A Good Day
19 August
In all, it was a busy and productive day. I woke up early (6:00, which needs to be the new norm) to get to campus by 7:45. There had been some overlap in emails between three parties, so I wanted to be sure that I was at least present on time if needed. Arrived at the Ezekiel Cullen building before 8:00 to meet with Rick Valdez of the Human Subjects Committee who was helping Dr. Lindahl and me prepare our applications. Fortunately, we decided that I would return at 9:30 when Dr. Lindahl arrived to save everyone some time.
There, we discussed some edits, corrections, and suggestions from their office to our application. Though I considered the edits to be significant, and with only one day till the applications are due, I was increasingly concerned. Still, it had to be done.
During the meeting I received a call from Dr. Mazella of the CTE. He was ensuring I was on campus and ready to meet him and his team at Farrish Hall, so I left one meeting and went immediately to another, though I took my laptop and notes so I could work on edits while we were preparing for our CTE presentation. Box lunches were served, some initial generalized comments, then I presented the overview of the Blackboard site which I've been helping build and maintain for most of the summer. I was told to take no more than five minutes and I had no intention of doing so -- my attitude about presentations, especially slide presentations -- includes the understanding that people only want the essentials and perhaps some emotional connection to understand why they should be involved. I simply stated that I'm a TA as well, with teaching experience, but that there were plenty of resources there that I intend to use this semester. I then went through one module quickly, repeated my name and offered any assistance online.
Honestly, the applause for my brief presentation was louder than any other for the day. I also had numerous comments about my presentation from faculty. I only say this to remind myself that I do in fact have some public speaking presence and understand, some, what audiences need and want. I need to remember this.
Rushed from the CTE meeting back to Roy Cullen to make prints of our applications, then quickly drove to Lindahl's home for more edits and discussion. He promised to get everything to the Human Subjects Committee the next morning before the deadline, with our Department Chair's signature.
Then met Mike at HCC to loan him $300 so he could take a class. His request was odd and out of the blue, but honestly I feel he'll be more likely to repay me more than anyone else ... Jimar, Angel, et al.
Then drove to LSC Carver to grade the class's papers, only to discover that I had left their papers at UH and had to apologize and promise to send an email with their grades later. Administered their final exam, and the one student who I know didn't prepare didn't even show with a text book.
Overall, a good day. Tired, but was able to see two important projects (of which I only had part responsibility) come to fruition. Anxious about the Human Subjects Committee, and we'll meet with them briefly next week, but there's a good chance that they'll approve the application.
In all, it was a busy and productive day. I woke up early (6:00, which needs to be the new norm) to get to campus by 7:45. There had been some overlap in emails between three parties, so I wanted to be sure that I was at least present on time if needed. Arrived at the Ezekiel Cullen building before 8:00 to meet with Rick Valdez of the Human Subjects Committee who was helping Dr. Lindahl and me prepare our applications. Fortunately, we decided that I would return at 9:30 when Dr. Lindahl arrived to save everyone some time.
There, we discussed some edits, corrections, and suggestions from their office to our application. Though I considered the edits to be significant, and with only one day till the applications are due, I was increasingly concerned. Still, it had to be done.
During the meeting I received a call from Dr. Mazella of the CTE. He was ensuring I was on campus and ready to meet him and his team at Farrish Hall, so I left one meeting and went immediately to another, though I took my laptop and notes so I could work on edits while we were preparing for our CTE presentation. Box lunches were served, some initial generalized comments, then I presented the overview of the Blackboard site which I've been helping build and maintain for most of the summer. I was told to take no more than five minutes and I had no intention of doing so -- my attitude about presentations, especially slide presentations -- includes the understanding that people only want the essentials and perhaps some emotional connection to understand why they should be involved. I simply stated that I'm a TA as well, with teaching experience, but that there were plenty of resources there that I intend to use this semester. I then went through one module quickly, repeated my name and offered any assistance online.
Honestly, the applause for my brief presentation was louder than any other for the day. I also had numerous comments about my presentation from faculty. I only say this to remind myself that I do in fact have some public speaking presence and understand, some, what audiences need and want. I need to remember this.
Rushed from the CTE meeting back to Roy Cullen to make prints of our applications, then quickly drove to Lindahl's home for more edits and discussion. He promised to get everything to the Human Subjects Committee the next morning before the deadline, with our Department Chair's signature.
Then met Mike at HCC to loan him $300 so he could take a class. His request was odd and out of the blue, but honestly I feel he'll be more likely to repay me more than anyone else ... Jimar, Angel, et al.
Then drove to LSC Carver to grade the class's papers, only to discover that I had left their papers at UH and had to apologize and promise to send an email with their grades later. Administered their final exam, and the one student who I know didn't prepare didn't even show with a text book.
Overall, a good day. Tired, but was able to see two important projects (of which I only had part responsibility) come to fruition. Anxious about the Human Subjects Committee, and we'll meet with them briefly next week, but there's a good chance that they'll approve the application.
