Spring semester 2019 is in the books!

Here we are, at the end of another semester. I turned in my final grades a week ago, and this week, I've been wrapping up some must-dos on my admin list before taking some time off (my parents are coming to visit tomorrow!). It was a bit of a strange semester since our academic calendar changed this year to accommodate a winter session, which meant we finished about two full weeks later than we used to. The semester didn't seem long (in fact, it was a week shorter), but I'm feeling a bit shocked that we just finished and May is already almost over. Anyway, it is what it is, and I'm mostly just thankful I'm finally starting to feel like summer has arrived. It always takes a while to wind myself down after the semester ends, and it's harder now since my admin job continues year round. Anyway, I find that I really need to disconnect a bit so I can come back with a refreshed attitude, and that's the plan for the coming week.

Some highlights from the second half of the semester:

We saw our last few shows for this year's Broadway season in Toledo--Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Les Miserables and Finding Neverland.

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Program

Les Miserables Program

Finding Neverland Program

The BGSU Department of Theatre and Film put on A Midsummer Night's Dream, so we decided to check that out.

Midsummer Night's Dream Program

 And I went to the big Literacy in the Park event on campus, where I heard the guest children's book author, Lindsay Ward. I also got to see the amazing final projects from a couple of my colleagues' students--they wrote and illustrated their own children's books.

Guest author Lindsay Ward at BGSU Literacy in the Park

I read a few novels I really enjoyed: Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran, News of the World by Paulette Jiles, and Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. I also revisited some young adult fiction from childhood: Charlotte's Web and a couple books by Karen Cushman.

This semester was, as it should have been, noticeably easier and less demanding for me at work than the fall, so I tried to appreciate the slower pace. (The difference between teaching an extra class and having one less than usual is huge!). And, the one class I did have was TESOL methods, which I have really come to love. This was my 3rd time teaching it, so I felt like I really knew what I was doing and what I wanted to focus on improving. I piloted a new assignment, and learned a lot from that experiment, and I made a lot of progress on my goals of updating my course materials to be more visually appealing while also being accessible (to screen readers and such). Just today, I got my course evals, and I was pleased to see a lot of positive feedback. On the admin side, the major changes the ESOL Program proposed at the end of the fall were finally approved by the beginning of May (after a multi-step process), and the paperwork for our renamed and redesigned TESOL and Applied Linguistics minor cleared the first major approval hurdle.

Overall, the year was pretty different from what I expected, and difficult in some unpredictable ways, but I seem to have made it to the other side. I hope I've learned some things in the process, and maybe I'll be more resilient and a bit wiser whenever the next challenges arise. For now, though, I am so thankful it's summer!