Teaching at SWOCC, Fall 08 to present ...
02 January 2009: Holidays are over, sun is shining, and I'm ready to go back to teaching. Classes begin on Tuesday, January 6, and I'll be calling students over the weekend to invite them back.
09 December 2008: Bad day. Running late. Financial woes. Sick. Get to class. Run-out to get envelopes. Return. "Let's get started." One student looks at another student and asks, "Where's Kay?" I stopped. Slowed down. Took a breath. Let off some steam. Then we began our last class sharing portfolios. Students know when you're not yourself. Listen to them and adjust your attitude.
Although the term has ended for the students, I spent several hours yesterday doing paperwork for the state; however, such time-consuming chores are not included in my pay. Seems like teachers continue to be asked to do more for less and with fewer resources.
On a happy note, one student earnd his GED and several more are on their way ... yea.
28 November 2008: We're moving into our last few classes for this term. Several students are signed-up to take GED subtests in the coming weeks, including math. Math is definitely the hardest subtest to pass. Our last class is on 12/9. We will register more students on 12/16 and 12/18 for winter term. How many more students can I take? However many the room is allowed to hold per fire regulations. Go figure. I'm looking forward to winter break when I will plan a new course in study skills based on The Master Student, and clean out the garage so I can park my car in it during the rainy season.
08 November 2008: Bowling Day! Our community college sponsored a Rock-n-Bowl activity at the local bowling alley. Many of my students participated. I enjoy meeting their spouses and children. GED class is too big with a registration of 32 students; however, on average, 20 students are attending. I worry about big class sizes for this population of students who need so much individual attention, but our budget is so limited this year that we may not be able to address this situation effectively. I am looking forward to having a Democratic President again who may respond to educational needs with something more than "give 'em more tests."
16 October 2008: Major planning for the term is completed, now I just create the weekly activities. Light bulbs are coming on, or at least, they are flickering ... Two students passed the reading subtest this week, and several students are passing practice tests in math, as well as social studies and science. Some of the writing samples have been promising so I will use them in class as practices for editing and scoring.
07 October 2008: Last week was the first week of this fall term. Our enrollment is bigger than ever. This may be partly caused by the economic crisis and folks are out of work. Our small satellite campus has outgrown our small facility. A new building is in the works, but it will take years before it's completed. I am teaching HD 100, College Success and Survival, three sections of ABE/GED, and one section of ESL. I have been very busy planning for this term. I hope to get to know the students better this week.
Our current Dean is moving to Klamath CC. Our interim Dean is Janet Pretti who has been at the college for many years. She seems to really understand our communities' needs and our population of students.
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