In the spring, I realized that my friend Evan was right, and that I should go back to school at Prescott College, and suddenly started a very fast process of application and acceptance and suddenly preparing to become a student again! At the end of August, I headed out to Prescott, and had an adventure there as part of my orientation. I met three really great people, and we drove from Tucson to Prescott and then camped there for the orientation. At orientation, I discovered that I had a lot in common with all the "unconventional" "adult" learners surrounding me, and also that the staff and faculty were used to having some pretty flaky students. ("If you decide not to attend next semester, please call us and let us know!" "You must check your email regularly.")
Now I'm home again, and taking two classes this semester. After months of telling people "No, no, it's not an online degree, I'll have local mentors to teach me!" I actually have to take two required courses on "Moodle" Google's educational online platform. :(
(Technically I'm taking a third class, but not for credit. It's an online, open, free course from the University of Manitoba called Constructivism and Constructive Knowledge. More about that later.) I've got a new class of itty bitties, and a newish team. (One teacher I worked with last year, the other is a newbie this year.) After a year at this job, I really feel comfortable there, and everybody has been so kind to me. Leaving Hilltop has forced me to examine my practices through new eyes, and I'm happy about my teaching in this new context. I'm also really excited to learn all about teaching from my mentors starting next semester! (I've got two yes's so far, which is pretty exciting!)
Enough catch up. I think I"ll be blogging more this fall, in part because I'm indoors, but also because writing is a great way for me to think about what I'm learning, and I don't currently have a lot of formal writing to do for school.
