My Courses This Summer

Advanced Teaching with Technologies
This course is provided to prepare working educators to be effective users of technology in their teaching. The class focuses on current technologies and strategies used in today's classrooms and also covers future advances that will likely impact teachers sometime soon. You will leave this course armed with new skills in several computer applications, but more importantly you will leave feeling confident and empowered in how to use technology to enhance your current or future teaching.

Methods of Inquiry
In ED 690, you'll develop the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes (or values) that characterize the competent educational researcher--regardless of the environment in which you might work. In this course, you'll think systematically about inquiry--and how it "fits in" with the instructional design and performance improvement principles around which our EDTEC Master's program is organized. It is inquiry that informs how we design, develop, implement, and evaluate instructional interventions (programs, products, systems, aids) so that we truly meet learner or user needs.

The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

Baby Dos and Don'ts (Click Image to Enlarge)

Happy Birthday J!

Wow, you were a big baby! I know you've heard the story a hundred times, but your chest was bigger than your head, which made it just a tad difficult to get you pushed out of there! But all was well in the end. Although sadly, this is the only picture which survives of your birth day, since one of your parental units opened the back of the camera instead of pressing the rewind button, exposing all of the film (yes, back before digital cameras).

So here's a happier picture a few months later.

I sure am glad you came into the world! Love, Mom

The LA Times Festival of Books, Once Again

I will be spending the weekend at one of my favorite events of the year, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books held at one of my favorite locations in the Southland, the campus of UCLA. The "Book Fair" as my friend Roderick has been known to call it, has 300 exhibitor booths representing booksellers, publishers, literacy and cultural organizations. In addition, it has exciting author events, storytelling, cooking demonstrations and poetry readings. Since its inception 13 years ago (I was there!) it has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year. I think the first year I went it was 30,000 attendees, so it has certainly become popular, for good reason! Plus, it is free!

Sunday Afternoon at Home with the Kids

Colin in the hospital with family