The weather has been pretty nice these last few days. It came after an unseasonably hot (and windy) period, and it's starting to creep back up to normal. I actually thought the cool period we had a couple weeks ago would be the last one. I hope I'm wrong again.
We're down to the last two weeks of the semester. Classes are getting ready for exams, and I'm getting ready for being done. Overall, I'm slightly displeased with how the semester went, but it hasn't been a disaster or anything. The trigonometry course is going to end on a weak note. Students are facing mid-Bs to low-Cs in general (though there are still a few students who are doing just fine). I still don't know what to make of it, other than just my concerns for the caliber of students in the Fall. I'm gearing up for a teaching experiment of sorts. We recently obtained a Learning Glass with some grant money, and I'm going to try to put it to work this summer by making some teaching videos for the trigonometry course. It looks like it's going to function pretty well for making short (3-5 minute) explainer videos and example problem videos. I need to really think through the structure of the course to figure out how to make the best use of it. I really want to try things with setting up group activities and really seeing how to better engage with the weaker algebra that I'm expecting to see. I've also got plans to implement some of our corequisite materials in that class as additional assignments. And I've also got something floating around with the writing center to help the students figure out how to communicate mathematical ideas meaningfully. But I need to set aside some time to plan that out more carefully and thoughtfully.
I'm also starting to make some real headway with the games course. I'm setting up for some simulations and competitions in class, which should be fun. I really want to make them play the prisoner's dilemma or ultimatum game with each other, and figuring out how to set strategies against each other. I'll probably spend some of the earlier part of the summer thinking about this and getting those notes together.
I also need to find some time to play around with 3D modeling software for the 3D printing course. I'm probably going to go with FreeCAD because I don't like Fusion360's cloud-based everything. It has always been just a bit problematic for the class. But of course, this means I have to learn FreeCAD. From what I've seen, it's not that bad to use and so I should be able to get into it relatively easily.
We've also got an assessment retreat for our MATH 120/126 course right at the end of the semester. This is another grant-funded thing. It's the first time that I can recall that we're going to get a lot of the faculty that teach the class together and talk about ways to improve the course. So that should be pretty interesting. And I intend to get the rest of that textbook put into a web-based format. I've got another 5-7 sections of the main content left to go, but then I need to go back and finish converting the worksheets and supplemental materials. But that doesn't seem like it should be too tough.
The FLC is all wrapped up now. I'm interested in seeing the feedback for it, and to see whether it goes anywhere in future semesters. I'm also going to read Atomic Habits as a summer project to keep myself thinking about this sort of thing.
My Advance HE Fellowship application is coming along. I've got my second draft sent off to my mentor, and we're going to meet next week to talk about it. The application is due in early July or so, with some sort of meeting in June. I've also got to remember to send my reference writers more information about their part. In fact, I just stopped to put a note in my calendar to do that. And I'm applying for full professor. So I've got plenty to keep me busy this summer.
But I'll be trying my best to make time for other things so that I don't burn through the entire summer doing pure work things. I'm thinking a bit about putting some time back into the YouTube channel, but that feels a little bit close to work, so I may not do that. We'll see. I've got some opportunities for music, I guess. The piano is still here, as are the guitar and bass (though the guitar is put away). And also the ukulele, which has started to draw my attention after going to the Hawaiian music concert a couple weeks ago.
I'm also moderately confident that at some point in the summer, we're going to do at least some short travel to get out of the Vegas summer heat. What exactly that looks like remains to be seen. This is our first summer together, and so we don't have any patterns yet. So we're just going to see where this summer takes us.
Other things: We went to a jazz concert at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. We had a chance to play board games with some friends (on their back patio). And dinner with another friend in their back yard. And Easter was also celebrated with friends. It's been fun getting out to spend time with people, especially as the weather is still pleasant enough to allow it. Thor is doing well. We've got a couple drawf sunflowers growing in pots in the front yard. Thor is doing well, except that he's been getting a few hairballs because he's shedding a lot right now. No music practice has happened.
