Cabezon

Long weekend and a good one. Last week was really a couple of different topics blended together under the concept of learning environments. Most of it was instructional design, but there were other things tossed in there, like classroom assessment and theories of learning. The people that spend the majority of their time in the classroom seemed to enjoy week two more, and the people (like myself) that spend the majority of their time out of the classroom seemed to enjoy week one more. I thought week one alone was worth the price of admission, honestly.

That's not to say I didn't really enjoy week two, but I do have to admit that I found myself more interested when Barbara was talking more globally and less about specific classroom techniques. I'm going to change a few things based on what I heard, and once I get those synthesized in my head, I'll share them.

The big surprises of the week for me were: Barbara's all for holding the line on cell phone use in class; she ain't havin' it. The only time I ever even saw a hint of frustration cross her face was when someone asked about cell phone policies. And that "they're using it as a learning tool" didn't seem to hold much weight with her. Also - she's very skeptical of electronic learning as it pertains to developmental education. Not against it, but skeptical.

Over the weekend I went ziplining at this place called Hawks Nest Ziplining in Seven Devils, NC. Last week, a bunch of people went hiking, and I didn't, and afterwards I was thinking that I probably just should have gone because everyone had a good time. I decided to sign up for the next thing regardless of what it was, but then it was "ziplining," and I wasn't so sure. I'm pretty afraid of heights. And I figured it's probably only about as dangerous as a roller coaster, so even though I thought I might back out at the last minute, I went anyway, and it was really fun. It was basically ten ziplines across some hills, streams, etc. The longest line was 1,800 feet, and the tallest one was about 150 feet. Most were shorter and lower - probably averaging about fifty or sixty feet off the ground.

I did that on Saturday. On Sunday, just because, I googled "zipline" and "accident." I may have been wrong with my roller coaster comparison. Lots of missing hands.

This is week three; I'm fully over the halfway mark. This week is "academic support services and diversity issue." For today:

9 - 11:30 / Learning assistance services
1-4 / con't