Spring Semester Update

Wow, I've really been neglecting this blog. Apologies to my handful of faithful readers! The most glaring omission so far is that I didn't post anything about our January trip to Disney World...since we got back and jumped right into preparations for spring semester, I didn't have time, and I've made terribly slow progress going through our photos. It's on my list to share some highlights here soon.

Here we are in front of the Millennium Falcon
in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (Hollywood Studios)

Meanwhile, this week is Spring Break at BGSU, and it turns out to be a defining line in unusually significant ways. Yes, we're halfway through the semester, but the second half will be unlike anything we've done before: all classes are transitioning to online delivery for the rest of the semester (due to COVID-19). We're not alone in this, as most other universities in OH and plenty of others across the country are making the same move. But the last week and a half has really been a whirlwind, with new updates and restrictions coming nearly every day. Ultimately, OH is taking this pandemic really seriously, and I'm glad. At the same time, I'm overwhelmed by it all, and I imagine most of our students feel pretty stressed, too. On the plus side, BGSU has been very supportive and is working hard to provide resources we all need to make this happen. And we've had lots of positive collaboration among BGSU faculty as well as professional associations like TESOL. The outpouring of resources, tips, training, etc. happening in higher ed right now is truly amazing. And when I keep myself focused on whatever my concrete next step is, I'm doing fine.

Before this snowballed to our current situation, I had put a note on my calendar to write a spring semester update, and I think I better go ahead and capture what life has been like for the last couple of months, because it's clear the next few months will be unlike anything else I've lived through.

So...here's how the first half of the semester has been:

My workload is half teaching and half admin, so I'm teaching two classes, an undergrad ESOL listening/speaking class and a graduate class, Methods of TESOL.

The ESOL class is one of my favorites, but I hadn't taught it since spring 2015. Back then, I'd been developing, refining, and adding to my curriculum based on TED talks (themed units, with vocab, listening, discussion, presentations etc. all centered on the talks). I was so excited to have the chance to revisit this, but it's been a bit surprising how much I've wanted to update. I guess I've changed, and my teaching priorities have changed, since then! But I kept the main content the same, so the changes have been manageable (even though I never did get very far ahead in my planning). One thing I tried and was really happy with was a new emphasis on listening strategies.

This is the 4th spring in a row that I've taught the Methods class, and I love it every time (though it's also exhausting--Monday nights from 6-9). The topics, schedule, and assignments are more or less streamlined at this point, but I've been rereading all the textbooks and updating a few things. The students contribute so much to this particular class--their personalities, their language learning and teaching experiences, etc. This class has been a fun group (with a few challenges). It's a bit unreal that our last class meeting, on 3/9, was before BGSU announced any changes to our course delivery, so we didn't even get a chance to talk about it together or say "goodbye" in person (of course, the class isn't over--we're just moving online, but it'll be a very different type of interaction).

On the admin side, I'm thrilled that the changes I've been working on for our Linguistics/TESOL minor are official, and will be in place for Fall 2020 (this has been a super long process!). Now I need to follow up with the students who are currently in the minor with some updates and begin promoting the new minor to see if we can gain some additional interest in the program. This has all been totally new territory for me, so it feels like a pretty major accomplishment to have made it to this point. I've also been facilitating a faculty book club about Fostering International Student Success, which has been so much fun. And the International Programs office and I are way ahead on planning our schedule for fall placement testing and orientation (which I'm extra thankful for now!). Thanks to my two GAs, we had a very successful launch of our Cross-Cultural Conversation Connection program (we'll see how well those groups hold up now that they'll have to connect virtually...). Really, right up until this pandemic, things were moving along fairly smoothly on the admin side.

In non-school related areas, I had a couple of New Year's resolutions going, as well as some lists of seasonal to-dos. One resolution was to take a photo every day to try to capture a bit more about everyday life--I take lots of pictures on vacations, but I thought it might be cool to document some mundane things, too. The biggest challenge here is remembering to actually do it during the day (otherwise, all my pics would be sitting on the couch reading a book or watching TV!). Anyway, here are a few pictures from January-March:

my view from the couch in January

at a BGSU gymnastics meet

trying out a new hairstyle

my admin office in East Hall

the mock Caldecott award book club's pick and honor books

menu planning

an outfit I liked

walking home in the snow wearing
the hooded scarf Julie custom-made

at a swimming and diving meet

a new recipe for Common Meal: quesadilla ring

at the faculty composers concert (so excellent!)

our living room set up for a while: old couch
on the left and new couch on the right
(we gave away the old couch to some neighbors--yay!)

Mark's B-Day cake

with a friend's daughter after her dance competition

our kitchen and coat rack on a normal day

giant icicles a couple days after a spring snowstorm

laundry night

grocery shopping at Aldi (love this store!)

our first hike of the year at Side Cut Metropark in Toledo

The other resolution started with a friendly challenge from Mark about how long I could go without wearing the same pair of earrings twice. I do have a huge collection, so I agreed to not repeat any pairs until I wear them all. It's fun, but I find it's harder than ever to decide which pair to wear, since it'll be off limits for a while once I do wear them!

My huge earring collection! The sections with
green sticky notes are the ones I've already worn.

As for the seasonal goals, I think it's time to reevaluate some of them, looking for ways to make the most of the next few months with increased time at home. At least we like being home, and we've got good company here in each other! This whole season of social distancing will surely be a little less difficult for those of us who are already introverted homebodies. :-)

Hope you're all finding ways to manage in these strange times. And I hope I'll be back with another post before too long!