Is it over yet?

OK, so its been four weeks since I quit my job (for a great new one), attended a school required function (which I blogged about), completed all the requirement to be a teacher in my new home state (both college and high school...I'm now a HQT), moved, and unpacked!

I'm ready to get back to work!

I thought that being an on-line instructor would keep me busy, but I only want to reach in and smack the lil cherubs. This is supposed to be the age of technology, but I have never heard of so many excuses from seniors in high school, who can text message blind folded. Some of my favorites:

"my internet is down" (so what go to the library, or your friends)
" I couldn't find the assignment" (funny, since it is right there under the link Assignment 2)
"I didn't know that the discussions were due this thursday" (you're right I change the due dates each week to stress you out)
"I am going out of town..." (for which I responded, "good have fun, be sure to post your assignments on-time, as I am sure there is internet where you are going")


Now, don't get me wrong I love on-line instruction, but give me a classroom any day. The interaction with the students, who get my jokes, is always exciting and all though there are the excuses, I can actually give them a hard time even more f2f (face to face).

So, here I am teaching online, blogging, and doing homework for my PhD classes. I can't wait to get back into the classroom; a fresh start with University students might be just what I need to challenge me a little more.

Colloquium...

As part of a requirement for a PhD, the school I attend requires you to participate in 3 colloquia that are held in different places in the U.S. This time it was held in Arizona. It was a intellectual nightmare....Now, a little background:

My university is an accredited online institution based in Minneapolis, MN. Not many people think that "online" is a way to earn a PhD, but I have done more work in my 3 years here than in my Masters program (which was an in-class situation). This being the case, ANYONE, and i mean anyone can sign-up to take courses and get a PhD (or atleast this is my opinion after the week in Arizona). One thing that put me at ease was that, regardless of the number of people in the PhD program, the end result is what matters. Many of the learners I became friends with quickly noticed the lack of intelligence, or I should say, lack of effort many of these learners put in to the program.

The Colloquium is set up like this:
One week in Arizona with a number of 1.5 hour seminars (from 9-6) broekn into different tracks, depending on where you are in the process. I am in Track 2...one more and I am finally a doctor. The seminars are meant to supplement what you have learned in your courses and to help you apply it to developing a dissertation topic. What I found was that of the hundreds of people that attended, less then 1/2 attended the workshops - could it be beacuse there is no check in and check out procedure except to check in on day 1 and check out on the last day?

What makes me laugh is, as a teacher, I hear complaints about students not "doing what they should", are we any different? Given the opportunity will teacher (or adults in general) do the same thing? It boggles the mind.

So, I went to my seminars and even sat in them even if it was not something that I would benefit from, but did attend the "Conversations with the Dean" seminar to give my six cents! (I spoke 3 times with suggestions). For me, it was not a complete waste of time...I was able to narrow down my dissertation topic and network with three facult members that would be helpful in my writing of the document.

I can't speak for the others, but I know that the end result of this will be to see how many of the learners that are at the Colloquia will ACTUALLY earn a PhD...by my guess, very few.

Finally...

Well since I last posted, I have moved, unpacked the entire house, attended two in-service meetings (both which were very informative) and have had time to sleep in. Now, it has also been 106 each day...but I am not complaining.

My new school is beautiful and the staff is young and full of energy; we had a blast at the in-service. Its nice to be back in my own house...my dogs don't know what to do with all the room.

Now for the work..I am two weeks behind in my graduate classes and the classes end tomorrow...I should be working but I am not; I made a promise to someone that I would blog as often as I can and I will keep that promise.

I'm off to write a paper...oh joy!

The email...

Below is an email from a student in regard to a project that is due this week. A project which students have had over TWO weeks to complete, were able to select their group, their topic and the method in which they were going to present the topic. Many selected to do a video/podcast, however, some enjoy waiting until the last minute to get moving.

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Dear Dr. Psych,

I realize this is last minute but my group is having problems getting together all at once. I am available for pretty much every time but they are very busy with SAT class, sports, etc. Is there any way we could do a powerpoint instead of the original choice we made, because that way if one person couldn't make it we could work around their schedule.

For instance Student X can not work on it tomorrow; but Wednesday he can and I believe Student Y can work on it tomorrow for a little but not the next day.

We would really appreciate it. Thank you for you time Dr. Psych

Sincerely,

Student W
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Please understand that the students have had 2 weeks to work on this assignment, in which 4 days were given to utilize the campus and facilities to get the assignment started, if not completed.

I can't wait until FRIDAY!!

The count down begins...

Since my finding out about my new position and giving my notice, I have been busy; reason 1 for not posting anything. However, I now have 7 days before I have everything packed up and I am on the road. I am relocating and am taking the last two weeks off to attend a conference. People are not happy, but there is nothing I can do. I have not really mentioned to many people that I am leaving, but my students have been sure to pass the word around.

So...although I will make every attempt to continue this blog...i can't promise it is going to be very consistent. I think it will make for a funny way for me to keep in touch with the three people that actually read this.

Here's hoping that the road ahead is filled with....hmmm, who knows.

Change....not always a bad thing.

Many people knew that I had been interviewing for positions with post-secondary institutions and potentially moving back to where I used to live (one of the five in the MEME). Well, today I actually turned in my contract agreement for next year stating I was not returning, handed it to Palpatine, who sat there for nearly five minutes staring at it. After which I was told, that she was mad at me; but knew I had to do what made me happy, and without missing a beat asked me who was going to take over my courses.
You see (in my opinion), in the short amount of time I have been at my school, i have become a very popular teacher and teach a very popular course...so to find someone to replace me is going to happen; I am not sure how many of our student population will take the class once I am gone (I am going to encourage it).

So not 10 minutes after my telling Palpatine, three people approached me...so it spread like wildfire. I am hoping that my students don't find out before I get the chance to tell them.

Where am I going, you ask? I have accepted a position with a university teaching psychology and education classes to future teachers. I will also be potentially taking an ASB position at a local high school (possibly teaching a few classes too). I'm excited...

PS.
For the three people that read this...I will miss all of you; it seems like we just started to get to know each other. However, please know that you are all considered my friends and hope to keep in touch with all of you after I leave.

A Disturbance in the force...

So I have not been posting lately because of some many issues that I have been dealing with; however, as of Friday those have been resolved. Many of the people that know me know that I adopted a child six years ago, one with several psychological disorders. With my background in psychology, it was my belief that I could be supportive since my son's biological parents had no interest in being parents. Over the last five years, we have attempted to build an attachment. Now, I L OVE my son very much - please know that! It is very difficult to know that all my education and attempts to show him that someone loves him have failed.

He has had many run-ins with the law, and has really displayed some anti-social characteristics. Therapy, love and direction did not help the situation; there were days that I didn't sleep concerned that he was heading down the wrong path.

Now, until I write the book, you will have to wait to get the entire story; but as of Friday he was detained and booked into juvenile hall; which was very hard for me to accept, although a sense of relief came over me when it did settle in.

I just hope that he one day realizes that the issue is more than just someone loving him; but his having to accept consequences for his behavior; something that he has never had before.

I'm hoping that there will be more time to post from now on...

A MEME; is a blogological affects that...

allows others to "tag" you to get you to fill out information that is fun to share. I've luckily been tagged for this phenomenon, a meme and am honored to have been selected by a person that I think very highly of! Thanks, OKP! :-)

So...the rules:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

Here goes....

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
WOW....ten years ago I was living in Chicago, working in a large retail chain; living the single life, and enjoying it.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
1. Finish my Unit 5 homework for my graduate class.
2. Grade my online class discussion posts and quizzes
3. Read a book for my pleasure.
4. Call my parents
5. Call my partner

3) Snacks I enjoy: snap peas with ranch, Tomatoe and basil wheat thins, Snikers Bar

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Pay off my bills, buy another home, take time off work to travel, finish my doctoral degree and pay off my parents bills and buy them a home and finally, give my fraternity some money to get their own house.

5) Three of my bad habits: Overcommittment, overly judgemental and cleaning up after everyone; I have a bit of OCD so that is MY bad habit.

6) 5 places I have lived:
1. Chicago, IL
2. Las Vegas, NV
3. Long Beach, CA
4. Culver City, CA
5. West Hollywood, CA

7) 5 jobs I have had:
1. Retail Manager for the Gap
2. Bank Teller
3. Resident Assistant
4. Branch Manager
5. High School Teacher

I'll have to find some people with blogs to tag...but this was fun!! Stay Tuned!

Potential New Job

Well, as much as I love the school I work at; actually its a very few of my colleagues (especially the ones that read this), the students, and the parents that make my job bearable. I have been in the market...yes to find a new position. Initially, I applied for a Asst. Principal type position that would also allow me to teach (which would be a dream job, and is why I am not looking to go into Admin anytime soon, because it would take me out of the classroom), but that didn't happen. I then talked to my Master teacher, who is opening a new school in Las Vegas; now this would not be a stretch, as I already have a house there and the new school is a technical school, which is huge and has all the technology already installed (unlike my current school, who has great technology, but no idea how to use it). So over the past several months I have been working on renewing my teaching credential in Nevada and interviewing for positions that come up, both high school and college.

Well, I have been offered a position, part-time right now - teaching at a University. I would be teaching in the department of Education - teaching teachers-to-be, which would be fun for me.

AWESOME, yes!! However, I would have to teach 5 classes to make what I make currently (part-time). So, I am waiting to hear if I have secured a teaching position at the new high school. If hired, I would be the Student Activities Director; while teaching social studies (world history); not my favorite subject, but I have been promised that I can offer my elective within a year (since the new school is 9 & 10 next year).

I have not said much of anything to The Borg Queen about this, but I have a feeling she knows something is up...since I haven't been in to sign my letter of intent, and won't until the very last minute. I will continue to do a stellar job and continue to teach my classes with the passion I had the first day I started. Sidenote: I am a little bummed that if I do leave, I am going to disappoint the 135 kids signed up for my AP elective; that they love, but like my predecessor said, "they often forget about you as soon as you leave" We'll see!

Teaching the Final Frontier....???

Yes, it has been a while since my last blog entry...so lets begin...for those of you are into Sci-Fi; here goes my poor attempt at a Star Trek Captain's Log (as I am the "captain" of my department):

Captain's Log, Stardate 0804.21:

We are very close to coming to the end of our mission in the Gamma Quadrant, we have two months before arriving at Star Base 2008. For the past eight months, we have charted several new systems, and made contact with members of the MSHS civilization, which seems to be overly needy, critical and not advanced enough to be part of the Federation, but often tells the crew as well as the department heads what they can do to better the efficiency of the ship.

The Borg Queen is still attempting to keep the Federation at bay; her last communication with the members of the U.S.S. Sea Crown has really upset the overall attitude of the crew; additionally our First Officer, Cmdr. Studders and Operations Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Q6, are being re-assigned to another ship... Which has not settled to well with many members of the crew.

Like, the officers of the U.S.S. Enterprise, there were rumors that the transfers were because Lt. Speakswell and Lt. Cmdr. Q6 were engaged - there is no truth to this rumor. [Personal note: Its going to suck that the Cmdr is being transferred, he and I have just started to get to know each other better - and he is a great guy. Not to mention, if I am to continue on as the Ships Counselor, I am going to miss knowing that if i need support, I can go to him].

Additionally, the crew was hoping that the Borg Queen would be destroyed so that the Federation could flourish; but no chance of that happening. With the duty schedules due from the department heads, it is going to be interesting to see how things work out - hopefully we wont be running the ship on a skeleton crew early on next year.

Overall, it has been an interesting month and look forward to what the next few months has to bring us as we continue our journey.