It's been a long week. In addition to my regular job, I volunteered (okay, paid volunteer) to proctor the monthly GED test my college offers. It was totally interesting reading the demographics and learning about what brought these students back to get there educationl...and what made them leave. One student hadn't attended school since his 8th grade year in 1972.
Most of the females had gotten pregnant and dropped out. I lot of the guys got into drugs and alcohol or simply got expelled. Some just didn't like school and decided to get a job. Others had to help support their families. Anyway, it was awesome to see how motivated these people were to get their education. I think it would be hard to come back after so many years. A lot of them were doing it as a model for their kids. I wish them all luck. They worked really hard-that test is up to 8 hours!
Today (all freaking day), I worked on the syllibus for my e-Business class. Dr. Wright (my evil curriculum design prof) would be proud that I applied the "Wiggins and McTighe" Backward Design. I do have to say it worked well. I just hope my students don't freak out. I'm sure they will enjoy the 7-10 page e-Bus plan, online responses, and web site creation. I just want them to get their money's worth. Isn't it interesting that college students love it when a class is cancelled or little is required of them. Most people like to get some type of return on their investment. Oh, good documentary- Declining by Degrees. It's a PBS doc. It's in our library, so I am sure it is in other academic libraries. Way interesting.
Okay, going to bed. Mondays are long...
