31. Hmm.
Thanks to those who posted birthday greetings; I shall, at some point, get to your journals and post thank-yous, but I'm on a lunch break that's about to end, and want to do an update, and... yeah.
Haven't been on in a while. Big surprise.
Went through the intensive training program for new instructors a little over a week ago, and started school last week. I've had to give two presentations on the SI program so far- one went good, one went bad. I'm not a good speaker, yet. I have one more presentation to give this Monday evening. Let's see if I can get 2 out of 3 right.
SI itself begins this coming afternoon, 2:30-3:30. I've got to cram 1.5 hours' instruction into an hour slot, which shouldn't be too difficult. The more difficult thing will be to make logic interesting and engaging enough to lure students back for more. This week's lessons revolve around the concepts of genus/species, abstract/concrete, and hierarchies. I created two handouts, one class activity, and two worksheets, created the lesson plans, blah blah blah. 16 weeks 'til the end.
I'm taking three classes as well as teaching; Fundamentals of Logic in Math, Advanced Linear Algebra, and Mentoring. The first two classes are taught by eastern Europeans with ultra-thick accents... good thing I love those accents. The math classes promise to be difficult; as usual, I feel in over my head, and I'm surrounded by cocksure peers. And, as usual, I wonder if this is the semester where I prove my incompetence. (My idea of incompetence being, of course, anything less than 4.0.)
The Mentoring class is going to be stressful; it's a required class for SI instructors, and the class requires not only weekly attendance, but I have to participate in monthly seminars, monthly online chats, do papers, attend campus culutural events, AND do volunteer work. I just wonder how the mentors who are also full-time parents are handling all of this.
...
A scare with the kitty last week meant a trip to the veterinarian. I thought she may have fractured or broken her leg or hip, but nothing was broken... the vet ran some tests, and... well... my kitty's getting old.
I hate to cry in public, but I sat there and cried as they held her down, probing her, taking her blood. I know she's old, and I know she doesn't feel like she used to. My instinct was to snatch her away from the people hurting her, even though the people hurting her were doing so for her sake.
She's got less than 25% kidney function left, bad cataract problems, digestive problems. She's only 3.8 pounds now, and she's too frail any more to get her yearly shots. She forgets I'm home when I'm in the other room- sometimes she forgets I'm there when I'm sitting right next to her.
No one ever told me when I was an eight-year old, when I was sitting on the floor playing with a frisky little kitten clawing my arm, that 20+ years later I'd be crying in a vet's office because my insane little kitten's become too tired and fragile to play much any more.
She's still got some quality of life left, though. She's sleeping in her favorite box lid in the living room right now, and I'm going to scritch her a little before I head back to work. The vet's having me put her on a potassium supplement, which may boost her appetite and let her regain some weight. I just hate knowing that my time with her is limited, and that I have to spend so much of it away from her.
Thanks to those who posted birthday greetings; I shall, at some point, get to your journals and post thank-yous, but I'm on a lunch break that's about to end, and want to do an update, and... yeah.
Haven't been on in a while. Big surprise.
Went through the intensive training program for new instructors a little over a week ago, and started school last week. I've had to give two presentations on the SI program so far- one went good, one went bad. I'm not a good speaker, yet. I have one more presentation to give this Monday evening. Let's see if I can get 2 out of 3 right.
SI itself begins this coming afternoon, 2:30-3:30. I've got to cram 1.5 hours' instruction into an hour slot, which shouldn't be too difficult. The more difficult thing will be to make logic interesting and engaging enough to lure students back for more. This week's lessons revolve around the concepts of genus/species, abstract/concrete, and hierarchies. I created two handouts, one class activity, and two worksheets, created the lesson plans, blah blah blah. 16 weeks 'til the end.
I'm taking three classes as well as teaching; Fundamentals of Logic in Math, Advanced Linear Algebra, and Mentoring. The first two classes are taught by eastern Europeans with ultra-thick accents... good thing I love those accents. The math classes promise to be difficult; as usual, I feel in over my head, and I'm surrounded by cocksure peers. And, as usual, I wonder if this is the semester where I prove my incompetence. (My idea of incompetence being, of course, anything less than 4.0.)
The Mentoring class is going to be stressful; it's a required class for SI instructors, and the class requires not only weekly attendance, but I have to participate in monthly seminars, monthly online chats, do papers, attend campus culutural events, AND do volunteer work. I just wonder how the mentors who are also full-time parents are handling all of this.
...
A scare with the kitty last week meant a trip to the veterinarian. I thought she may have fractured or broken her leg or hip, but nothing was broken... the vet ran some tests, and... well... my kitty's getting old.
I hate to cry in public, but I sat there and cried as they held her down, probing her, taking her blood. I know she's old, and I know she doesn't feel like she used to. My instinct was to snatch her away from the people hurting her, even though the people hurting her were doing so for her sake.
She's got less than 25% kidney function left, bad cataract problems, digestive problems. She's only 3.8 pounds now, and she's too frail any more to get her yearly shots. She forgets I'm home when I'm in the other room- sometimes she forgets I'm there when I'm sitting right next to her.
No one ever told me when I was an eight-year old, when I was sitting on the floor playing with a frisky little kitten clawing my arm, that 20+ years later I'd be crying in a vet's office because my insane little kitten's become too tired and fragile to play much any more.
She's still got some quality of life left, though. She's sleeping in her favorite box lid in the living room right now, and I'm going to scritch her a little before I head back to work. The vet's having me put her on a potassium supplement, which may boost her appetite and let her regain some weight. I just hate knowing that my time with her is limited, and that I have to spend so much of it away from her.