New semesters all around

It's 2009, and with the new year came a new semester for my high school and a new quarter for my online degree program. My teaching course load includes an art class and three French classes. I'm glad that this term I have one advanced French class with students who really want to work on the material. My art class is smaller this term, too. It looks to be a good semester.

For my online courses, I've enrolled in one course in collaborative professional settings. The other is in curriculum development. The courses seem to be off to a good start. I've got all of this week's work done, and tomorrow I will dig into the next unit.

My kids are enjoying their new school terms. Both have had positive comments on their teachers and classes, but I'm sure each would have enjoyed a few more days for Christmas break. I think I would have as well.

Frustration with higher education

I'm only one week away from finishing my first full term with Capella University online. It's been a very bumpy start. The course I have enjoyed the most was historical foundations in American education. For that one, I did some in-depth study of the content and was able to apply the skills I was learning to the research I did. One drawback was that the professor experiences a personal problem just before the midway point of the course. At that time, his feedback (that had been otherwise timely, engaging and helpful) all but disappeared.

The leadership course that was the beginning of my program did prepare me to be a more analytical thinker regarding leadership decisions. It also encouraged me that any teacher can take a leadership role in his or her work environment. Still, some of the content seemed redundant and not well structured over the ten weeks.

Educational funding was the nightmare before Christmas! The instructor provided feedback so late in the game that frequently I found myself having missed the mark on assignments or discussions. He seemed to assume that everyone coming into the course should already have an extensive knowledge of the complexities of federal, state and local educational funding as well as of litigation and legislation about equity and adequacy in education. Asking him for help was not unlike asking my socks for help. You know: six weeks after you got rid of the solo sock, you found the mate behind the dryer. Unless Capella goes to significant lengths to restructure the presentation and study of course content, I would not recommend it to anyone. Unfortunately, modified or not, it still is a core class for the EdS in Curriculum and Instruction.

Fortunately, in all my classes I stayed engaged in all the weekly discussions no matter how confused or frustrated I became. I've turned in all my assignments on time and did my very best to include all the points of discussion based on rubrics and checklists provided in the course rooms by the instructors.

According to my academic counselor, my future courses will allow me to tailor my research more closely to my teaching field (art education and French/foreign languages). I do hope that will be the case.

eLearning is on!

After finishing the first week of course material in my education specialist program at Capella, I feel a bit more secure in my ability to finish the program.  Having a collegue at school enrolled in the same program is very helpful.  We're able to discuss topics together in a way that neither of us could in a purely online format.  In addition to the offline discussions, I have logged into the course room daily to check discussion threads and to see if there are any messages or announcements from my instructor.  That has helped me, too, to see whether I am making appropriate progress in the class.

What's funny?  My students love asking whether I have been doing my homework.

Note to self: I need to squeeze yoga into my routine again.

Yet again, the proverbial hare takes a nap!

For reference see the article "Schools drop one mandatory foreign language course" by Megan Almon from the Valentine's Day 2008 edition of The Times-Herald of Newnan.

Not only does Georgia want to safeguard the state's status in the lowest tier of the Union for educational rankings (see page two of this GBPI publication), but the county where I teach apparently aspires to descend its rank to the least successful of 159 counties for its high school students. Four years of progress made through an effective middle school program articulated through a required third level of study in high school are erased as readily as a misplaced jot or tittle. My disdain and disgust are potentially limitless. Ms. Almon's "thanks to" captures the local mentality and attitude with regard to participation in the world at large better than I could ever describe.

While in the short term I may see a sudden increase in art classes supplementing my teaching schedule, my own advocacy of language study will not waiver. As my father might say, "keep pluggin'." When I came to my school, there were not three full classes of French, and my schedule was replete with such academic equivocations as Freshman Focus and SAT Prep. This year, there are EIGHT sections of French with levels I, II, III, IV & V. I gained a colleague in "my department" and was able to extend my experience into visual arts. This may be only a temporary trend toward linguistic decline, but as long as I breathe (which is sometimes its own challenge), there will be French in Coweta!

Just why does language matter to me? Read this article at the University of Tennessee Martin. It summarizes already and more effectively what I might write on the subject of language education and provides links to related research and bibliographies.

Hé, l'Amérique, le plus grand des lièvres, réveillez-vous alors!

Que le monde entier soit plurilingue!