education, or their own sloth, or both.

Or perhaps it's because their teachers are spending too much time blogging and not updating grades.

. . . 

To the grade book!

I am ___________________

Today the students at my school showed a lot of solidarity towards racial stereotypes by writing "I am ___________ " signs taped to their clothes. The signs exposed their race and a multitude of other stereotypes that followed:

I am Mexican. I'm on the T diet. I got pregnant at 15 and go home to an abusive husband.

I am black. I will rob you and sell drugs in your neighborhood.

I am white. I'm privileged and will to go a better school than you. People don't suspect me of doing any crime.

This compelled me to write my own:

I am a woman. I wear high heels and wish I had bigger breasts. I cook and want to please others before I please myself. I wear tons of make up and pretend to be stupid.

If you think about it too much, it's depressing. It hurts. But that's the whole point -- and furthermore, we are NOT those stereotypes and we even surpass them when we realize our greatness and overcome hardships to achieve our dreams. OK now I'm sounding mushy.

Either way, this "movement" sparked many genuine conversations throughout the school and I can already feel the bad vibes wearing off. We're all in need of a vacation and will get one next week, but this has helped tame the fire that we are all feeling in this tiny school.

Lest I forget, all this conversation reminded me of an "In Living Color" skit my boyfriend showed me a couple of weeks ago:

(Of course, ignore the ad in the beginning :-P

Rebirthing (ew)

Let me tell you a little bit about this website's inception and conception: it all started with an assignment from my credential class to create a Blogger account. It was my understanding that we had to create a blog from which we respond to all class assignments -- how to integrate technology in the classroom, how to use "data" given from the district to raise API (Academic Performance Index), meet our district's goals of successfully implementing technology while meeting state-adopted standards, and give more reason for the state to give us dinero.

But let me not get distracted by the inner workings of our education's excessively bureaucratic rewards system.

Needless to say, I was wrong in my understanding. However, I am keeping up this blog and committed to figuring it all out to utilize it for myself in all the ways that I can. I won't go into the inner workings of the status of my previous website. I'm just moving on. Pity -- I was just getting used to WordPress, too. :-/

As for now my To Do list requires more hours than I can give concentration towards; my brain is partially lost in Las Trampas where I was this time yesterday, and partially lost in the pursuits of creating a knit pullover inspired from a twisted-bark tree I viewed there:

Quite gnarly indeed.