the reason I'm here

So obviously I didn't move here to play around and not do something constructive. Okay, maybe that's a part of it, but the main reason I moved here was graduate school. I am pursuing a master's of science in Outdoor and Environmental Education at the Kellogg Campus of Alaska Pacific University. On Monday the 25th I began my classes, and I feel incredibly fulfilled in my decision to pursue further education in this amazing area. I have Teaching Methods in the Outdoors from 3:00-7:00pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, until the end of September, when it switches to a new time and day. The new scheduling system is something that is taking me a while to get used to, since I'm accustomed to the semesterly way of doing this. The block and session class set-up is tricky to figure out at first, but it actually is a cool way to take classes instead of taking all of them at once. I begin another class, Outdoor Literacy, at the beginning of October. Not sure when I start Research Methods. Anyway.

My classmates are awesome. There are four of us in my current Teaching class, and we get along so well. All of us are in different stages in our lives...one is a mom and is going back to school, one has been teaching for a couple years and wants to bolster her degree, and one just moved out here from Maine after getting a degree in Phy. Ed. The mom already has a master's in botany and another in something else, so she's really on track with how a grad program is supposed to go. The remaining three of us, however, are enjoying the ride even though we're already significantly overwhelmed with the enormity of what we're tackling here. However, I will say that my assignments are going great and that I am doing a massive amount of quality work that is both satisfying to me and my new professor. So far we haven't turned in anything big, but even preparing for a class is much different in grad school than in undergrad (although I WILL say that I feel so prepared and up to the challenge because of the way Dilley, Deaver and Jones ran us through the gamut in the last couple years of my degree). I read a lot these days: teaching strategies, journal articles, teaching resources, books on lesson plans, local flora and fauna guides...it's intense! Homework is actually a pleasant thing to do, now that I am completely immersed in a program that I chose based on my plans for the future. The school also does a great job in supporting many learning styles, and so my need for hands-on learning is definitely catered too.

Actually, we had a great lesson on learning styles last night. We each took an evaluative test that told us our learning styles based on our answers to a series of questions, and the results in our class were great: Danny and I are almost identical in the way we learn, except I appreciate good group work a little more than he does, and the other two girls had the same approach to learning, although completely opposite Danny's and my style. We were Active Experimentors (ha, imagine that) and the girls were more in the conceptual/abstract/reflective area of the chart. Altogether it was incredibly eye-opening, since we don't put too much emphasis on addressing individual needs like this. The best part of the lesson was when we divided up into two groups: the active learners and the concept learners and we taught each other how to tie our shoes, specifically catering to each other's learning styles. Our prof dove in and learned right along with each group, and when we caricaturized our lesson plans and really brought out the teaching methods we used to get through to each style, it was blatantly obvious that we really do learn in different ways. : ) so cool.

After class we chatted with our prof about thesis stuff for a bit and then turned to leave. Before I got in the truck (I borrowed Curtis' Bronco yesterday) a guy came out of the main farmhouse and asked if I wanted to come in for dinner; they'd made too much food and wanted to share. We ended up having a great conversation over a fantastic dinner of veggies, rice and cornbread (oh YUM) and then they made strong coffee as an after-dinner treat. The beer we had with the meal was also incredible...it was similar to the South Shore Nut Brown Ale.

I am SO happy up here. I burst in the door last night after leaving my new friends and yelled through the house to my roomie "I LOVE SCHOOL, I HAVE FRIENDS and I LOVE ALASKA!"
: ) he laughed, we chatted and eventually made it to bed for another good night's sleep.

OH and before I forget...two nights ago I experienced my first earthquake around 11:30pm. It came in three short waves, each about 5 seconds long. I was just about to fall asleep when I felt myself being wiggled back and forth really fast...it would trickle off, and then come back after another 5 seconds. CRAZY. Apparently we get them all the time up here, so it's something that I'm going to get used to (right.)