Wow,
so much has happened over the last what, 8-9 weeks? A huge chunk of the
semester…I must say, though, the “it’s a wrap” timing was perfect…just in time
for crazy busy grading...
My
initial reflections on this 9x9x25 blog experience? It was not an easy task. Seemed
I would remember sometime over the weekend that I needed to write something for
my blog…and somehow, would manage to post in the 11th hour on Sunday
night.
Suffice
to say, completing the entire 9 weeks was a lot to take on… But like many survivors
of grad school, I hung in there…
Todd
sent us a few possible prompts for this final week: “please write a reflection on the whole 9x9x25 event.
Maybe share how it could be improved and what seemed to work. Is this
something, or something like it, that could be added to our existing notions of
the “probationary portfolio” or even something that could be added to yearly
development plans? Could this be done by divisions? Shall we have staff participate
next year if they wish?”
Let
me tackle the last questions first… For the next go-round, I’d most certainly
welcome staff (I mean, didn’t we have that this time as well, some staffers who
also teach?) I say, the more the merrier, as the whole nine week shebang is a
lot to commit to…
I
do like the idea of perhaps incorporating the 9x9x25 into a probationary
portfolio… However, given that even many seasoned faculty members were
reluctant to sign on, I’m thinking that our newbies might be, well, a bit timid
to “put themselves out there”… (Speaking of which, I’d like to give a special shout
out to Verde sociology adjunct Erin Whitesitt, who shared so many great
insights in her posts…)
Another
shout out to other Verde faculty who represented in a major way, with Jason,
Sal, Joanne, Charlie, Tina, Chris -- and me -- plus Todd -- I mean, depending
on how you calculate it, we were close to 50% of the bloggers (yay us!!)
In
terms of including a 9x9x25-ish blog in yearly development plans, or by
divisions… I’m not sure that would be necessary… I think allowing participants
to opt in or out is always the way to go… I also like keeping the themes very
open and general. It was so fascinating to read what my colleagues chose to
write about each week.
As
for me, personally, I’m not sure I’d have anything new to say if I tried this
in another year. This is all I’ve got ;-)) So it’s a wrap…and I’m out…
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