Updates

I think I’ve gotten the blog up to date in terms of kid photos and semi-major outings. I haven’t mentioned the house construction lately since I am really hoping it will be done soon and then I can do pictures once it is 100% finished, although honestly at this point anyone besides us would think it is 100% finished.

So that leaves updates on Austin and I. Austin is working his tail off at GSK and turning heads all the while. He has been traveling a TON since January, and especially the past 6 weeks, but fortunately they just slashed the travel budget by 70% so we are looking forward to having him around more. So far his program hasn’t had any budget cuts so it is still looking like we will be sent abroad , although now it looks more like this will happen in May of 2011 not in January. This would be much better timing for all kinds of reasons, including that Ainsleigh could finish kindergarten here in the spring instead of moving in the middle of the year.

I survived semester # 9 of graduate school. Since August I’ve been collecting data for my dissertation research. The bulk of data collection happened this semester, and thankfully is now complete. Over the course of the year I collected data with and from half of the senior elementary education majors at UNC. This entailed conducting 3 rounds of testing and surveys, 8 focus groups, 32 interviews, 16 teaching observations and post-observation interviews, and collecting a lot of written reflections and lesson plans. Whew. It really was fun working with the students, but at times the logistics of coordinating that many things with undergrads who don’t use a planner was, in a word, frustrating. I have a ton of good data and some good ideas about my dissertation and even how to use this research to help the program and make some contributions as early as the fall with the next group of seniors. So it is very exciting, actually. And I’m very happy about all of it and my chance to be in the corner of the world that tries to make some contributions to teacher training and education in general. It’s quite exciting. Now I need to spend the summer transcribing and analyzing the data, and then this fall I will be writing, and hopefully I will be done with my dissertation and program in January of 2011…ish. This year I also supervised student teachers, which I will do again next year although I will be working with the student teachers at the school where Ainsleigh will be going to Kindergarten which will be fabulous. Meaning it will be fabulous that it is all at the same school so I can be there more often both for Ainsleigh and my students. And it will also be fabulous because the school and teachers are fabulous. I actually worked for the principal when she was the assistant principal at the school in which I last taught before grad school. And it is a brand new school and the facilities and technology are to die for. So I’m looking forward to next year. Also I will be teaching a new course which will be difficult but it’s always so rewarding to teach teachers so it will work out. So this fall will have a lot going on, but of course I wouldn’t have it any other way. So for now I gotta get cracking on this transcribing, which is definitely the low point of the dissertation process!

We're headed to Baltimore this weekend. We're looking forward to visiting the old stomping grounds, and of course we'll be at Camden Yards tomorrow night!