Time Flies...

Okay, so a lot of time has passed with me saying nothing on the blog front. So let's see if I can quickly cover what's keeping me busy...

Like I said in my last post, I got a job teaching two high school math classes at the Rochester School for the Deaf, where I student taught last spring. That's been going really well. One class is Consumer Math -- that's been tricky, because there's no set curriculum. Basically, it's just "teach them stuff they'll use in their lives after high school." So we've learned about a lot of financial stuff -- checking and savings accounts, taxes, etc.

The other class is integrated algebra, geometry, data and statistics -- the second half of what I student taught a year ago. That's also going well, except it's also tricky, because they have to take the state exam in June, and we have way too much still to cover before then.

My 16 credits in fall quarter were handled just fine, even with the teaching gig. (Another 4.0 quarter -- woo-hoo!) Winter's been a little slower, in some ways, with no actual courses, but I've been working at the department office again on my non-teaching days. Our program has accreditation happening this year, with the site visit happening at the end of this month, so that's actually been pretty busy.

I've also been continuing to work on the workshop PowerPoints I started with my professor last summer -- we're just trying to finish up getting the video clips we need now, and hopefully they'll be online soon. My master's project is also nearly finished. Actually, the project itself is finished -- we're now waiting for the "OK" to get it out to evaluators for some feedback.

More recently, things have been getting interesting at RSD. Some parents set up a blog for people to air complaints about RSD, and drama ensued. We're even getting cross-traffic with some pushes for reform at a Michigan blog. There are a variety of issues, some exclusive to RSD (student safety, access to administration and board) while others have broader implications for deaf education as a whole (especially bilingual education).

This reminds me of the Math Wars back home ... I think there must be a little bit of activist in me, so I'm keeping my ear to the ground. But I don't feel like I ought to get too deeply involved, since the odds are high that I won't be in Rochester after this year. (Videophone interview with Fremont on the 31st, emailing with JMA, and still hoping for a chance at NMSD.)

With so much going on, I'm going to try and keep the blog updated again. Anyone posting comments will notice I've enabled the word verification option -- this is to eliminate the "comment spam" I've been getting.

That's all for now -- here's hoping I get through tomorrow. (I'm helping proctor state math exams in the middle school while a sub covers one or both of my classes ... should be fun.)