For the Semester to Come

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I could say many things about my first experience as a professor at Quinnipiac University. We are about to complete the academic calendar for the fall of 2015. I loved teaching this class. The vision and concept of the class fits perfectly with my experience, expertise, and preparation.  I had the opportunity to join a great faculty and to make new friends in the process.  I am proud to say that I had the chance to be the professor for a fine group of freshmen who I’m sure have a great future ahead of them. I’m pretty sure I’ll see them again. I was granted the opportunity to teach in the spring as well, and to join a great group of academic advisors. I am sure this is going to be another fantastic experience.

12091303_10150647909214956_5378018467843313266_oNow that the class is almost over, as an instructional designer I evaluate the processes and results, and the overall sequence and presentation of the class. I don’t only evaluate the performance of my students but also my own. I look through each lesson and how they connect on each phase towards the final product. This is also preparation for the semester to come. I moved lessons around on the calendar with the intention to build a solid foundation in the development of self-regulated, lifelong independent learners.

I hope my students have all the success in the upcoming years and that my participation at this stage of their lives had some significance. I also hope the next two groups are as exceptional as this one. I guess it is going to be almost inevitable to compare all other experiences and groups with the first, but in a good way. I can’t deny the mix emotions as I see these students go. It is a melancholic feeling, but at the same time I am happy for them, and I wish they look back at the experience with gladness, as I am.

A Busy Month

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View from the training site

It has been a while since I posted in this blog. I appreciate the messages from people asking to write and also the viewers who has been visiting the page on a daily basis to catch up with posts they missed. June has been a great month and there are still a few more things coming up to enter July. This month presented a chance to review previous experiences in different tasks as well as preparation for the task to come. I honestly predicted a boring season but it is quite the opposite.

June began with the opportunity to serve as a consultant as needs analyst (as I like to call the analysis process duties of the instructional designer). I like this process because it allows me to act as a detective. Once a problem is presented, it is my job to weight the evidence and figure out if the perceived problem is the actual problem first of all. If that is the problem, then I suggest options to “fix it”. If the perceived problem is not the actual problem, it is my job to figure out what the issue is before suggesting solutions. That is always a fun process.

The agenda charged through the month. I participated in the Creative Chat Cafe online show (watch video here), had a blast in the painting and sculpting parties, set up a few pieces for our Make.Art.Work. Group Show coming up in July in New Haven, CT, visited a show opening at a gallery, and began experimenting with body painting. This week I am training with a fine group of experienced educators at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, as we prepare to offer the First Year Seminar in Inquiry Based Learning this semester. This is a magnificent experience and I am learning so much from the wisdom of my peers and having fun too. It is a great group.

July is going to be a busy month too. I will be mentoring students offering visual arts workshops to kids. I am really looking forward to this opportunity that came unexpectedly. In addition, the painting and sculpting parties are multiplying and spreading in Milford, Monroe, and New Haven. I will be in Shelton too. That is mentioning only those that are open to the public and not the private ones. The New Haven art show will open and who knows what other things will be in store this month.