Professor Sharon

100 Day Project – Day 48 – 8:08 pm

First, if by any chance you were counting, I’m sure I’ve miscounted again!  Since I tend to miss writing on the weekends; I decided I’ll just count the next day I write, not the days of the week!  I haven’t missed more than two days in a row, so I guess if it makes sense to me, that’s all that matters – so sorry to bore you with that one!

This week is Open Classroom week at the community college where I teach.  Faculty have volunteered to open their classrooms to other faculty.  The purpose is not for observation or evaluation, but simply to share teaching and its challenges and pleasures.  I have a full week and today was the only day I could visit others; so I attended an Intermediate Algebra class and a Human Growth and Development class.  I picked up quite a few little ideas, such as buckets of items at each table for those who “forget” (extra pens, ruler, etc.)  This was in the math class and contained math tools, but it seems like a good idea that I think I’ll try out in one of my classes.  In the other, I was fascinated by the professor’s use of PowerPoint and presentation of materials.

I was reminded that I really need to do something about my terribly rusty, and honestly, none existant math skills as a learner myself.  I keep thinking about taking a refresher course; and I think I’ll try to get it in this spring.  The morning hours spent doing this chore makes me think about how much time I spend figuring out ways to teach material to these students who are so spread out along the learning spectrum.  (We are a state supported, open door college.)  This is an okay thing, but I was thinking about how much I wished I could have more time to learn myself.  To improve my math skills, return to my study of Spanish, finally learn how to play the autoharp.  How will I solve this dilemma?  Today I’m thinking about me as a learner who wants to learn.  Tomorrow I’ll be thinking about me as teacher as I have several colleagues coming to visit my Open Classroom!