Hello Everyone,
I think that it is time that I actually sit down and get this letter written. I am in limbo right now as the department is moving my office. So half of my things are here and the other half is in my new office. I am simply waiting for someone to come and move my computer and printer because according to the university, I’m not capable of moving this 10 pound contraption up a flight of stairs. Oh well. So December for us was a crazy month. The month started with our new floor being delivered. We had found a stock of laminate hard wood floor that was being liquidated, so we bought it and used it to replace the floor in our back family room and our kitchen. It has done wonders to improve how the rooms look, and to get both of the redone only set us back about 600 dollars. For that price, I can’t beat it. Especially since it probably can raise our property value a grand or so ( the flooring that was in the kitchen was rather sad). While all of that was going on, I was finishing all of my classes at ISU. End of semester projects, got to love them. I came out pretty well from the classes, and feel satisfied with the work I put into them. Now, I get to gear up for the start of the winter semester which I think will be a little more intense. I will have to be a little better about how I manage my time. Throughout the coming months I will be reading a couple hundred pages a week just to prepare for my classes at ISU (good thing I got a little ahead during the break).
My teaching classes went pretty well for the semester and ended on a positive note. I only had to flunk 5 of my 90 some odd students. Good enough. The student feedback I received was largely positive, but I am changing several things up during the coming semester. BYU-I has a space shortage. They will very quickly have more students than they can fit into classrooms on campus, so everyone is experimenting with ways to serve more students with no extra space. The popular choice so far is to do hybrid classes where one class session is face to face and the other is online. That doesn’t appeal to me, so I am trying a different hybrid class using small tutoring groups. One class will be lecture where large concepts and theory is taught and the other class will be broken up into small group discussions around campus led by either myself or my TA. It should be good if not a lot of work.
We had lots of Christmas parties throughout the month with ward and elder’s quorum parties. The twins finished their first few months of pre-school and can’t wait to go back in January. And Jamis has begun talking. He can say the “daddy”, “mama”, “hi”, and “no” No is his most frequently used word.
Our month saw a few celebrations. First, we were able to go to the airport and welcome Eljay home from his mission to India. It is fun having him back around. We also drove out to Minnesota for Christmas break. It was good seeing that side of the family again; although immediately after Christmas everyone started getting sick. We had kids throwing up and everyone got a cold. It was no good. We were able to go and visit our old branch for a Sunday. That was nice to see some old friends again. Christmas itself spoiled all of us. I got just what I wanted: books, movies, and games. The kids got clothes, movies, and some games. And Morgan received a Cricut and accessories. I understand most scrapbooking people know what that thing is and can become very jealous of those who have one. In the world of scrapbooking I guess there are the haves and have nots. The Cricut is the determining factor. Needless to say, I think I scored some major spouse points for that little gift.
Our drive back home from our Christmas break, we entered a blizzard at the Minnesota/ South Dakota boarded and drove in white out conditions until we hit the South Dakota / Wyoming border. I always said that there isn’t a whole lot to see in South Dakota; this time around, there were times through that I couldn’t even see the road. Oh the joys of winter travel. Anyway! I will be needing to bring this to a close. I am off for another round of teaching. Hope that all of you have a very good New Year!
Derik and the Robertsons
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2 comments:
I have an idea for space saving... and I think it will be both popular and combine the key objectives of Educating more people and Match making: Lap Sitting.
You instantly double class capacity, and make several matches in the process ;)
...now if only it weren't for those darn fire marshalls
Ha ha, your description of the cricut was perfect. I know it's something that Becky would love, I know that when her mom got one she was really jealous, I know that it looks like a printer and makes whirring noises while it's working.
It sounds like you are pioneering some new educational models up there. That's kind of neat. Good luck with it.
My psychology class at ISU was a hybrid class like you've described. I was lucky enough to be in the main classroom, but there were satelite classrooms listening in as the teacher lectured. It got the job done, but not as well as the traditional format.
Also, I am in a problem-based learning track here at med school. Instead of going to lecture I meet in a small group 3 times a week and we outline our study topics. I'm really enjoying it.
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