A Little Late, A Little Short

Turns out, being a full time professor is a full time job! Lots of wonderful benefits come with that, but it also means less time to do blog writing, purchase flights for conferences, or work on revisions for publications. These things will all still get done, even if they come in a little later than initially planned-- much like this abbreviated blog post. Here's what's been going on this month:

1) I've loved the fall weather but now we are already into winter! The turning of the leaves, the freshness of the air, the first snowfall-- it all feels so magical.

2) I got the opportunity to help lead our annual fall women's retreat through Ridgeway Church. This year, we called it Bloom: Change Begins With Her. We had close to 50 women in attendance, and we got to host them and really enjoyed spending time together. We all were challenged to make change in our community by Marelene Sorenson, one of the founders of Zeteo Community Inc, a local organization working to fight human trafficking in Madison and provide support for women and children who are survivors of trafficking.

3) I also had the chance to go back to my MA alma mater, Illinois State University, at the beginning of this month. The current WPA, Dr. Joyce Walker, invited me and other past graduate students to come back for a one day retrospective event to talk about how we are using, adapting, and implementing the theory of Pedagogical Cultural Historical Activity Theory in our classrooms. My friend Laurenn York and I presented on the Initial Genre Assessment that we first developed while at ISU and that we both continue to use at our respective institutions. It's always really invigorating to attend these professional events, to see old colleagues and friends, and to hear about the interesting and innovative work that they are doing.

4) Work at Olivet has been busy and exciting! Two of my colleagues attended the PCHAT retrospective with me, so we've been having really cool conversations about the potential for our freshman writing program. I have been asked to lead a committee dedicated to reviewing that work and proposing pedagogical and theoretical shifts in our courses. I currently have a course load teaching about 83 students, which is a lot and definitely keeps me on my toes. I gave extra credit for students who dressed up for class on and around Halloween, and there were some great costumes! It made it really fun to go to class the week of Halloween.

5) On the home front, my husband and I have sold our home, so we are in the process of moving out all of our things and settling into a new (albeit, temporary) space. I miss my family when I'm away at work, but I'm looking forward to the upcoming breaks to get to see my husband every day and spend more time with my adorable pups. We've loved our home and are sad to leave it, but I am happy to know that a new family will now get to make memories there.

This blog post is my 50TH POST! Thanks for reading and for your support.