By Any Other Nerd

Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes Week 21 of  the updates  and I bet you thought I'd quit by now! Dissertation One more transcript finished and a plan for this week on getting the rest done.  Still doubting the March 15 and looking more and more like June 1 to be done by.   65 days until March 1 79 days until March 15 110 days until April 15 157 days until June 1 Work Bear Among the Books Three reflections for this week. Just a great appreciation for getting to work where I do and with the people that I do. I say this often but don't want to forget it. I work with smart, kind, and genuine folks who push me to think deeply about the ways I show up and the work that is to be done. So many conversations leave me better off than at the start of the conversation and I just hope that I return as much, if not more, of what I receive. The real exciting news this week with work is that I am going to be teaching my first course at College Unbound next semester and it will focus on Ch

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes Week 20 of  the updates  and I'm shocked--SHOCKED--that I've kept this up! Dissertation Not enough work done here this week but the next two weeks I will be aiming for a transcript a day and finished up by the new year so January 1st onward is analysis, analysis, analysis. 72 days until March 1 86 days until March 15 117 days until April 15 166 days until June 1 Work LinkedIn Post about ChatGPT Well, last week I was reflecting on ChatGPT and its implications for education (You can even see the ongoing list of questions and answers I've asked and received from ChatGPT ). This week, I had a little more real-world considerations as we discovered some students actually using. I'm so grateful for responsive and thoughtful faculty who reach out to me to collaborate about the best ways of navigating this tricky terrain and other issues as they arise. So that's where we are this week--trying to think about an intentional and inclusive p

Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes Week 19 of  the updates  and this has been going on for months! Dissertation It's a Wonderful Life Radio Playbill I've started to get back in the groove this week. I've been doing a few hours on transcribing and am getting into a rhythm. The new goal is to have everything transcribed by the end of December which I think is a manageable task.  Then I can start the read-throughs; though even now, I'm re-emerging myself and keeping an eye on things that I didn't notice the first time around.  Of course, that includes things where I realize I should have asked more relevant questions but I guess that's par for the course.   79 days until March 1 93 days until March 15 124 days until April 15 171 days until June 1 Work  This week and the next two are a bit of a crunch in general because of the holiday season and also between we’re wrapping up the Fall semester at work and the Spring semester starts January 9th, which means things ne

Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes Week 18 of  the updates  and these are the thoughts! Dissertation Slow progress this week--too many other things going on but I'm hoping by the end of this week, I'll be back in the saddle with working towards getting this done. 86 days until March 1 100 days until March 15 131 days until April 15 179 days until June 1 Work Lance and Rupert the Horse This week, I had an interesting insight about my work that is both the challenge and part of why it is so valuable to me. I was talking to my therapist and she asked how I was doing and the following insight came to me.  I appreciate that I get to work at a place where we are doing important work but it can be challenging in many ways.  We have such big dreams and goals–we wish to do so many things and can generate all the ways that we should be and more.  I love it for the dreams that it offers up.  And yet, to make those dreams happen, it means we have to do a great many things.  In fact, each d