Slash/Scholar

I wasted a whole day yesterday, says my graduate student self. The complexity of my life as a doctoral student/community college teacher is evident in what I have surrounding me at the library while my sons, husband and the whole world watches the UM-MSU game: one journal article on teaching with "second life," another about general education course outcomes, another on studying rapport building in online classes, a journal reviewing Indian poetry (since I adore Jumpha Lahiri I thought I would check out Indian poetry as well), plus the myriad piles of student papers from 4 courses and reading homework for my graduate courses.

The hats we have to wear as community college/high school teachers are many. I had two meetings yesterday: one in which 8 of us--many of them adjuncts and two from the art and computer information systems dept.--reviewed and edited the general education goals for our gen ed humanities course, a lunch where I mentored a new faculty member, and then an English meeting where we "normed" for our portfolio assessment with many brand new adjunct faculty. Two high school teachers told me last week that along with their teaching they had to spend time with the Student Council in preparation for Homecoming.

But yet, I am learning how to develop yet a new identity: the reseaching scholar. We have been doing our local assessment research for nearly twenty years, but there is so much I want to learn about researching differently, for a wider audience than our department. On top of it, I am not, as a full time teacher, not part of a graduate research project. I met two researchers this week though: Punya Mishra and Julie Lindquist. (Check her out if you love Graff's "Hidden Intellectualism" article.) Their research is fascinating and inspirational. I am learning about the positioning of the researcher by reading ethnographer Clifford Geertz and others. Gentle reader, do you have reading recommendations?

Can you tell I have figured out how to link websites to my posts? :) New technology learning every day on top of everything else.

The leaves are gorgeous outside my window. More change is on its way.