Random Thoughts

Today was my first chance to meet some of the students I will have this fall.  We had to test them, have oral interviews and then pace them in classes.

I had been really nervous about today because I wasn’t very familiar with the language lab or the testing or anything else involved in this process.  But after my colleague took five hours of his vacation time to explain the lab to me yesterday and then came in to help me run the test, I was feeling a lot more confident.  And things were actually going very well.  And then, as you would expect, it all fell apart!  Well, not really, but the university lost Internet about 5 minutes into the actual test.  And, of course, it was an internet-based test.  So we had to rapidly get the students entered into a different program where they could take a different placement test.  It all went well once we actually got the test started.

And then, of course, we have trouble getting the reports to print.  I had to take the reports to the interviews with the students and their advisers from their majors, which were scheduled to start about 40 minutes after we ended testing.  Finally, though, it all came together.  The interviews came off without a hitch. and we were all able to go home happy.

Tomorrow we repeat the process with another group of students.  Hopefully it won’t really be a repeat of today!

But back to my students… They seem like a great group, and I am looking forward to working with them this year.  So far I think that I wil be able to carry out all the plans that I have for the semester.  Since I had no idea of their language ability until today, I was a little worried that what I had planned would be too difficult for them.  But it doesn’t look like that will be an issue.

I am really trying to put writing at the center of my classes this semester.  This semester we won’t be using social media because I haven’t had a chance to investigate university policy on it, and I think that I am more worried about other things this first time around.  We will be making extensive use of online resources, and in my mind at least, that is a good start.  We’ll see how it goes and how I decide to incorporate other tools next semester.

Well, I am in my office at work.  My books aren’t there yet, but it is starting to feel like home.  They put up my name plaque today!

I just realized that I haven’t explained why we are going to New Mexico.  I am the new head of the ESL program at a small university there.  It is going to be a lot of fun, I think!  I will teach in the program, too, of course.  I’ll let you know more once I am there and get started.

Jut to bring you up to date and to expalin why I may be a little sporadic (OK — a little more sporadic!) here.  I just got a job back in New Mexico, and there is a lot to do before my husband and I leave Louisiana.  I will post the details later, once it is all carved in stone.

I sit here unsure about what the future holds and yet not worried. That’s a minor miracle! I have two basic options: get a job or try to work for myself. Actually, I wouldn’t really be working for myself because I don’t pay much, but you know what I mean!

I have a possible paying “consultant” job doing course development that would pay OK. No benefits, of course. It would be 6-12 months. I have been working for these people as a volunteer for about 3 years now, so I pretty much know what I would be getting into.

I have 2 job applications out at the moment. One is here in Louisiana and the other is back in New Mexico. Both jobs would be OK. Both would have benefits. Both have their drawbacks.

If I decide to go the consultant/course developer route, I am probably making a decision about the rest of my working life. (At almost 58, it is hard to find a job. It isn’t going to be easier in a year.) That is the only scary part for me. Can I make enough money piecing things together? I want to do it. I want to try.

The other disadvantage to the consultant thing is that it takes me out of the classroom entirely. I could probably find some part-time teaching opportunities, I guess, if I felt a real need to do that.

I am doing the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project’s Advanced Summer Institute starting next Monday. That gives me two weeks of writing and time to reflect before I really have to make any decisions. We’ll see what happens.

Didn’t I have a similar post this time last year? Well, I guess it is that time of year again. Today was officialy my last day at work in Albuquerque.

I don’t know what I am doing next, but contrary to how I felt last year, I am not too stressed out about it. Actually, I am not stressed out about it at all. I return to Louisiana on Sunday — well, I start the trip on Sunday. I am not one for long stretches of driving, so I probably won’t get home until Tuesday. I am taking a two-week class that starts on the 9th, and I will begin to think about the future after that. I will, of course, keep you informed.

Not that many of you probably care, but I am preparing to return to Louisiana. My husband and I decided a while ago that we weren’t going to move to Albuquerque in any kind of permanent way (even for us — where two years is forever!). I am sorry to be leaving my students, but it seems to be the right decision now.

Of course, there is no job waiting for me there, so I am back to the uncertainty of my life this time last year. I am, however, much calmer about it this time around. I think that something will come along.

At any rate, trying to get ready for the move while I am finishing up the year here has made it almost impossible to focus enough to write anything here. But I will be back! Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later!

In my new job I find I am suffering from too much paperwork. I know that I am fairly lucky not to have had to deal with all kinds of paperwork before, but that doesn’t make me feel much better about having to deal with it now. Right now I feel like my teaching isn’t as important as all the paperwork — at least not to anyone but my students and me.

There is no way to avoid doing it, and I understand the value of it as a way to satisfy funders if nothing else. But I feel like I am shortchanging my students because I am taking time from instruction to test and then test again, and then I have to document all that testing. Then I have to fill out a ton of other forms on top of that and on top of all the other forms we have to fill out throughout the term. Or at least that’s how it feels.

Since this is my first time doing all this, I am sure my reaction is a little extreme. In time I should be more used to it and take it in stride. But for now, I am really feeling frustrated and harried.

There must be a better way to do some of this, but I haven’t been here long enough to have an idea what it would be. Believe me when I tell you I intend to find out!

Since starting this new job, I have been constantly playing catch-up. After 2 and a half weeks, I am starting to get caught up. It feels good. But my Bloglines account has been severely ignored. I have done a little reading over the last two weeks, but tonight I had over 1200 posts to read. There is no way I can really read that many posts!

So it is time to clean out my account, weed out those feeds I often skim over at best. This will require that I think seriously about what my needs are right now and what my interests are. I think they have changed a bit over the last few months.

All of this is, I hope, preparatory to my return to blogging on a regular basis. I miss it!

I am back to teaching what I really love: adult ESL. I find that it really energizes me. Right now it is a lot of work; I have had to really shift gears. But it is getting easier.

One thing that I have to see, though, is how/if I am going to be able to incorporate technology in my classes. Right now it doesn’t look like it — although there is a computer lab that I could possibly arrange to use with some of them. There are some classes that could not use the lab because they meet off-site. Do I want to use the lab with some groups and not with others? This is something I am going to have to think through before I make a decision.

One thing I need to do is follow what Barry Bakin does with his adult ESL students. His students are about the same level as my most advanced group. And I need to look for other adult ESL instructors using the Internet. This is all part of my shifting gears. It’s fun!