Reflection for 6/8/15 to 6/12/15

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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

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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

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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 5/18/15 to 5/22/15

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It’s Monday of the first week of Summer ’15 courses. The week has started out well, and I’m hoping that we had a great start and wonderful semester.

I received a note on Friday about materials for the supervision series that I’m attending. I’ve enjoyed the sessions so far. I printed off materials as instructed. That was too much paper.

I attended a session for COIL RIG. I’m looking forward to my first review process. I’m planning to do a bit at a time to meet the deadline.

I’m continuing to work on my Fall ’15 230 course. It is nice to get a chance to update things. I’m updating a few problems and putting together a few videos since I used live sessions the last time. I’m definitely more in favor of making videos over live sessions because of the time requirement and the need of students to watch these according to their schedule.

I’m attending a meeting for Amy G at the OB and hope to interact a bit more with those around the university. It was a good meeting that highlighted the reasons for going through the formal process that involves risk and legal for using 3rd party tools in courses.

On Friday, I attended the LMS Transition Steering Committee. This was the first meeting. It should be interesting to see how the work of this group unfolds.

It’s been a busy week. I went to a ton of meetings and felt a bit out of sorts. We have vacation on Monday and will be back at it next Tuesday.

 

Reflection for 5/11/15 to 5/15/15

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I’m starting this week at the 2015 IST Statewide meeting on both Monday and Tuesday. It’s good to meet with faculty f2f that I often only meet virtually.

I’ve been busy with working on the first week of courses. Not big red flags are present.

I’m also working on 230 for Fall ’15. It’s nice to know that I can make a few adjustments to improve the course.

I also met with faculty for two revision/developments.

A staff retreat was on Friday. It is always good to spend time with colleagues. The focus of the retreat was on leadership. It was interesting to talk about a topic that was covered in my recent supervisory training. The topic was about work style. I found myself wondering about what others thought my style was and what it really is. Then, I began to think about those who I work with and what there style was. I feel like I learned a few things both about myself and others. I know that there are a few holes in our team in terms of style. I’m hoping to work on my skills in those areas to help complement.

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 4/13/15 to 4/17/15

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It’s Start Up Week at the College of IST: http://startupweek.weebly.com/. It’s midway through Tuesday, and I’m still trying to get caught up with email and such. Tomorrow I have a professional development, so I’m thinking that I will miss much of what is going on.

This was a crazy week that involved alot. Unfortunately, time slipped away. I’m moving forward and hoping that the things that I learned last week won’t disappear forever.

 

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.