Service Learning

As part of the 201 course that I am teaching, my students must complete 20 hours of service learning.     Our first effort was to help beautify the grounds of Lena Whitmore Elementary by pulling weeds, and trimming bushes and trees.  It was incredible to see how much was done in such a short amount of time!  

First Day Feelings

I asked my college freshman to write one word that described how they were feeling on the first day of class.  I then typed it into Wordle.net and came up with this:

They may need to work on getting some basic needs met....

Feeling Disturbed

Tomorrow is my first day of teaching all over again.  This time at the University.  My new outfit is ready and hanging up.  My lunchbox is packed in the fridge.  My syllabus is finalized and uploaded, although not copied off in paper form yet.  I have typed my 40 students names enough times to become familiar with them, and am excited to begin connecting faces with these names.  I have a pretty general idea about what is going to happen, but am a bit nervous about the limited technological capabilities of the classroom, and how I will work around that.

I'm sure the first day jitters will kick in soon.   But it's okay.  I am ready to be disturbed.   I was recently introduced to the works of Margaret J. Wheatley.  In her essay," Willing to be Disturbed she writes of  needing to have our thoughts and beliefs challenged.  She reminds us that we are not used to admitting that we don't know something, or don't know how to do something.   I am trying to get better at this. I am ready.  "....we can only find those answers by admitting that we don't know."

Juggling Act

Hold on tight......this is going to be a bumpy transition!  Today I took part in my first official training to become a TA as well as my first department meeting for Curriculum & Instruction.  While the learning curve is fairly steep (especially in designing the online course format), I am more concerned with my ability to juggle my various roles as instructor, graduate student, mother and wife.  There is such an intense demand for my time, that I'm feeling frazzled even before it's really begun at all. If only I could replicate myself....

I was also very disheartened to see my teaching space.  The tables were pushed against one wall and were buried under and piles of piles of miscellaneous math manipulatives, papers, and posters.  In the middle of the room were a stack of cardboard boxes waiting to be recycled. I'm not sure who it belongs to, but I'm sure hoping it will be gone in the next three days. This is definitely not the back-to-school routine that I'm used to!

NIWP Goes Digital

The NIWP 2014 Summer Institute was an incredible learning experience!  This year was a collaboration between the National Writing Project, Idaho Core Training and a big dose of technology through the Doceo Center at the University of Idaho.  The learning that was packed into these two weeks has been intense to say the least!  I was especially excited to be working in the Doceo Center at UI, where we were inundated with technology everyday.  

  The SAMR model was introduced to me as a framework for looking at how technology is used in the classroom. This quick video will give you the rundown in just 120 seconds.

 I find myself reflecting on previous lessons in a very different way now.  You could say that I have a new-found perspective.

Taking the Leap: Ready or Not

If I waited until I was "ready" to start writing this blog, it would never ever happen.  I could easily get caught up in all of my insecurities and self-doubt. I could let the fear of being judged or not living up to some perceived standard stop me from trying, but I am going to start anyway.

I'm going to leap into this new and scary place because I need to practice what I teach; because we all learn new things by trying new things. I need to struggle and stumble and persevere.  I need to feel safe taking risks, because I ask my students to take risks every single day.  

As a friend recently told me, "Sometimes all you need to do is take the first step....even if it's the wrong step."