Learning in Creative Chaos

It's that time of year again...

...the end of the academic school year is never easy, especially for those of us who are in education. Growing up with a principal as a father, I learned early on to step softly come April each year. It was the most stressful time for my dad (usually around this time, not only was there the typical wrapup business and planning for the upcoming year but folks generally figured out that there wasn't much hope of little Johnny or Janey to move up to the next grade--and some of them would apply a lot of pressure on the "boss"--read my dad--to break the rules--he never did, but that didn't make it any less hard on him). Good ole dad's been retired for a few years now (at least from that job), but since I've been in higher ed, this time of year brings up a whole different area of stress. I'm horrible at procrastinating and, generally, it winds up catching up with me about this time.

Just today, my group and I spent the majority of our day working on a website (a final project for the very class this blog was originally set up for). As we were finishing up, I couldn't help but stand back and think "Damn, if we could do this kind of job now, just think of what we could've done if we'd started at the beginning of the semester!" Of course, if we had, the design probably wouldn't have been very good. I don't know that much about my groupmates (I feel like I'm just now beginning to get to know them), but I actually perform better under pressure. Even taking into account the insomnia issues (long story, but it's plagued me enough to make me do some truly stupid things this semester), my senses seem to be much sharper when I'm under stress. And yes, I still say that even when I clearly remember many a chilly morning in the dungeon of Fulton Chapel, my fingers thick with bandages from my trying to make a few too many adjustments to some set model or another with an X-acto knife at 4am. And, of course, the worst was always those end of semester final projects.

...and thirty minutes later...

Somehow that last train of thought made me nostalgic over the old days and I felt the need to look up my "old" mentor and boss, Bert--yet one more person to vouch that I'm the poster child of what NOT to do when preparing for major projects. Thankfully, he was an extraordinarily patient man--uh, five years worth!

This post is really starting to ramble.



Back on track...I was sent the announcement below by one of my listservs. It's going to happen after the time of usefulness as far as this semester, but I may pop in and "steal" information to use in the future. That kind of stuff doesn't exactly have a short shelf life.




The end of an academic year is a very challenging time for educators.
Faculty who are feeling run-down and burnt-out need to find ways to renew
their passion for teaching. The following webinar, presented by a professor
who for 15 years has devoted all of his time and energy to the classroom, is
a great way to end the year!

Preventing Burn-Out: Strengthening Your Passion for Teaching
2 May 2006
On-line webinar
1-3pm EDT


At one time or another we all face the daunting question, Do I have that
passion for
teaching? At these times, when we no longer feel the satisfaction in our
day to day
professional work, when we've lost touch with our passion and dreams, we
feel that we're
either in the process of losing or have lost that fire or need to ignite
that fire we call
passion in our professional lives. Although difficult, it is essential to
find or renew that
energy, creativity, and commitment to teaching, as well as your ability to
inspire others and
make a difference.

Louis Schmier will help you recognize the often quiet signals whose impact
is so
incremental you may miss them. Then, he'll help you interpret these signals
and offer strategies
to help you see how you can make minor adjustments or major changes to
revive your
passion and give your teaching renewed meaning and purpose.

Louis Schmier received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and
currently holds the rank of Professor of History at Valdosta State
University and is a Danforth
Foundation Fellow. In October, 1991, Dr. Schmier stopped historical
research and
publication, and has devoted all his time, energy, and learning to the
classroom. He has
also given several keynote addresses, presented numerous workshops, and has
written articles,
book chapters and books on the subject of teaching with passion.

Enquiries: pam@ieinfo.org
Web address: http://www.innovativeeducators.org
Sponsored by: Innovative Educators


pjrana67@msn.com

posted by Stash @ 9:08 PM