Teaching at SWOCC, Fall 2009 through Summer 2010
07 December 09: Seriously, where does the time go? Already it's the end of the FALL term! This was an interesting group of students. As life happens, a few had to take other paths, but many of them will return. They are not in any hurry to leave. Several of them have stated aloud that this is the first time ever that they have liked school, so why hurry the process? While I do appreciate such positive attitudes, I do have 13 new students waiting for orientation so that they can register for winter term.
I met my goal of uploading a web-enhanced component to our course through our distance learning program. In addition to studying in class, now students may study from their home computer, or any computer with internet access, using online resources. I will be working to improve this web-enhanced component and encouraging more students to take advantage of this supplemental resource. This is why I have not been adding any new pages to this site for SWOCC ABE/GED/ESL courses.
Three stories: Three of the students attending this term look like "Bikers." In fact, one of them has ridden Harleys his whole life. They walk tough. They talk tough. They have tatoos to show that they are tough. On one of the last nights of this course, one of the students walks into class with something behind his back. I said, "If that's a weapon, drugs, or booze, I'll have to call the cops." He grinned and presented me with one of the biggest apples I have ever seen. Not to be outdone, one of the "Biker Dudettes" came to class with a big shopping bag. She handed it to me. Inside, there was a lot of crumpled up newspaper. She told me to forage through it to find the present inside. She and the other "Biker Dudette" had brought me a big, beautiful ceramic apple. She said, "This one won't rot." At some point during our conversations last week, someone asked me what kind of coffee I liked to drink. Not being a coffee drinker, I simply said that I preferred tea. The next night, one of the "quiet ones" brought me a cup of orange-blended tea from Starbucks. Looks like the holiday spirit of giving is catching on ...
Over the holidays, I will be home cleaning and organizing the garage. I've lived here for two years, and my half of the garage is waiting patiently for me to "git-r-done."
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