Category Archives: Personal

Reflection for 7/27/15 to 7/31/15

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I’m realizing that I can’t hold on to the past. I can’t let things bother me. Being resilient requires letting go. I feel like I learned to hold onto things, so I should be able to unlearn. I have spent too much time, energy, and effort. Now, I need to drop it.

It’s Monday after a fun-filled weekend camping at Raystown with family and friends. I’ve been thinking that it may be time to hold off on the blogging. First, it’s more of a personal reflection than something that is being shared out. Second, I find myself removing many things from the blog throughout the week because of its sensitive nature. I’m thinking that I may need to go back to a personal journal instead of this personal reflection that is online and open.

 

 

Reflection for 7/20/15 to 7/24/15

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It’s Monday, and I have been doing alot of running around. I’m hoping to get to a point where I can get a few more things done than making sure my inbox has blown up. Tomorrow is a new day :).

It’s Tuesday, and I’m back. It was a productive day, and I’m feeling like I’m getting back. I still have a few items to take care of to completely catch up. But I’m hopeful that this will happen by the end of Thursday.

It’s Wednesday and my feet are getting more firmly planted under me. I felt like I had a break through today for the first time in a month. In general, I have decided that I’m going to take the lead on things where I have control. This frees me up to accomplish and maximize.

It’s the end of my work week today. I’m going camping with some friends. We are all excited and hope for a fun weekend. Today, I was able to stay on top of my email. I can see that we are entering a frantic time. I’m trying to embrace this. It should be an interesting several weeks.

Reflection for 6/15/15 to 6/19/15

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I’ve been out of the office all week for a conference. Monday was a travel day and so will Friday. I had some time to enjoy the scenery and outdoors on Tuesday. I’ve been getting up early to take a hike each morning. It reminds me how introverted I can be. I gain strength from the time alone.

Some big take-aways from the conference are the philosophy that people are more important than pedagogy and technology. I believe this to my core, and I’m encouraged to see that Canvas believes this as well. Also, pedagogy and strategy trump technology. This transition to Canvas from ANGEL is going to be about innovating, not technology. I’m also seeing that it is important to use Canvas to train faculty and walking the talk while we train is also going to be of utmost importance.

It was a great week to learn, grow, and connect. I’m realizing at the end of the week that I really needed that professional development opportunity.

 

Reflection for 5/25/15 to 5/29/15

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It’s Wednesday, and I’m finally getting to this. Monday was Memorial Day, so it takes a bit to get caught up with emails and chart a course once 20% of the normal week has passed.

The weekend was traveling to Black Moshannon twice. I enjoyed the time and did better in the 5K race that I ran.

We tackled a bunch of projects around the house on Monday. I was glad to get the deck power washing started and finished it on Tuesday evening. We also put up 2 ceiling fans. It is nice to make progress. Hopefully, we can continue on that pace.

It was nice to not have to run around to activities. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday resumed the running around.

We are getting closer to a decision about the future. But we are doing it within the context of taking one step at a time.

Revisions and developments are moving forward. I contacted faculty for 242 and EA 576 today. Hopefully, we can get those on track.

I reviewed two proposals for COIL. It is interesting to see what interesting things are going on around the university.

It’s Thursday, and I’m back here before the end of the day. I had a chance to work with some revision stuff and spent time doing some more reviews for COIL grants. It has been a fast, yet productive day. I’m hoping to finish out the went strongly tomorrow.

Friday’s been a good day in that I was able to finish up COIL reviews and catch up on work in preparation for teaching in Fall ’15.

It was also an opportunity to share in a celebration for the time of a colleague who has worked with Penn State for 35 years. It is quite an accomplishment and we will miss her.

It looks like next week has promise to be tied up with COIL items. I’m hoping to learn a lot through the experience. I’m also hoping to keep up with my projects relating to design and development.

Reflection for 5/4/15 to 5/8/15

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I’m starting this early so that I can keep it going next week. Looking ahead, I can see that this will be a busy week, so I’m hoping that I can keep up.

Monday – I spent quite a bit of time grading this weekend which means I’m a bit spent. My students put in alot of effort and did well. I’m proud of their efforts. I really like using the interactive textbook and plan to do so moving forward.

Most of the courses moving forward are set. I had a meeting about IST 140 and will have a follow up on Thursday. I’m hoping that by then we will be much closer to having things set for the opening next week. I’m reminded that trust is something that develops over time.

In my personal life, I’m hoping to continue to grow and learn more about next steps. If it means staying put, then I’m open. If it means making a change, then I’m open. The one thing that I know is that I’m excited about my employment. Whatever the future brings will have more to do with where I live.

We had our end-of-semester lunch at Chili’s. It was a good time, and I appreciated talking with the students about their view of Happy Valley turning into Silicon Valley. In the conversation, I realized that culture has more to do with success than location. I also realize that this geographical area is not currently ready for change. But it may not have a choice. I’m excited about the potential for change. I wish all of the seniors the best as they pursue the opportunities in their near future.

It’s Monday at 3, and I’m finally going to publish. Friday was a busy and fruitful day. I can see that WAH continues to be a good way to get work done.

Reflection for 4/27/15 to 5/1/15

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This is the last week of Spring ’15. I’m excited to be finishing up another great semester. But I’m also looking forward to completing last steps toward starting Summer ’15.

Monday has been productive in getting EA/UG IST ready. I’m really glad to have the help and support of an IPS in getting this to the opening. I had a chance to take a final pass through the sections that I’m responsible for and send final notes to instructors to make their final updates.

It’s now Friday, and I’m finally getting back to this. In the interim, I’ve been busy getting things ready for Summer ’15. There is only one course, IST 140, that is not done. I’m hoping that the meeting that I have for Monday will be one to tie up loose ends.

I found out about several new developments and revisions for EA. I’m hoping to get more clarity and have a plan to make these successful endeavors.

Today is the last day of Spring ’15 semester. I’m glad for a good semester and am looking forward to a good summer.

The personal items in my life are still up in the air. I’m not sure what I should do to remedy the situation, but I’m counting on things coming clearer before I make any decisions.

Reflection for 4/20/15 to 4/24/15

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I’m on the beginning of a new phase of my life. I’m trying to make an important decision that I hope with result in an opportunities for my family, but it is not a simple decision. It may involve some momentary difficulty, but hopefully the good outcomes will outweigh the bad.

I made some progress on IST 220 on Monday. Hopefully, I can put this course to bed quickly.

Getting through a bunch of emails on Monday. Hoping to get down to less than 50 by tomorrow.

It’s Thursday, and I finally got down to below 20 emails. I wish there was a way to stay on top of this, but email can get away so quickly.

Things continue to move forward with regard to Summer ’15. I’m almost down to just 140. It will be much easier to get things ready if everything else is out of the way, and we can focus on this course. This looks like the case.

Friday was uneventful. I’m looking forward to closing the loop on courses in both EA and Undergraduate IST next week.

 

Reflection for 4/6/15 to 4/10/15

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It’s Pascha week for me, so I’m working on being reflective. I want to start with an idea that I had after hearing the sermon this Sunday. It was about the people who held palms while Jesus rode into Jerusalem. They all had an expectation of who he was and what he was going to do. I find myself like that; I have expectations that may not be realistic. Then, I’m disappointed when things work out differently than what I expect. The question I need to think about is why I had those expectations in the first place. Are they based on any truth or possibility? This has really helped me to rein in myself, but I have to admit that I’m a bit angry and disappointed right now about a certain circumstance. Now, I’m seeing that this is largely my own fault. Without expectation, I won’t get so excited and have disappointment. The hard part now is getting to the place that I should have been in the first place. The circumstance that I’m upset and disappointed about is about my child and the lack of opportunities for him that I can see in his future. But maybe there is something that is much bigger than what I can currently see in an area that is different that what I can imagine.

I worked through the compulsory Child Abuse Reporting Training. This will now be an every 3rd year training for those who don’t work directly with minors.

I worked through making adjustments to 220 dev space. Hopefully, we can put that project to bed soon.

On Tuesday, I felt like I was running in place. That evening, I got sick. So I guess it makes sense now.

On Wednesday, I worked at home for the AM and took sick time in the PM. I’m hoping to feel better tomorrow.

Thursday was a better day. I was able to get things caught up and ready for me to take off until Tuesday of the next week.

Reflection for 3/23/15 to 3/27/15

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I just quickly published an entry from last week. Really busy time. I’m hoping to get to reflecting a bit more this week than last.

I had a good day on Tuesday. While it was busy, I was able to get 423 to a good point to send back to faculty for next steps.

I also had a meeting for DMT at the outreach building. It looks like we are reaching a huge transition in terms of the LMS. I hope that this transition goes smoothly.

I felt like today was a day that I heard a voice within that was telling me the answers to some of the questions that I’ve been having on a personal level. It’s an awesome feeling when this happens. I’m always glad to be reassured of the right decision for a circumstance. Lately, I’ve been more emotional about things. But I’m finding that I need to get past the emotions so that I can get to the reasoning stage. I can’t just ignore the emotions; they have their place. But when I get to the other side, the answers are more clear.

On Wednesday, I made another trip to the Outreach Building. This time it was about a video commenting tool. It was good to touchbase on this topic, but it was also nice to eat lunch with a good friend of mine.

Things continue to move forward regarding course developments and revisions. 423 has turned out to be more of a revision like I originally suspected. I’m looking forward to seeing how the update affects the running of the course in the summer.

It’s Friday, so I’ve been busy. I’m hoping to get back in the flow next week as emails have been stacking up.

I’ve been thinking about multitasking how inefficient it can be. Here’s an article that address the impossibility of multitasking: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20707868,00.html. It’s a good reminder.