Elementary School Volunteer Time

With this being Ryan’s last year of elementary school, I spent about twice as much time volunteering. Every Wednesday, I was a tutor in Ryan’s math class. I spent about an hour with about five students who struggled the most with math. Who would have thought that I would be a math tutor one day? True, only sixth grade math, but still!

Every Friday morning for about an hour, I did general classroom help for Ryan’s home room teacher. She is also Ryan’s student council advisor. We all got to be very close friends through the year. Her husband was deployed to Kuwait right before Christmas, so it was nice to spend that time with her, doing what I could to help lighten her load.

I was also asked by the music teacher to oversee Ryan’s class party on May 8. I called some of my favorite moms, and we made ice cream sundaes with the kids. The music teacher had some classic music videos that she wanted to show the kids, so they watched those as they ate their ice cream. It was a lot of fun to spend that one last chunk of time with the kids in Ryan’s class.

I’m going to miss my volunteer time next year!

Swabbing for Science Fair Project

When I was in junior high, my science fair project was finding the “germiest” places in the school. As the science fair packets were distributed to the 6th graders this year, I told Ryan a little bit about my science fair project. He decided that’s what he wanted to do!

*Ahem* years ago, Aunt Dott Strand had to get petri dishes and agar from her job at a hospital lab for me to use. Now they are widely available on the Internet. Other than taking pictures, that is truly where my work ended on his project. I mention that, since so many parents do much of the project for the student.

Ryan decided the areas of the school that he wanted to swab, and then we went around the school swabbing. I held the petri dishes in a big box while he swabbed three different petri dishes for every area (in order to get a more reliable sample).



We had a lot of fun! Now we’ll just need to put up with the smell while the cultures grow. (I’d make a comment about the smell of a pre-teen boy here, but why do you think I keep him swimming every day?) :)

Comps Submitted! ~ May 16, 2011

My comprehensive exams were due at midnight Central time (11:00 pm my time) on Tuesday, May 17. I had to submit the text through “Safe Assign” – an originality program – about 24 hours in advance in order to have it evaluated for originality concerns. Safe Assign generates a report, color coding my references, quotations, etc. There are guidelines regarding the percentage of quotations that can be included in the writing, and the report also helps ensure that all quotes are properly cited. It can take up to 24 hours to receive the report, thus the recommendation to submit it 24 hours before the comps are actually due.

My Safe Assign report came back in about 15 minutes! I felt good about what I had written, and I was afraid that if I spent any more time looking at my comps, I’d start second-guessing myself. So I submitted them – 24 hours before they were due!!!

Something interesting happened the last couple of weeks that I was writing my comps. I completely lost my voice! I had a slight cold, but nothing very serious. In fact, it may have even been allergies. But my voice was totally gone! On Mother’s Day, at the farewell and luncheon, and at the family party, I was literally whispering. It was a little bit strange. But an interesting story to tell!

We interrupt this chronological catch-up…

I've been trying to get caught up on the events of the last month with chronological entries. But I need to post that I PASSED MY COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS!!! I found out today - Memorial Day!

When I hadn't heard by Friday afternoon, I figured that I'd have to wait until tomorrow to hear. I decided to go ahead and check (since I have been checking morning, noon, and night since the first day I could have received the results), and the official email was there!

In our group conference call before we all started writing, our comps mentor told us that out of every quarter's group of 12 -14 students doing comps, about 3 usually pass outright, with no revisions; about 3 usually fail, even after revisions, and have to completely rewrite the comps with new questions; the rest usually have to make revisions to at least one of the questions. I told her in our one-on-one that my goal was to be one of the 3-ish that passed outright, with no revisions.

Most of my friends in the program have had to make revisions. There is a group of us that have been together since our first residency. ALL of them have had to make revisions. That has kind of worried me, since I know we are pretty similar in our learning styles and abilities.

I decided to be positive and confident after I submitted my comps. My kitchen counter had been piled high with books and articles through the 4 weeks of the comps. I was tired of looking at them. I told myself that I would not need to make any revisions, and put them all away. :)

As I was reporting to Mom & Dad earlier today, I joked about how I passed partially due to my positive thinking. Ryan chimed in, "No, it wasn't because of your positive thinking...it's because you are totally BRILLIANT!" Isn't he good?

It's also because of the daily prayers of my family, and the wonderful support of my family and friends. If you're reading this, you're probably someone who has supported me in some way. Thank you!

Now, on to the dissertation!!!

And back to the chronological catch-up!

Backblogged

“Backblogged isn’t a word,” you say? Well, it should be. That’s exactly what I am.

Backlogged blog = Backblogged

My comprehensive exams are submitted, but I’m still waiting to hear the results. While I’m waiting, I’ll do a couple of posts from last month’s events. If I disappear again for a while, you’ll know that my comps needed revisions and I’m working on those. I’ll get back to blogging once they are resubmitted.

Catch Up...Again

I know, I do this every quarter. I start out with everything well balanced. Then when things get crazy with classes, I get behind on the blog. That's one of the easiest things to put off for later. Well, MY CLASSES ARE DONE! And when I say "done," I mean DONE! I have finished the last two courses for my PhD program! My comprehensive exams begin on April 11, so my goal is to be caught up with the blog (...and house cleaning...and my taxes...and Ryan's scout scrapbook...) by then. So, check your Google Reader regularly the next couple of weeks, because I'll be writing for a while.

759 Down, 764 To Go!

Several months ago, Ryan and I started reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” together. It is the final book in the Harry Potter series. We had read about half of the book by the time that Part 1 of the movie came out in late November. I spent a few hours that weekend finishing the book. At that point, Ryan decided that he also wanted to finish it on his own. It is 759 pages. He was so motivated to read over the Christmas break! He spent much less time on video games than he likely would have over the break, since he was so determined to finish reading the book. His current term ends in a couple of weeks, and January 14 is the last day that the kids can take their Accelerated Reading (AR) tests for points toward their reading goals. Ryan’s goal was to take the AR test his first day back. He finished the book late last week, took the AR test this past Monday, and passed! He made his AR goal for the term! YEA!

I begin a new term (and my FINAL TERM of coursework) this coming Monday. I have two classes, and I understand that they truly are the most difficult courses in the program. I will be taking Advanced Instructional Design and Advanced Practicum in Research Design. The research class is designed to prepare students for the comprehensive exams and dissertation, so it is pretty heavy. The book in my instructional design course is 764 pages! I’m still waiting for the books for the other course.

There’s a lot of reading ahead, but if Ryan can read a 759 page book, so can I! :)

Anaheim - Disneyland and PhD Track 3

For my PhD program, I have to attend three residencies, where I have a few days of intense courses. Last October, I attended Track 1 in Washington, DC. Ryan, Rara, and Papa went with me. In June, I attended Track 2 in Dallas (I went by myself). For Track 3 in Anaheim, Ryan, Marc & Frances, and Alice & Claire went with me!

We left on Wednesday, November 3, and drove to St. George. We stayed with my cousin, Misty, and her family. Since there are so few cousins in our family, our kids (the second cousins) are more like cousins. Ryan and Abby and Josh had a great time together, playing Rock Band and jumping on the trampoline.On Thursday, November 4, we drove the rest of the way to Anaheim. We checked in to the hotel, and I checked in for my residency. The hotel (the Hyatt) was beautiful, and our suite was really quite nice!I started classes at 5:00 pm on Thursday, and then had a welcome reception. Frances and the girls stayed in the hotel room. The girls went to bed pretty early. Ryan and Marc went to Disneyland for a few hours.

On Friday, November 5, I had classes from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The rest of the family spent the day at Disneyland. When I finished with my classes, Ryan and I went to Downtown Disney, and had fun shopping and eating. We loved the Lego store, and Ryan bought a Star Wars set that he has been saving up for!On Saturday, November 6, I had classes from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm again. I had a lot of homework, not only for the residency courses, but my other two courses, too. Marc and Frances put the girls to bed, and then I stayed in the hotel room for the evening with the kids while Marc and Frances enjoyed an evening at Disneyland together.

Here are some of my favorite pictures Frances took at Disneyland…On Sunday, November 7, we had a Track 3 “recognition breakfast” at 6:45 am! But it was totally worth it. We got our Track 3 pins, but I was also able to spend quite a bit of time talking with the instructor that I’d like to ask to be my dissertation chair. She gave me some excellent suggestions of things to be doing and reading now in preparation for my comprehensive exams and dissertation.

During all of my Track 3 courses during the week, the Instructional Design for Online Learning (IDOL) specialization students sat together. Here are a few pictures of our group…The final culmination project for Track 3 learners is the “poster session.” We created posters which outlined all of the elements of our dissertation. Then Track 1 and Track 2 students came around and asked questions about our posters and projects. Track 2 students write a paper on their interview with a Track 3 student. It was a lot of fun. My possible dissertation chair also spent some time with me during the poster session, giving me some additional ideas.Here are all of the “IDOL” students (and two faculty members) at the beginning of the poster session… When my courses ended, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Newport Beach. I knew that if I just had a few minutes on the beach, walking in the sand and in the water, that would be enough of a “vacation” for me. It was nice to have a few relaxing minutes after the stress of the residency.

We got take out at Ruby’s on Balboa Pier and ate on a bench on the pier.

Due to school commitments, Frances needed to fly home for her Monday classes. We drove to Las Vegas and dropped her off at the airport to fly home. Then Marc, Ryan, Alice, Claire, and I continued on to St. George. There was a miscommunication about where we were staying, but we were able to spend the night with Aunt Dott’s good friend, Carolyn. Marc and I have known Carolyn for most of our lives, but we hadn’t seen her for a while. Dott was at work, so Randy called Carolyn and made the arrangements for us to all stay there. She was so great to let us all stay there at the last minute. We all felt pretty guilty, but when we got up Monday morning and walked into her kitchen/dining room, we noticed a quote above her window. It said something like “A happy home is one that shelters friends.”

Monday morning, Carolyn loaded us up with drinks and snacks, and we continued home. The kids were all so good during all of those hours in the car. We made it home to Rara’s & Papa’s, where Frances also came after her classes. We had fun exchanging reports about things – especially the girls’ reports about Mickey and the princesses.

The trip was fun, but I am thrilled that my residencies are now done!!!

What Sort of Thinker Are You?

Those of you on Facebook know that there are about a gazillion “What type of (fill in the blank) are you?” quizzes on Facebook. I have never taken one before, since most of them seem rather pointless. I don’t need to know what type of cheese or vegetable, or which Avatar or Twilight character I am. However, there was one a few days ago that caught my attention: “What Sort of Thinker Are You? Strategist, Theorist, Ethicist, or Philosopher?” I HAD to take it!

Here’s my outcome:

You’re a Social Reform Theorist: Like Voltaire.

You have a strong sense of social morality, equity, and public comment similar to: Francois-Marie Arouet: lived from 1694 to 1778 and is best known by his pen name, “Voltaire.” He was a writer during the French Enlightenment and was known for his defense of civil liberties, philosophical sport and sharp satires. Although he wrote around 20,000 letters and over two thousand books and pamphlets, his work, “Candide, o l’Optimisme” remains his best known.

I just finished a Cyberethics course, which included discussions on justice, morality, and social responsibility. I wonder if that had anything to do with the outcome, or if this is what I would be, regardless of my current readings. Interesting!

PhD Residency ~ Dallas, Texas

My PhD program requires three residencies (also referred to as colloquia), which consist of several days of intense face-to-face courses. My first residency (Track 1) was held in the Washington, DC, area, and Ryan & Rara & Papa went with me.

I went to Dallas by myself…kind of. A co-worker has recently started the same program, so we were able to meet up in Dallas. It was fun to go, already knowing someone who would be there.

Our classes were Thursday through Sunday. Friday and Saturday we were in courses for 11 hours, mostly research methods and statistics! Here is our “team” that worked together all week.We did have a couple of hours of free time on Friday and Saturday evenings. A few of us spent Friday night in Grapevine (known for its wineries and fun statues along Main Street). We walked along Main Street and ate dinner at Esparza’s. We watched the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup soccer game at the restaurant.Saturday evening was spent in Southlake (one of the 25 top-earning towns in the U.S., also known for its shopping and national championship high school football team). We enjoyed walking the town square, admiring the artistic longhorn, and eating dinner at Thai Chili.It was intense, but productive. I am actually now excited about my comprehensive exams and dissertation!