Category Archives: Reflections for the Week

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

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

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 7/6/15 to 7/10/15

It’s Tuesday, and I’m just starting this after missing a reflection last week. I’m busy to say the least.

Monday, I spent time in a Canvas meeting. We are beginning to form a consistent path for courses. I’m excited about making courses feel like a full program.

I spent time with Producteev in putting together a plan for 402 IoT.

Today, I went to a search committee meeting. I’m glad to be working with WC folks on this project.

It’s Friday, and I’m back. I’ve been running around quite a bit.

I spent quite a bit of time today trying to get 230 in shape for the pilot and prepping my Canvas section for the Fall ’15 pilot. I also made some headway on email :).

 

 

Reflection for 6/22/15 to 6/26/15

I’m back in the office from the week out and glad that I kept up with email. It was good to spend time growing, but I’m always happy to back with my family. Also, I have great colleagues and am glad to be back with them.

The week got away from me since I was trying to catch up and had a vacation day on Friday. I’m hoping that things slow down soon. I’m afraid that Canvas transition is going to get the best of me.

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

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 6/8/15 to 6/12/15

It’s Monday afternoon, and I am getting to some reflection early in the week. It was nice to have a conversation with an instructor who teaches in residence and is interested in teaching online. Not everyone is interested, so it is nice to find someone who is interested to begin the process.

I’m moving ahead with Canvas preparations for Fall ’15. It looks like I will finish ahead of schedule which is nice.

I also had a chance to talk to Amy Stever about courses for Fall ’15. We are involved right now in talk about process. Hopefully, we can have something in place soon.

Email was down most of the day. I can’t say that it upset me. It’s nice to be able to work on things without interruption.

It’s Tuesday, and I spent time working at home in the AM. Luckily, email is back for me although many of my colleagues are not having the same experience.

I’m feeling like we need to be making more progress on developments and revisions. Hopefully, things will come through quickly now that we are moving ahead.

I’m still struggling with personal direction, but at least I can see the options more clearly. Decisions will be made within the year about where we will be.

Wednesday was the last day of school for my two older kids. They are off to the summer now. I’m excited that they get to start swimming tomorrow AM.

I had a few meetings with instructors regarding developments. It looks like we are good for 402 SMO. EA 576 looks like I’ll be working with ppt to captivate conversion. Also, there will be Canvas transition stuff to work through.

Speaking of Canvas, it looks like we will be doing a shell building to improve consistency. I’ll be heading to Salt Lake next week to immerse myself in Canvas at InstructureCon2015. It should be an informative and fun time.

Reflection for 6/1/15 to 6/5/15

It’s Tuesday, and I’m getting to this for the first time. Yesterday was very busy. I had two meetings with faculty about revisions/developments. It’s good to get those underway. I also received another note showing another development is moving forward. It is always nice to know when progress is being made.

I did forget a meeting in the evening that I said that I would attend. I hate when things like this happen. Obviously, there is a hole in my calendaring system that needs to be fixed.

Twenty-nine emails from the time I left the office Monday until I got into the office on Tuesday. Many are not that important, but it still takes time to filter them. Then I file which I don’t have to do, but it is becoming more and more of an issue.

I got more done with the course that I’m teaching in Fall ’15. There is much to consider concerning all of the revisions/developments and growth. I was glad to sit down with Kent today to talk about his process and am excited to learn/read more to help myself and the group.

Thursday and Friday were busy days and didn’t allow for much reflection. I’m excited to continue forward motion on the developing a process for our group with my colleagues. Hopefully, this allows us to make our job more efficient and effective.

 

 

 

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

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.