Chanatown

In these first few months since leaving the classroom and becoming a full time Technology Staff Developer, the most often question I get asked is "Do you miss the classroom?" My stock response now is "Well, I definitely miss certain parts. You know, I miss interacting with students, and I sometimes feel a bit out of touch with the classroom environment." As I've logged in more hours at my new job, I've been adding the following: "But, I really love my job." If the conversation continued, I would expand on why I love my job. "I love working with teachers. I am passionate about my subject (technology), and I feel that I can effectively bridge the gap between the IT department and the Faculty." And then I watched a TED talk forwarded to me (Thanks Aleks!) about Motivation that effectively expressed why I love my job. More on this after the video: So, Mr. Pink (wonder how many times he gets Reservoir Dogs mentions) highlights Autonomy...

Well, on the day after hearing one of the greatest live duets ever (Billy/Elton), and fresh with "Movin' Out" still buzzing in my head, I decided to clean up my classroom a bit today. My wing's custodian was in the room already, and she asked if it was okay to start taking down the dozens of moles hanging from the ceiling tiles. 30 minutes later, West-321 was devoid of those creative stuffed animals. No more Mole-sen Twins, Guaca-Mole, Mole-na Lisa, and so many others. It was a sad day, as I filled more storage boxes and recycled a lot of old student work. On the bright side, this means that I'll be officially settling into my new digs in Information Services, and I learned that I'll be helping teachers out with Gradebook prior to the school year beginning. I am so excited, carefree, and eager to begin.