And Here It Is June...

So what have I learned lately?

My desire to do is greater than my ability to do.

My intention, once school was out was to write more.  I have done that...just not here, which was not the plan.  I thought that I could keep up here, with my regular Pixels, Plates, and LOLs posts, and writing every day for Blueper B...oh, and a photo a day for him and for me.  Then there was stuff like preparing meals, and laundry, and a little (very little) vacuuming and dusting.

Let's just say that during the month of May, I learned the limits my mental capacity.

Weber and I bought our friend Blueper B when we were in Delaware during my dad's illness.

I guess you could say that he was a silly diversion from all of the sadness and seriousness that was going on. He travels and he tells the story of his adventures in words, sometimes mixed up words, and pictures on his own blog.  I vowed that during the month of May I would help him write a post every day.  I fulfilled that promise, but at the expense of writing here.  Looking back, I am really okay with that.  Weber and I had fun with Blueper B's everyday posts.  If I am to be totally honest, I was a bit sad when I helped him write his last post of his Month of Me yesterday.

If you are interested, here is Blueper B's blog.

He will continue to write regularly, but regularly will not be every day.

Now that I know that I can only write so much, and three regular blogs is too much, my writing attention for June will be back here in my own voice.  I suppose if I were a little more disciplined I could manage all three, but I'm not right now.  Maybe I will get there.

The biggest thing happening in my world this month is that Weber is retiring after twenty-five years of teaching.

As of right now, his plan is to be a house husband.  I am perfectly okay with that as I am not retiring.  It will be a bit of a role reversal for both of us as he has worked for the last forty plus years and although I have worked, I have also been the one primarily responsible for household chores for all of my adult life.  I suspect that I can get used to getting up to my breakfast being made and coming home to my clean laundry.  The furry kids are looking forward to having him home all day too.

It's funny...once people hear that he is retiring, the first thing they ask is if we are going to travel.  We are traveling quite a bit this summer, but that has nothing to do with his retirement; it is just the way things worked out.  We won't be taking any long trips during the school year since I'm still teaching; however, I don't teach on Fridays so we will have the ability to take some long weekend trips.  And, my semester breaks are longer than his were so much of January is time that we will have off together.

It is a new chapter to which we are both looking forward.  He just needs to get through the next two days, through the last last day of school!

Another End

Today was the final class day of this semester. By this time next week, final exams will be over and another academic year will have come to an end.  I will have completed year twenty-five in the same teaching position.

The music theory sequence is a minimum of four semesters of paired courses; it can be five if a student comes in needing to make up a deficiency.  Of those five courses, I teach four of them, all but the first (or second).  So by the time I have had the same students for three consecutive semesters in two courses each semester, I know them well, and I have a genuine interest in their lives beyond my classes.  Of those completing the sequence this semester, some have auditioned at four year universities and are excited to take the next step in their education, some are experiencing disappointment because they were not accepted to the school of their choice, and some are questioning whether or not they want to continue on in music or choose another career path.  Whatever the case, it has been my job and my privilege to serve each one of them - to teach them, guide them, and support them along the way as they prepare for whatever their next step may be.

I am grateful that I teach so many courses in this sequence.  Although I am bidding farewell to my class of music theory IV students, I will see those students who have been in Music Theory II and III again next fall.  Knowing that I have a group of returning students makes it a little easier to say goodbye to those who are moving on.

Another consolation is that those students who left last spring have completed their first year in a four year institution.  They are now coming back or sending emails sharing their successes and excitement surrounding their academic achievements.  That students take the time to stop by or write an email sharing with me how they are doing lets me know that they were aware of my genuine care and concern for them while they were in my classes.  In case you are wondering...yes, there are some that I never hear from again once they hand me the final exam.  With a very few, that's OK. I wish them well, but that's it.

I will spend my weekend writing final exams and finalizing grades, enduring the stress that the end of every semester brings.  Next Thursday night I will play for commencement.  And Friday, summer vacation begins.  Just as the semesters seem to fly by, so will the summer.  Before I know it, August will be here and my year twenty-six will begin.  A whole new group of students will come and I will have the opportunity to get to know them, perhaps touch their lives in a meaningful way, and then send them on as well.  The cycle of the academic life.

A Whirlwind Week

The past week seems to have flown by!  Last weekend we were in Baltimore because I had a NOAH board meeting.  Though it was a quick trip and I had little free time, I enjoyed the getaway and change of scenery.  Weber and I did have a bit of time to wander around Baltimore's Inner Harbor on Friday afternoon before my meeting began at 6.

It was interesting to see another lightship.  My dad was instrumental in restoring a similar one, The Overfalls, in Lewes, DE.

We didn't have time to do the on board tours of the Chesapeake or any of the other boats in the harbor. That will have to wait until our next trip to Baltimore.

U.S.S Constellation, constructed in 1854

Below is a seriously blown-out image of the Constellation.  I forget to check my camera settings before I shot the image.  It is so "not right", but there is something kind of magical about it that I like. Don't ask me why.

We had a nice lunch at an Irish pub overlooking the harbor.

After lunch and a little bit of shopping, where Weber got a new hat, we headed back to the hotel to rest a little before my meeting began.

The Friday night meeting only lasted about two hours.  It was during that time that the horrific events in Paris took place.  We emerged from the board room to see the chaos unfolding on every TV in the hotel.

While we were touring the city in the afternoon, we passed by the World Trade Center in Baltimore.  In front was a piece of mangled steel, a remnant of the devastation from the terrorist attack on the The World Trade Center in New York.

I had no idea when I took this photo that in only hours terrorists would again strike in one of the world's major cities.  We flew home early Sunday morning.  The security lines were long and slow at the airport and there seemed to be more TSA agents than usual.  I suppose this could have been my imagination or perhaps a coincidence.

Despite the uneasiness in the world, Monday morning came and we routinely started our school week like every other one this semester.  When I got to school, however, my students were not interested in analyzing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata or writing four-part chorales; they wanted to talk about what was going on in the world.  My job is to educate; sometimes that means setting aside my own lesson plans and "teaching" something different, something that would never be included on any course syllabus. I can answer the students' questions about what chords Beethoven is using, or how to avoid parallel fifths in part writing, but I cannot answer, "Why did this happen in Paris?" or, "Do you think we are on the verge of a Third World War?"  I don't know.  For the duration of that discussion, my students and I were on equal ground, no teacher and students, only people waiting, wondering, and praying about what the future holds.

All week long, the flags on campus that flew at half mast were a constant reminder that we are a grieving world.

On a different note, here is a twirl and haiku from this week...

"The Kiss"

Carefully chosen

To express the hidden me

Words and images.

The cat has decided that the puppy is no threat to her.  Honestly, Piper has absolutely no interest in Frankie.  Though Frankie will never admit it, I think that hurts her feelings a little bit.  With all of the unrest in the world, it is comforting to have peace at home!

Little, dog, big dog, medium dog, and cat happily co-existing!

And the week ended with me making pumpkin butter, a sign that the holidays are fast approaching as pumpkin butter is one of those things that I seem to only make around this time of year.  For the recipe, visit www.pixelsplatesandlols.blogspot.com

Despite all of the ugliness in the world right now, there still exist many reasons to be thankful.  This week I am thankful for safe travels, caring students, loving family and friends, my four-legged furry family members, a forgiving heart, time to make pumpkin butter, and hope.

Time Passages

Yesterday marked the year anniversary of my dad's death.  In many ways it feels like just last week rather than last year, making me painfully aware of just how quickly time flies.  When I look back at my posts here as well as my own journaling, I realize that time really is the overarching theme in my life right now, with the majority of my thoughts being about how I spend what time I have.

I am definitely one of those people that lives up to the rule of the more one has to do, the more one gets done.  My personal dilemmas come when considering the list of things that I "have" to get done.  I spend an enormous amount of time on prepping for teaching my classes.  You would think after doing this for thirty years that I would not have to spend much time preparing, but each class is different and requires different things from me.  And, I'd get terribly bored doing the same things over and over again year after year.  Although, if I did that, it may make it feel like time wasn't passing so quickly!  Hmmm...

For the first time,  I am starting to think about what it might be like to retire, not because I don't like what I'm doing, but because there are so many other things that I would like to do and simply don't have the time.  As it is, I function on minimal sleep, which I know is not good for me.  Short of more hours in the day, I just can't do it all.  Then I have to start making choices regarding which of the things I want to do can get done and which ones can''t.  I don't like making these kinds of choices!  As Weber will tell you, it frustrates me and makes me really grouchy.

I trust that the solution to my time issues will come with much serious soul searching.  Everything will be as it should be when it should be.  Hopefully this will happen while I still have time for all the things that at this moment are simmering on the back burner to actually come to a full boil.

Recently, I did take one step toward doing something that I have wanted to do for a long, long time and have kept putting off because of...TIME!

Ever since I took the first semester of music history some thirty five years ago I have been passionately in love with the music of the Renaissance.  Sadly, the clarinet repertoire does not contain any such music:-)  All through graduate school I played recorders and crumhorns in a Renaissance consort and loved every minute of it.  Back then, I had this unrealistic dream of someday learning to play the lute.  That certainly wasn't going to happen while I was getting my theory degrees, or raising two kids, or teaching, or...and the list of reasons goes on as has time.  A few years ago I started thinking that learning to play the classical guitar was a more reasonable and perfectly acceptable alternative to learning to play the lute.  Mostly that thought swam far below the surface of my everyday thoughts, bobbing its head above water only every now and then...until a few weeks ago when it started to do the survival float.  It was right there on the surface all the time.  I have learned never to ignore this kind of nagging thought.  I did some research and ordered a guitar.  It came in on Friday.

I am excited to learn how to play, but I think the important lesson for me here is to return to that state of being a beginner, taking everything slowly and carefully and appreciating every little accomplishment no matter how small.  No longer does everything I do need to be about perfection or even being "good enough."  It is about pursuing lifelong dreams before it is too late.

I have no desire to be a great guitar player.  My goal is to simply be a happy person.

Peacefully playing

One at a time, a few notes.

Harmony will come.

KEB 10/17/15

Where I Work

Today's Capture Your 365 photo prompt is "Where I Work."  I was excited by this prompt because it encouraged me to take photos in a place where I normally am not thinking about my camera.  The sad part here is that it is the place that I have come nearly every work day for the past 23 years and of which I have very few photos.

As I walked in to school this morning, I was thinking about the possibilities for today's photo.  So many aspects of where I work would be worthy of a photo to represent my workplace - my students, my colleagues, the quirky details of my classroom or the music building, or perhaps a bigger picture of our campus.   

My teaching day began at 7:30am.  These were the students that I missed seeing on Tuesday when I was home sick.  Even though they had a test, they asked how I was feeling and we're glad that I was back.  This made for a wonderful start to my day.

I continued through the morning teaching back to back classes - lecturing in some, returning tests in another, and testing again in my last class of the day.  And then I went to lunch.  As I always do, I checked my personal email and Facebook expecting to find my email full of ads and my Facebook feed full of beautiful photos posted by my fellow CY365ers.  Instead, my phone's home screen was filled with news alerts about another mass shooting.  This one in  Oregon.  This one on a community college campus.  Suddenly,  my perspective on where I work changed.

Where I work is on a community college campus much like that of Umpqua Community College, the site of today's shooting rampage.  Every day I stand up in the front of a classroom filled with students just like those who were injured and killed today.  And every day, that scenario that unfolded in Oregon could have just as easily be where I work - in a classroom that I enter each day, without any reservation.

Those students at Umpqua Community College were in only the first week of their fall semester.  A morning and a  semester that for them began full of possibilities, hopes, and dreams ended in a few short minutes.  What could have been, no longer given a chance.  The lives of all those  sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends, and lovers who were working to better themselves by gaining an education now, rather than earning a college degree, earn a place in history as ten more innocent people taken by gun violence in this country.  

This is where I work.  In a classroom full of students striving to realize their dreams.  In a classroom where the reality is that those dreams can be shattered far more quickly and easily than they can be realized.  This is where I work.  On a college campus in a state whose legislature has voted to permit the legal possession of guns on our college campuses.   This is where I work.  

This is where I work.  Giving my all to every student with whom I share a classroom.  Hoping that I can play at least a small part in helping to make each of their dreams come true.  Praying that the senseless violence that has struck so many students in so many schools in so many places

 ceases and that none of us has to experience fear in any classroom.  This is where I work.

My heart aches for all of those whose lives are forever changed by the events on the Umpqua Community College campus today.  I pray for this college community, for the family and friends of those who were injured and those who lost their lives, for the students and staff who will return to that campus next week trying to move forward, for all those who enter classrooms around the world every day, for all those who believe that violence is an answer.   This is where I work.

What's Been Going On

What the saying?  "Life is what happens while we are busy making plans."  I made the big pronouncement that my plan was to post here regularly.  I guess the truth is that I don't yet have enough of a trend to define "regularly" but in my head that meant almost every day if not every day.  And here it is five days since my last post.  So what's been going on?  Lots, actually.

The biggest obstacle to posting has been no computer.  Well, that's not actually true.  I had two computers.  An old one and a new one.  

YAY!  Weber spent all weekend cleaning up files on my old computer, backing up everything, and then doing the migration of everything to the new one.  It was a long process that I am happy to say is now complete and everything is working perfectly so far, but it left me with no computer over the weekend.

Friday was food post day on Pixels, Plates, and LOLs.  Our subject is cinnamon.  If you are interested in recipes for cinnamon rolls or cinnamon streusel coffee cake, check out this link.

http://pixelsplatesandlols.blogspot.com/2015/09/sugar-and-spice-and-cinnamon-are-nice.html

On Saturday while Weber worked on my computer, I cleaned.  I'll spare you pictures of my clean bathroom, but I assure you that it is picture worthy. :-)

Then we get to Sunday, usually one of my favorite days of the week.  Normally it is filled with church, singing, food, fellowship, and, if I'm lucky, sometimes even a nap!  All of  those things happened, but I must say that church was discomforting, and not in a good way.  My morning started in the Episcopal Church, the church in which I was raised, married, and have called my spiritual home for my entire life.  The guest preacher was the newly elected diocesan bishop of Dallas, a man who is proud to stand in opposition to the held beliefs of the Episcopal Church as a denomination and the Supreme Court of the United States.  He is proud to preach in favor of injustice and inequality for gay and lesbian children of God.  He also began his sermon by invoking the story of St. Francis, which he totally bastardized.  I found myself saying out loud, "That is not the way the story goes!"  I left angry rather than refreshed.

The good news was that I had another service to attend at Cathedral of Hope Dallas where, in direct contrast, the sermon focused on our need to coexist with all of God's people, even with those who hurt us or with whom we disagree.  

There is something seriously wrong with having to go to a second church service because you are so unhappy with the things you heard at the first, especially when that first church is supposedly your home church.  And to add insult to injury, the "first church" had the nerve to do the stewardship pitch.  Yeah. NO.

And then came Monday... 

I woke up feeling not great, but went ahead and got ready and went to school, knowing that it was my shortest teaching day of the week.  I figured I could get through two classes just fine.  I did, but by the time I got home, I felt much worse.  After dinner, I was running a 101 temperature and made the decision that I should not, could not go to school today.  Why is that such a hard decision to make?  I felt terrible yet I also felt a sense of responsibility to my students.  I finally realized that there was no way that I could give them my best so instead of wasting their time, I emailed my classes and told them I would not be at school.  Once I had committed to staying home, I was able to rest and not worry too much.  I can't remember the last time I took a sick day from school.

The animals and I have spent all day doing pretty much nothing but resting, except for the test that i had to write for tomorrow.  

Though I still have the fever hangover kind of feeling, I am better.  I will be back at school tomorrow.

And it will be a new day.

Thursday

My Thursday's are incredibly long days, beginning with my first class at 7:30 am and ending at 4 pm after a final composition lesson.  In between, I teach five different classes and two lessons.  The good news?  Unlike Wednesday's, I actually have 30 minutes for lunch!  The thing that makes this tiring day tolerable is knowing that it is the end of my work week.  And, I have some awesome students.

No one really wants to take (or teach) a 7:30 am class, but to get it all done, this is the way the schedule has to be, so we make the best of it and do whatever we have to do...arrive at school with a great big cup of coffee!  

This morning, one of my students came skipping into class at about 7:28 with a big smile on her face and pronounced, "I am so happy this morning; I am winning at life."  Whenever someone says something like this I always go through a quick analysis of their expression to determine whether they are speaking truth or sarcasm.  In this case,  I was fairly sure it was truth, but I asked her just to make sure.  She said that she was glad that she was on time and really enjoyed being in the class.  How can you not have a good day when it begins like this?  I woke up with a sore throat and the feeling that a cold was trying to take over my body.  This student's enthusiasm and good cheer made me forget about the fact that I wasn't feeling 100% and pushed me to give her my 100% so that she  left class still feeling as though she was winning at life.

My day had an equally good ending.  Thursday has become "diner dinner night."  We have gotten into a routine of meeting a small group of friends almost every Thursday night at our local diner.  It is a true diner experience-juke box and love meter in the entry way; burgers, fries, and all-day breakfast; and servers that know all the regulars (that would be us) and bring our drinks as soon as we walk in the door, no ordering necessary  Most of us order the exact same meal every Thursday night.  That s part of the routine.  We catch up on each other's week, roll our eyes over the current state of politics in this country, solve as many of the world's problems as we can in a couple of hours, and mostly enjoy the friendship that we share.  Oh, and we have dessert.  Diner dinner is the only dinner during the week that includes dessert.  For me that is banana pudding.  This too is part of the routine.  The partners that we are, we close the place down at 9pm.

Neither having a student who feels that she is winning at life or a Thursday night diner dinner may make the list of what makes most people happy, but both are exactly what bring joy to my world.  Knowing that what I do as a teacher causes even one student to feel good about herself and having wonderful friends who enjoy simply being together are both, for me,  awesome things!   If only more people realized that it is really the little things that are the big things in life...

Today's photo prompt was "With A Ball."  This is what you get when you take your photo at 10pm...after diner dinner.  It's all about priorities!

34/365-3 Where I Stand

"Where I Sit"

Admittedly, this photo is more about where I sit. All of my standing today was in from of my classes and thus no photos during school. By the time my teaching day was over all I wanted to do was sit down and kick my shoes off. I am notoriously bad about twisting my feet around my desk chair while I'm working. And yes, I have been known to stand up too quickly (or try) and fall because I am so twisted up in the chair's legs:-) As worn out as I am at the end of the school day, if I strip off the stressful and tiring layers of the day, deep down I am truly happy. My orange "happy" socks remind me me to give thanks for that.

30/365-3 Commitment

'A Commitment to Mentoring"

28/365-3 Play

"Work and Play"

I am fortunate that work means making music!

261/365-2 Between

"Between Notes"

I am thankful that I have a job that I love and that allows me to make music every day, but I have to admit that by this time in the week, I am most appreciative of the pauses between the notes.

246/365-2 An Assignment

'Teachers Have Homework Too!

The truth is that I have stacks of assignments to be graded and assigned to my students, but I couldn't bear to photograph another stack of papers.  Been there, done that this week.  Also, Wednesdays are such a terrible day in terms of time, I needed a subject that I could photograph easily.  Enter my beloved husband...he is such a good sport.  I got a very quick, last minute of the day shot of him with a book that he is supposed to be reading as part of his school's professional development this year.  I guess he got a few pages read while I accomplished today's photo.

For all of you students, teachers have assigned homework too!

93/365-2 Where I Work

"Hard Working Keys"

I have been teaching in the same place since 1992.  I can't believe it has been 24 years; well, really 23.  I took a year off early on to teach elementary music at the school that my girls were attending at the time.  Back then, as a doctoral student, I figured this would just be a job that would give me some experience, something to put on my resume, a stepping stone of sorts that would allow me to move on to bigger and better things.  After all, everyone knows that community colleges are the stepchildren in higher education.

As it turns out, I really love this environment.  My classes are small and I have an opportunity to get to know every music major that comes through our program.  What I have learned about myself in my twenty plus years of teaching at Brookhaven is that though I am trained as a music theorist and that is what I "do," my calling is really as a teacher.  God just put in the field of music to live out that call.  I know this because I am happy teaching just about anything - music theory and composition for sure, but also knitting and journaling and study skills.  There is just something about helping people learn, learn anything, and grow as human beings that feeds my soul.

Not only have I taught at the same school all these years, I have also taught in the same classroom most of that time.  Until I began the Capture Your 365 project it had never crossed my mind to take photos at school.  I am so grateful for prompt's like today's.  How sad would it be to come to retirement (should I ever get to that point) and have not a single visual reminder of where I spent so much of my life and gave so much of myself to others.

Though I do a lot of work outside of the classroom, it is in class with my students that I feel like I do my best work.  This is why I chose to focus on my classroom rather than office or dining room table at home.  Everything that I teach involves piano playing.  This photo is the piano in my classroom with a glimpse of the room itself reflected in the piano.  The music is a Chopin prelude that one of my classes was analyzing today.  You may notice an important thing missing in this shot - students.  I did not feel comfortable photographing my students and posting their pictures online.

I feel so blessed to have a job that I love doing exactly what I want to be doing.  My students are fantastic as are my colleagues.  As a teacher, I am never going to be rich in the material sense, but there is no amount of money that can buy the kind of joy I receive from being in the classroom every day.

20/365-2 Upset

"Empty Chairs"

There is nothing really to be upset about in my world today, but I am a little sad to be going back to work full force tomorrow.  I love teaching, but I have really enjoyed my time off over this break.  I have had so much freedom to do the things I want to do with no deadlines hanging over my head.   I have read, taken pictures, napped and just had time to be.  "Be time" is so important to me...and actually to those who live with me because it puts me in a much better mood.

I feel guilty complaining about going back to work when there are so many people without jobs that need and want to be working.  I know I'll feel better about it once I get to school and things get rolling because I really do like my job.  Right now though, the thought of actually being totally dressed like an adult with lunches and backpacks ready to go in time to leave the house by 7:15 doesn't sound appealing.  

On another note...I spent my last afternoon of freedom taking a couple more funky photos.

345/365 Decorating

"Caffeinated  Thanks"

This is final exam week for me and things are a little chaotic because of school being cancelled on Monday due to the ice storm.  We are having to squeeze Monday's exams somewhere into the rest of the week.  The good news is that the deadline for submitting grades has been extended two days.  That gives me a little room to breathe.

I had two exams today; the first was at 9am.  This class is small, only 10 students, but they are mighty.  Not only did they show up prepared to present their final projects, they also came with food!  One student's mom made the most awesome egg rolls.  I think they are the best I have ever had.    Another student brought chocolate covered popcorn.  Fruit rounded out our morning snack.

After they had completed their presentations, this group surprised me with a gift.  This is college.  They don't have to give the "obligatory teacher present."  I was handed a gift bag filled with coffee samples from Addison Coffee Roasters, two HUGE mugs (one for me and one for Weber), and a very generous gift certificate for more coffee.  This group knows me well!  I was truly touched by the is class' thoughtfulness and generosity.  These are college kids.  Most of them are working and going to school, struggling to pay their own bills.  I was also humbled by messages they wrote to me in the accompanying cards.

This mug will decorate my desk and be a constant reminder to me of why I do what I do.

330/365 Grateful for The Journey

"Lifelong Journey"

I can't believe that I have been teaching at Brookhaven for 20 years!  Time does fly when you are having fun.  I do have fun.  I can't think of a better place for me to be.

325/365 Grateful for Boundless Spirit

"Life Touched"

This month's Inspired class prompt is hands.  Yesterday while teaching a composition lesson I was stuck by the juxtaposition of my hand (top left) with that of my student's.  All I had was my phone, but with permission I snapped this shot.  As I thought about today's prompt, boundless spirit, this image resonated with me as being a perfect depiction for several reasons.

Personally, it speaks of my deep love of teaching and of music.  It also speaks of the truly boundless spirit of this student.  Let's just say that she refers to herself as my surrogate parent.  After retiring from a career as a professor herself, she has returned to the other side of the desk as a student studying music composition.  Here we are putting the final touches on a composition to be entered in the Daughter's of the American Revolution composition contest.

These hands also paint and sculpt and are learning to play the piano.  They have written books, planted flowers and petted dogs and cats.  

Though theoretically I am the teacher in this student-teacher relationship, I feel more like the student; It seems to me that I learn so much more than I teach during our time together - maybe not about composing, but about living life to its fullest.  I hope that when I am her age that I will embrace life with the same energy, joy and boundless spirit as does my student and friend.

314/365 Grateful for Selfless Acts

"For the Love of Students"

Much of who I am today is the result of teachers that I had along the way, teachers who believed in me, nurtured me, and challenged me.  There is no doubt that they all imparted knowledge, but it is the wisdom of these most influential people that has remained with me, particularly in the case of those teachers who taught calculus and chemistry.  The greatest way I know to honor what each of these selfless people did for me is to give to my students that same kind of learning experience that I was given.

310/365 Grateful for the Little Things

'It's in the Little Things"

Thank you , Sara!

276/365 Everyday

"Where I Spend My Weekdays"

MOst of my weekdays are spent at school.  Sometimes it really does feel like a home away from home. I work with wonderful people and have the privilege of teaching great students.  In both respects, I am very lucky and I try never to take that for granted.

I am grateful for today's prompt because it encouraged me to document this place where I spend so much time.  I walk this hall a hundred times a day, it seems.  And, I am fortunate to teach all my classes in the same classroom.  The smaller images show my passkey that is used many times a day, the "decor" in the wall in my room,  the CD player with a friendly reminder from our departmental assistant, my classroom door and my good ol' blackboard.

I'm not sure how we ended up here, but yesterday I had a discussion with one of my classes about how they felt about technology in the classroom, specifically smart boards and lectures that are presented primarily through Power Point-type slides.  I was surprised when they all said that they preferred traditional instructor lectures and notes and examples on the chalkboard.  Yesterday's class had students whose ages spanned from traditional college age to retirement.  I thought perhaps their response had to do with the fact that there were quite a few older students in the class.  To check this hunch, I asked another class today the same question.  This class is made up of traditional aged college freshman and sophomores.  They too said that they prefer the old-fashioned way of teaching.  Wow!

Here are some of their reasons:

• traditional lectures are more personal
• traditional lectures are more interactive
• I feel like it is OK to ask questions 
• I don't fall asleep
• There is opportunity to digress - in a good way
• We all have to think more
• I don't just copy stuff.  I have to put it in my own words.
• chalk and chalkboards don't fail like technology

I thought their reasons here were spot on. 

I wonder who decided that every classroom is better if it is a "smart" classroom?  Is this just a case of we are doing this because we can?  Did anyone ever ask the students what works best for them?  I suppose that the problem could be that we as teachers are not using technology effectively, but as I listened to my students' comments, that doesn't really seem like the root of the problem.

We also talked about the trend of "flipped classrooms" - where students are presented a lecture via video or slide presentations viewed on their computers as homework and then come to class to discuss the material and do their assignments.  This process is touted as "new."  The term "flipped classroom" is new, but the process seems to me like what I grew up with only instead of watching some kind of media presentation, we were assigned to read a chapter in the textbook.  Hmmm…..

This whole issue has been mind opening for me.  We'll see what new trends develop - or which old ones return.