Syllabii

I've finished my syllabus for my class. I think this is important because the syllabus is the first moment that the professor gets to put his stamp on the class. I was using a syllabus that came from Dr. B through Dr. C. I didn't care for it. 

Step 1, . . . styles. No one uses Word styles correctly. Usually, that's the first thing I do. So the first stamp of Dr. Hannah that the students see will be Calibri. Then they'll see my nicely formatted tables. 

Memes

I'm teaching a class in the spring for KSU and it's on "Research Design." I think the actual name is "Seminar in Adult Education Research." But I like the more colloquial, Research Design. 

I have posted this image because one of the first assignments I have is a discussion of Chapter 1, but the students have to include a meme about research design, then discuss why they chose that meme. 

Some may say that that seems a bit juvenile for a "graduate-level" class filled with Master's students in Adult Education and those seeking their PhDs. BUT, the professor in my last class started with this little ice breaker, hers was synchronous rather than asynchronous, but still it was just a tad meaningful, so I think I'll try it too. 

Continuing Saga

One thing I notice . . . continuing yesterday's discussion about my "friend" LB, is that I'm not sure if she even knows if she wants to be a fan or friend. Why? Well, cause every now and then I notice that she deactivates, and in one case blocked my account, from a fake account she set up. 

I think about this often. the way I see it, one,  . . . she’s checking whether I noticed. I think her blocking and deactivating is her way of wondering: “Is he watching back?” . . . “Does he care?” . . . “Is he aware I’m here?” . . . . It's like she can’t decide whether to re-engage or fully detach.

Fan or Friend

I had a friend, a close friend for many years. We've all seen those movies or read those books where a "soulmate" style friendship is described. This is what we had and it was everything that the books and movies make it out to be. Actually, it was quite a bit more. 

Regardless, it fell apart. When I look back at our friendship, I realize that it lasted well beyond the expiration date. What does that mean? It means when I review the timeline of our friendship, I realize now that it would have been better had we stopped being friends about ten years before the end of our friendship. There was nothing positive or worthwhile that emerged from the final ten years. It would have been better had we stopped years and years before. 

Outlier

I had to travel to Michigan this past weekend. I don't care for Michigan personally. I've been here enough times to know this is not a place I'd like to live. This weekend was the worst trip here I've had . . . why?  . . . snow, super cold, and for a funeral. 

I only met Anne a couple of times. The first time was in Key West for a wedding. That was a great time. My wife and Anne were both bridesmaids for Anne's sister. I got to hang out with Anne's husband, the groom, all of the groomsmen. It was a memorable and terrific time. Still, I interacted with Anne, only once or twice the whole weekend. 

Hypocrisy Again

Maybe it's because it's on my mind, but I struggle with all of the hypocrisy. Not just the challenges I see in my day-to-day life, as I discussed yesterday, but also in the news in general. 

I read an editorial today that discussed the WaPo story about the "double tap" incident that is currently in the news. These two images that I posted, other than the land vs water aspect . . . what are the differences?

Unreal Hypocrisy

My (former) colleague J told me she had a talk with my old boss a few weeks after I resigned. She asked him, "How do you think he'll like the new place?"

What did he say?

He said, "I think he'll find there's a lot of nepotism."

She told me about it. At the time he said it, I thought it was absurd. The place I was leaving had a significant amount of nepotism and familial hiring. It also worried me because one of the things I wanted to leave behind by going to the new organization I was moving to was the back-scratching, the politics, the nepotism, and the favoritism. The good news . . . I've been at my new company for a year. Not even a hint of nepotism or favoritism. There's one daughter-in-law of a senior manager who works in a department, and one husband-and-wife team who are both lower-level employees. But nothing beyond that. 

Shifting the Conversation

I just had another article published (HERE). Woo-Hoo! Sadly, this might be the least impressive of the bunch.  

The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP), an organization of which I am a member since I earned my Associate Safety Professional (ASP) certification, has published my article on translanguaging. 

Graphical Abstract

There aren't a lot of time I like to toot my own horn, but this will be one.  A primary reason that I was so excited to get this last article published in Engaged Managment ReView was that I was able to include the graphical abstract which I've pasted below. 

I had to make this graphical abstract as a part of the publication process and submission for the second journal I tried. I thought it was great. I've never heard of a "graphical abstract" but it makes sense right? It's a bit of an info-graphic. Packs alot of information into a very small space.

Connections Over Capability

 So, someone at my old company was just promoted to VP of Operations. Sounds great, right? Well, it sounds great until you realize that this person has no operations experience. Not just no operations experience with that specific company, but no operations experience at all. 

Sadly, this is true to form for that organization. Since I left: