getting back in the grove

Its been quite difficult so far this week to get back into the grove. This should be evidenced by the fact that I am blogging during class. Fortunately, I made it easy on myself by having my students work on presentations this week. They are reviewing themselves for the final by creating presentations that cover the main topics we have worked on this 9 weeks. It was designed to be a self made review. As I write this, I am watching students and some of them are on task, while others are not. I wonder what I can do to get more of them engaged? I think this is one of those projects that students either buy into, or don't; its very much like the wiki. Maybe I haven't done a good job of selling this so students are vested? I'm not sure, but I will definitely be changing this in the future. I like the concept, I like the process, I do NOT like the product so far. I guess I should wait until I see the results (the presentations) before I pass judgment. We'll see.

In other news, I'm already a little behind on my graduate homework. Not a very auspicious beginning to the New Year. I'm not sure I like the tone it is setting for the rest of the year.

I have to give a verbal "book report" tomorrow night. How long has it been since you've done that? Its been a while for me for sure! I had to choose at least one book I have read for education and then I am encouraged to choose one I read for pleasure. Its difficult to differentiate between the two since technically they were both read for pleasure. I chose "The Scientists" by John Gribbin, which is a history of science as told through the eyes of the people who made it all happen, and "First You Build a Cloud" by K.C. Cole, which is a brief introduction to Physics as a science and a way of life. Both books are excellent very well written and could be read for either purpose, although each purpose is intertwined as far as I am concerned (at least at this point in my life). I plan to read a short excerpt from each to illustrate how they are both written in an interesting and very readable style. I hope everyone else will be able to see how much I enjoy both of them!

I am learning how therapeutic blogging is for me. Even the act of sitting down and writing this is helpful to me and helps my mood about my classes. I'm sure at some point I'll get into a groove of blogging and it will be easier for me to go back and look at how I've grown and changed over the years. O

n a side note, last year was the year of gray hair, it looks like this year is going to be the year of vision changes, there will be no more making fun of my mother-in-law when she holds something five feet from her face to read it!