month[2] - On a Longer Interval

November 2020

First, an update: I stopped blogging for about a month because a lot of stuff was going on (midterms, and then a national election) and I was struggling to find the time to write these pieces on top of all that. Then I realized, this is probably way too much writing to try to do week-to-week and I should be spending that writing time on my actual papers instead! So I'm going to keep blogging, but I want to do it monthly now instead of weekly, to make it a little more sustainable (and ensure that there aren't weird weeks where I don't have very much to talk about).

Okay, so, November! Big month: Biden was elected, the second spike of coronavirus kicked off, and I got through my midterm exams & papers. Now, I'm sitting about a month away from the end of the semester with six more lessons to teach, two more major papers to write, and one final exam for stats. Things are feeling pretty good!

Game of the month: Tie: Pokemon Quest and Runescape
Show of the month: The Queen's Gambit
Movie of the month: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
Book of the month: Schoolteacher: A Sociological Survey (1975)
Biggest challenge this month: Figuring out how to do ANOVAs in RStudio (very different than SPSS!)
Happiest moment this month: Sending off wedding invitations!

How I'm Feeling...

This month has been a really hard time. I got sucked into the trap of watching CNN all day every day during "Election Night" (which actually went on for like, a week?) and absolutely ruined my sleep schedule, workout schedule, and more. This, in turn, dug me into a hole with the last two Stats homeworks where I was working up until the day the pset was due and also put me behind on reading for my Core presentation and several papers.

Fortunately, in about mid-November I was able to save a lot of this. My groupmate for the Core presentation turned out to be terrific and helped me best use a lot of the progress I'd made; for the other Core paper, I started working with a classmate on a project I'm REALLY excited about! We're going to be writing about how noticing broader expressions of student thinking in the classroom might be an effective method for helping ELL students succeed in math classrooms.

Thanksgiving was a terrific break -- a small gathering with close family, only those I see on a regular basis. I'll be traveling to see my parents over winter break, but we don't normally travel back to CT for Thanksgiving since it is such a short time off. Now, I feel reset and cruising into December with renewed energy and momentum!

...and What We're Learning!

Math/Sci Ed Policy, PD & Teacher Prep

This class focuses largely on what policy around education looks like, what "reform" efforts look like and aim for, and our working model for how factors inside and outside the classroom inform curriculum & instruction.

At this point in the semester, I'm almost exclusively putting my time into a mock NSF proposal on a CT-integrated math curriculum for high school. It strongly resembles Sphero.Math, although it uses Python instead of coding a robot.

Core I

This class (first of a two-semester series) focuses on what educational research is, our position and identity as researchers, and how equity and social justice can be emphasized throughout educational research. It also serves to develop our analytical and communication skills!

I'm finishing up a presentation on the book Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study to be presented on Dec. 3rd with a classmate, starting a joint paper (mentioned above) with a different classmate, and preparing a reading list for Core II in the spring! Woo!

General Linear Methods I (Stats)

This class is the second of a three-course sequence in basic statistical skills in R. It covers multiple linear regression, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple comparison procedures, factorial ANOVA, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), nested designs, and some other skills.

I have officially finished all of the homework assignments for this course and am just waiting on the final exam to be posted (on Dec. 8, I think, due Dec. 15!). The end of the course felt pretty rushed, but I have a whole 'nother semester of stats coming in the spring!!

Also, below is a fun plot I got to make for the last homework assignment for a question on birth weights!

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