So much of my days at the Blackboard conference will be taken up with training and presentations. I should have free time, however, so I’m thinking of ways to see some highlights while not exhausting or endangering myself. I’ve got a map of the Strip and the Internet to give me ideas.
On the first night of the conference, Blackboard is taking those of us enrolled in the developer’s pre-conference program to the Star Trek Experience so that’s one big ticket show I don’t have to cover myself. I’m not sure if I’ll take in a show on another night, maybe Phantom or something else. Cost is quite honestly a major factor, but I also need to consider transportation and ticket availability. Ideally, I want stuff within walking distance to where I’m staying. I’m going to pass on the wax museum, even though it’s within the resort complex because $24 to look at fake people is ridiculous.
I plan on visiting the Bellagio’s fountain, the Mirage’s volcano and the Treasure Island’s pirate show. All of these are free activities and I can film excerpts for Nemo’s benefit. A colleague told me about the M&M’s Store and the Everything Coca-Cola Store. I know there’s a mall — don’t laugh, but checking out local malls when I travel amuses me — and, of course, there’s the casino. I’m not a big gambler and my budget is so modest for that activity that I remind myself of my grandmother as she played the nickel slots in Atlantic City every summer.
Anyway… I’m bringing my laptop, a couple of books to read, and there’s the boob-toob. I know taking pictures will be another activity that’s free for me so I expect my Flickr account to get busy during that week.
The other night, when I was trying to get to sleep, I thought of a way a state could reduce its fuel costs when transporting kids to schools like the one my son goes to. Right now, each county pays for transportation so there are busses from many areas. There are mixed issues with the county bus approach. My son, if he rode the morning bus, would have to get to the bus stop around 6:45 each morning. The bus stop is at the local school, not in front of our home, so we’d have to leave ten minutes earlier. Nemo gets home around 2:45 during the summer and 3:45 during the regular school year.
Nemo’s school day runs from 8:15 to 1:15 Monday through Thursday during the summer and 8:15 to 2:15 Monday through Friday during the school year, except on Wednesdays when the kids are dismissed at 12:15. As a result of the summer schedule, I imagine that the county saves on fuel expenses during the season, not just because of the no AC policy they’ve implemented. If the busses aren’t on the roads each Friday, that’s less fuel burned. So why not just schedule the rest of school year Monday through Thursday? There are a few challenges I foresee with this idea.
First, we have to comply state laws that require 180 days for the academic year. Ever wonder why schools have four half days with the last day on June 6th instead of just ending on June 1st? That’s because each half day counts for attendance purposes and thus meets the state requirements for total days. Counties also lump these half days toward the end of the school year in case parents take their kids out early for vacations.
Continue reading “Reduced School Schedule”
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Today’s horoscope gave me reason to pause this afternoon:
Travel that is possibly business-related could be coming up for you, MA. A friend or colleague may accompany you. Expect the unexpected where your career is concerned; unusual developments may open up new doors for you to pursue different goals. You might want to take a course of some kind, either for pleasure or for the sake of advancement. Your mind is especially sharp, so whatever you learn at this time you’re likely to retain.
I am scheduled to attend the Blackboard conference in twelve days. Unfortunately, I’ll be traveling alone because our home renovation ended up costing a bit more than we expected so there’s no wiggle room for a traveling companion. This is disappointing because I’ll be away from home and family for six days in a very large and busy city that I don’t know.
The second half of this horoscope, however, rings quite true for me. I do intend on attending every possible Blackboard session that deals with system administration and emerging issues in distance education. I may not teach any more, but I still like to design courses and I still like to be on the cutting edge of what’s working in distance education. In fact, that’s still my job, except when it’s not my job because of other things like Blackboard maintenance, help desk tickets to resolve, or directives not to solicit course design efforts, which seems professionally risky.
I don’t expect to come away from the conference with a potential new job, but new knowledge, confirmed connections and professional development will be extremely valuable. I really do enjoy course design, when I get to do it… I’m just not liking some of the people I work with or the restrictions that have been illogically placed on what I can do to help faculty make the best possible online course.
Nemo’s educational program is a 10-month schedule, or what public schools call extended school year. This means he goes on a traditional schedule like other kids, plus July, which runs Monday through Friday for just over a half-day. It’s not quite summer school, but it’s also not like his regular day. They’ll focus on academics — refresher from the previous year, and then lay the early foundation for second grade work.
Classes at Nemo’s school are combined grades so when he started he was in the K-1 classroom. Now he’s going into the Grade 2-3 classroom along with four of his classmates from last year and one aide. I have their names, but I haven’t met them yet. Nemo is also supposed to get his own assistant because of his severe impulsivity, but as it’s the first day, we’re not sure who it is yet. In addition to the new classroom and new teacher, Nemo can expect a new social worker, new occupational therapist and new speech therapist. It’s a lot of adjustment for a child who needs consistency and routine.
We’re all glad Nemo is back in school today, not just because the house is less noisy during the day or less likely to have a maze of toys in a makeshift obstacle course. He loves to play, especially outside, but sometimes he doesn’t know his own limits so he’ll play himself to exhaustion. While that may seem to be a good thing — and sometimes it means an early bedtime! — working with an autistic, hyperactive, impulsive child when he’s also overtired guarantees a huge meltdown. These incidences can be emotionally and physically draining for everyone in the family, especially Nemo. Thankfully, now that he’s in such a specialized program with trained and experienced staff, he’s improved considerably.
Although he was a little slow to wake this morning, Nemo was in great spirits when he got to school with his new backpack. He also brought his toy shopping basket because after school, he knows he’ll be walking to the fireworks stand with his dad to get a few treats for Friday.
I’m sort of caught up on my course discussion, at least from an instructor-student perspective. This means I’ve responded to everything the teacher initially wrote as a prompt, but I haven’t gone through and responded to classmates. This may or may not be required by the course, but I’m a bit frazzled at the moment.
I still have the current week’s discussion to complete, but the next task I need to do is write at least a one-page reflection on what quality in distance education and distance learning means to me. I can relate to this topic in three ways — as a student, as a teacher and as an instructional designer. I think my reflection should encompass all of these roles because each brings a new perspective to the definition of quality.
Although is a good topic for me, limiting myself to only 3-4 pages will be a HUGE challenge. Last semester, I routinely went over word count by 2-3 pages, and here I have to keep myself down to one page. Fortunately, the assignment guidelines does not specify margins, line spacing or font so I have a bit of wiggle room to manipulate the text. 
