On another note…I’m taking some incredible courses as well.  Program Planning, Qual 2, and Gender!  I cannot wait to get into the coursework…so far it has been fabulous.

I hope to have more about my research in the future…I’m really thinking about data visualization and being able to incorporate that into my work…

I am also working on a project with Dr. Sue Bracken…woohoo!  Research and more research…I can’t wait…

It is going to be another wonderful semester in Greensboro!!!!

I also am starting as a Ph.D. student this semester…moving from the Ed.D. was the right decision but it is going to be a wild ride.  I’m starting the qualitative research course and couldn’t be happier.

Even better is that I spent some of the summer with my diss chair performing research at the LOC…wow!  It’s hard not to feel like a scholar when you are in the Nations Library.

I’m also really discovering public pedagogy and seeing how it relates to adults, libraries, and all places (whether they are designed for learning or not).  I can’t wait to explore public pedagogy, technology and gender studies in terms of adult learning.  WOW!!!!  I’m finally seeing a dissertation in my future.

Happy New School Year Everyone!!!!!

Seriously, we know that being an expert in a subject does not necessarily make us a teacher in that subject…how do we teach, how do people learn?  What types of self-reflection do we engage in when we do teach a class?

We have lots of questions and are beginning to find the answers…stay tuned…

I am also heading to the Library of Congress to do some research…woo hoo!!!!  Margaret Mead, informal learning, and so much more…

I have to admit it was fun for me to walk in as a faculty member…I’ll have the really cool regalia one day as well.  I can’t wait for that either.  Watching the doctoral hooding ceremony was incredible – I will be there one day and cannot wait to have my diss chair at my side.

I need to research this summer – I have several projects going on and I would like to concentrate on publishing.  I’ve had some luck with posters and really good feedback…time to take the next step.  It is a little daunting as well – serious research, IRB’s, writing sessions.

I am also serving as a reviewer for a new journal and I have my first assignment.  I am going to do that this week – I can’t wait to see what people are doing and writing and thinking.

My thoughts are with my students first; however, I can’t wait to hear where their careers take them.  I am so happy that I was a part of their journey.

It was also wonderful to hear people doing qualitative research – I feel that it is marginalized in some of my classes so it is really nice to hear the research others are doing.  Especially hearing academics I admire such as Elizabeth St. Pierre – she gave me a charge to continue this type of research – while staying true to my non-positivistic beliefs.

The cyber-ethnography groups were incredible…there is such a rich research cyber-ground and the professor from Mexico was very moving.  She lives in an area that has been devastated by the drug wars and she believes the only way to understand the people in her region is by using cyber tools.  Cyber ethnography could tell researcher so much about how to educate in these environments…

I came away from AERA feeling fabulous about my course of study and excited to move forward!

I love teaching…I am seeing so much creativity and critical thinking that I am excited about the future of the profession.  Being able to adapt to change and make the change work for social justice is wonderful.

Social justice is a recurring theme among many of my colleagues as well…how can we equalize, or better yet, stop marginalizing difference?  It is through the work of these students and my colleagues – we will make a difference.