Dissertation Hiatus - Lesson's Learned

Well, it's been a crazy long journey, but I finally finished my dissertation and have sent it off to the committee. One more step towards this ever elusive doctorate. Two more weeks and I defend and hopefully all these years of learning, researching, writing, and writing and writing will pay off. I know my husband is hoping so, as he has high hopes I will get a job now!!

I will say this past 11 months of 'unemployment' while I devoted myself to research, research analysis and then writing have been very interesting. I managed to start my fledgling independent consultant business and do some interesting consulting that broadened my experiences and also provided at least some financial support. I helped one company develop a webinar strategy and helped another with suggestions for PD and curriculum standards alignments. I was able to work with the technology I love, TinkerPlots and Sketchpad, and train some teachers in two different large school districts. And I did some online coaching for administrators and teachers around the Common Core and creating positive school cultures. Independent consulting has been diverse, which I enjoy.

The research, analysis and writing have been, well, less than fun. At first it is exciting, getting into classrooms, seeing what is happening. But then, after hours of transcribing, even more hours going back over (and over and over and over) the data looking for patterns and themes, and finally, writing it all down, citing sources, doing research....well, it becomes tedious. I probably should have recorded all the hours I have spent on this - in the last week alone working on final edits, I know I spent about 60 hours just writing and rewriting. So - that's a lot of hours over 11 months.

Not that I am complaining. My husband should be complaining - he has been working hard so I could take this time to finish. Love him for that! Course, now I have to get a job and support him, right?!

What have I learned through these last months?
1) It is possible to live very comfortably, with half the household income. Something to think about.(And this with three of us in college - my two daughters and myself all paying college tuition).
2) I do NOT like writing research. I love writing - but not research. I think it's all the citations. Probably need to get over that if I want to continue to write and share my work.
3) It's very lonely. I have worked from home for the last 7 years, but always traveled several times a month to my home office or schools, so I saw people. This sitting and writing all day, not interacting with anyone on a regular basis - well, it's lonely and let's face it, a little depressing.
4) Which leads me to this - I miss traveling and I miss interacting with others in my field and doing presentations. I am a people person and I need some people!

So - couple more weeks and hopefully this will all turn out the way I hope. Which then means - I need a job! I want to have the flexibility to work with lots of people and do lots of different things, so continuing my independent consulting work seems like a plan. But, it's a tough plan, because there is not job security. I think I might also consider working for another company, maybe part time, if I can find a good fit. If anyone has any leads, let me know!

I also plan to start blogging again. Time to get back on track!

And so begins the next adventure....

Implementation Dip - It's Not Just Test Scores, It's Any Change

I read this article yesterday by Andrew Ujifusa entitled New Tests Put States on Hot Seat as Scores Plunge . Basically, states that have implemented new standardized tests to address revised academic standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, have seen a drop in student scores, so panic has ensued. What I want to know is: has no one ever heard about the implementation dip? Whenever you try to implement something new, there is going to be a period of adjustment, scores will go down if we are talking tests, classroom behaviors will change and achievement will go down if new teaching strategies are being implemented - in short, any time you try something new, it is NOT going to go exactly as planned! Mistakes will happen, things will be bad before they get better - it's part of the whole change process. Which is why we need to be implementing changes slowly, early, and over time so that things that go wrong can be adjusted. Image from images.google.com What ...

Social Media's Impact on Personal Life - Personal Reflections

The question - does social media impact personal life? The answer - yes. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? The answer - it depends. I have been on vacation the past week or so and am currently on personal leave to finish writing my dissertation proposal (which, as you can see, I am procrastinating!) During my vacation, I swore I would take a break from blogging, Twitter, email, and all things electronic. I lied. I admit - I did honestly make the attempt and in fact, did not turn on my computer one time. However, the iPad is a constant companion, especially since the books I am reading (currently, the Game of Thrones series) are on there, so I had the iPad with me a lot - even on the beach. It was very easy to check if I had emails, to check out my Facebook or to send a Twitter or two. Long story short, I failed miserably at the disconnecting aspect. View from chair and under canopy! Which brings me back to the question of does social media impact p...

Lecture, Direct-Instruction or Talk - There's the Confusion!

In yesterday's weekly #edchat Twitter collaboration the discussion focused on the flipped classroom, where, naturally, there was quite a bit of debate around the idea of video lectures. What became apparent was the many different interpretations of the term 'lecture'. This came to the forefront for me when I offered up the idea of TED Talks as one option for learning rather than a teacher's video lecture, and someone said "TED talks are just lectures, so how is that better?" This stumped me as I have never thought of a TED talk as a lecture, which is funny, because now, forced to think about it, I guess they could be construed as lectures, depending on your definition. Which of course has led me to this post! Obviously, my perception of a lecture is not the same as others. What is MY definition of a lecture? Perhaps it's my many years of being both a student and a teacher, but for me a 'lecture' has rather negative connotations, as I envisio...

Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

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