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Sabbatical? What Sabbatical?

The overachiever part of me feels very guilty that I haven't done more work on my sabbatical at this point, halfway through the semester. The slacker part of me is quite pleased.

Of course, I did have to work a lot on the math contest again. I even worked a little on calculus program assessment, and I intend to include those activities in my sabbatical report.

I have done some reading and exploring online (I guess you could even call it research) about options for our developmental classes. The book "What Works: Research-Based Best Practices in Developmental Education" was suggested by someone at the Community College Research Center (CCRC). I ordered the book and had it sent to the resort were John and I were in Palm Springs, CA, last week (3/8-3/15). It is full of research findings and helpful tips for the implementation thereof. Here's an example: "Tutoring schedules should reflect the reality of students' lives." (page 51) And another: "Most experts...agree...that pedagogy is more important than technology." (page 83) note: just most?

The book was rather pricey, at about $30, but it is pretty big. Here is a pic next to a Diet Coke can for size comparison.



That Hunter R. Boylan sure knows his stuff. Or at least how to make money.

After Palm Springs, John and I headed to Los Angeles. He was flying out of LA back to Rockford on Sunday. We spent some time at the Santa Monica pier. It was a little cloudy (the marine layer I guess). Here is John looking contemplative.



While John was waiting in LA for his plane, I started off for Phoenix, AZ, home of the infamous (or notorious?) Maricopa community colleges. I was hoping for some startling new information from them, since they are known to be so progressive. Of course, it would have helped if I had researched them BEFORE arriving in Phoenix, but oh well. My cursory glance at each college's website did not impress me. There was not the variety of course delivery methods I was expecting. Plus the Super 8 I was staying at was in the ghetto. It had high-speed wireless internet, sure, but nasty pillows. And I'll take nice pillows over the internet any day.

Thus, I decided the Maricopa community colleges were over-rated and figured I'd head to Tucson early. I did do some sight-seeing on the way out of town, at South Mountain Park. There was a great view of Phoenix.



I saw lots of saguaro cacti.



I needed a photo of me and was too wimpy to ask anyone to take one. Here is my first attempt with the timer on my digital camera.



I did get it right eventually.



As I was on top of South Mountain, trying to face front for the camera, my cell phone started blasting "Who Can It Be Now," by Men At Work. This is the ring on my cell phone for people not in my contact list. It was David Williamson, of Pima Community College, confirming our appointment for the next day (Tuesday, March 20). There is still hope for my sabbatical! Do not fear! More news to come!

MAA Prep #2

Our first activity Monday morning was using a sheet of cardstock to make a container with a lid. We were asked to come up with a purpose for the container, measure its volume, and consider issues such as the number of cuts needed and the amount of wasted material.

My partner and I decided we wanted to do something unconventional, and came up with the idea of a pyramid. Here is our finished product. We decided it would be used to store healing herbs and crystals, since we were, after all, in California! The nice thing was that we used the entire sheet of cardstock with no waste.



The rest of the day, and most days to follow, would involve examining activities that could be used to introduce units in a Beginning or Intermediate Algebra course. These have been mainly hands-on activities that have a definite laboratory feel. For example, to look at linearity (and linear equations), the activity involved indirect measurement: "How could you determine how many nails are in a container without counting them?" Thus, we used a scale to measure the weight of one nail, then two nails, and so on to see the linear pattern of increase.

This obviously introduces the idea of slope. The activity introduces the idea of a y-intercept by including the weight of a nail box with the nails. It worked quite well. We then collected forearm length and height data, made a scatterplot, and discussed the idea of a line of best fit.

There have been many interesting activities presented, and they have given me a lot of ideas. The presenters are emphasizing that they do NOT do these activities every class period, rather they use them to DRIVE the curriculum. That is, you do an activity that shows the NEED for a particular mathematical process or function before you teach all of the actual mathematics involved.

I'm not so sure I'm ready to adopt all of their activities, but it seems that some of them could be easily included in my two sections of MTH 095 in the fall.

The other participants have been interesting people with a variety of experience and from several different types of institutions.

Today (Thursday) is a short time, with the afternoon and evening left free for exploring the Bay area. It's a "Spare the Air" day here, since it's a little warmer than usual with lower air quality. That means all public transportation is free, so I'm heading off to BART again to go to SF.

MAA Prep #1

John and I arrived at the Oakland International Airport on Thursday, June 15. The few days before the trip were a little hectic, as I started to experience pretty severe pain in my lower left foot, finally determined to be a problem with my Achilles tendon. A combination of time, a steroid injection, and an oral course of Prednisone would eventually relieve most of the symptoms.

The days from Thursday to Sunday were spent doing tourist-type stuff in the SF Bay area. Here we are at the beach...

John flew back from Oakland to Rockford (via Denver) on Sunday, dropping me off at UC-Berkeley on the way to the airport. After checking in, I walked down the hill to find somewhere to have lunch. The buffet at India Palace caught my attention and was very good. On the way back to the dorm, I considered my options for the afternoon/evening: (1) attend the opening MAA-Prep reception at the university from 4-6, or (2) return to SF and spend time with friends there. I figured that I would be seeing the MAA people all week, so SF won out. This meant I had to return back down the hill to catch the BART. Fortunately, my foot was doing better, as this involved a decent amount of walking.

I returned back to campus early enough to get a good night sleep before starting the actual conference, but the small bed made sleeping not quite as relaxing as usual.

NISOD Sessions #2

Session overload is starting to set in. I wish there was a little corner in the back of these rooms like the one at Allerton so I could get some sleep.

The first session I attended today was "Redesigning a Gateway Course," presented by people from Tallahassee Community College. One of the presenters would receive my award for "Most Interesting Presenter Name" - Moana. I thought it might be pronounced Moan-ah, but it was actually pronounced Mo-ah-nah.

The mathematics department at TCC was confronted with the fact that the success rate in their college algebra course was the lowest in the state, so they decided they needed to change their intermediate algebra course. The discussion focused more on how they decided what changes to make, rather than what the changes actually were, and this is probably good information for me to keep in mind for our progress after I make my visitations and come back with some ideas.

The second set of sessions lacked any mathematical ones that seemed worthwhile. Well, there was "Never Erase the Board Again! Using the Interwrite Software and Tablet in the Mathematics Classroom," but this involved a white board, so I made the sign of the cross as I passed the doorway and went to "Three-Tiered Professional Development" instead.

This was a mistake.

The presenter started by talking about how he basically forgot all the stuff for his presentation at home and ended up having to retype the powerpoint presentation because he couldn't figure out how to get his laptop hooked up to the hotel internet.

Most of the information presented was closely linked to the Kentucky community college system, which apparently has a single president. Thus, much of it wouldn't transfer to other schools anyway.

I was especially disappointed near the end of the session when he commented, "We're almost out of time, but since we're the last morning session I suppose we could take questions for another 5 or 10 minutes."

I met most of the RVC posse at the Hilton restaurant for lunch. It was uneventful.

The first set of afternoon sessions also lacked any promising mathematical sessions. I considered attending one of the other ones, but decided not to, as I did not want to repeat my morning mistake. Thus, I returned to my room and relaxed for a bit.

My last session of the day was "Innovative Strategies for Transitioning Developmental Students into Higher-Level Mathematics Courses," presented by two faculty members from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. This was basically a report that they teach all of their developmental classes in four different formats: (1) traditional lecture, (2) self-paced, (3) online, and (4) hybrid. I did get some good ideas and heard about how the hurricane affected them.

Marie Baker and Lois Lundgren left during the afternoon to return to Rockford, so the smaller RVC group of 6 went to dinner. Let me tell you, some of these women sure know how to order dessert. After dinner (this one was expensive - almost $290 for six of us), I sat on the hotel balcony and heard some RVC gossip from Cindy, Marjorie, and Paulette. We missed the bats again, so I guess that will have to wait for another time.

I guess we're attending a session in the morning from 9:30-10:30 and then meeting in the hotel lobby at 11:15 to catch cabs to the airport (our plane leaves at about 1:30 I think). I'm looking at going either to "The Comfortable Classroom" or "Bridging the Gap: High School to College for the Under-prepared Student." Then it's back to Rockford!

NISOD Sessions #1

The Welcoming Reception wasn't very welcoming.

There were huge lines for the bar (always a bad thing), but fortunately Marie Navickis had the presence of mind to know to LOOK for me in the bar line. Soon after getting my Dos Equis, we noticed Evan outside near the pool towering over most of the others. He then called Cindy on the VP-phone and we met up with the others. There didn't seem to be any food there, so we left. (Somebody later said that some of the tables in the room with the mariachi band had popcorn and cookies on them. Maybe it's just me, but that seems to be a weird food combination.

We regrouped in the hotel lobby a little bit later to go to a Tapas restaurant. The food was pretty good, and it's always fun to just have a little of this and a little of that. We gabbed a bit after dinner, when Evan felt compelled to discuss again how strange it is that College Algebra does not count as a gen ed math course and to give his rationale for why it should.

I must have been more tired out from the trip than I thought, as I slept through the keynote and 1.5 of the 2 morning breakout sessions. Fortunately, the two sessions that looked most interesting for the day were in the afternoon, so the day was not totally lost.

Al Groccia, from the Osceola campus (Kissimmee, FL) of Valencia Community College presented the first session, titled "Trying everything even the Kitchen Sink to Improve Prep Math Success Rates." I was a little disappointed that there was in fact NO mention of the kitchen sink, or any other plumbing fixture, during the talk.

We began by "meeting somebody new." This meant talking to somebody sitting next to you and sharing your favorite movie, or book, or something interesting about yourself. I don't know what I was thinking, but all I said was that I was going to be on sabbatical leave next spring looking at our developmental math program. Wow. That's interesting. All I remember about the guy I talked to is that he taught math somewhere between Houston and Austin.

Al told us that if we shared something interesting about the person we met, we could get either a Jolly Rancher lollipop or a Hershey's hug (he actually said no kisses because of all the hype about sexual harassment). Nobody in our row shared, but Al passed around the candy anyway, as I knew he would.

In Florida, apparently, all Beginning and Intermediate Algebra students must take a state competency exam and score at least 70% on the exam to pass the class. Valencia requires students to earn a grade of A, B, or C and to score at least 80% on the exam to pass the class. Much of Al's work at the college involves the preparation for, and the administration of, this test.

He described some of the information he gives to students and teachers, and some of the technology they use, including WebCT and CPS (Classroom Performance System). We even did a little demo of the CPS. I had remote #26. The first question was "Who is Jennifer Aniston's current boyfriend?" The answer choices were (a) Ben Affleck, (b) Brad Pitt, (c) Al Groccia (the presenter - ha ha), and (d) Vince Vaughn. I didn't really know, but amazingly got the right answer - D.

The second question was "Which team won the last World Series?" I thought it was the White Sox, and when my neighbor gave me a knowing look (since he now knew I was from near Chicago) I was sure. The other answer choices were the Red Sox, the Astros, and something like the "No Hole in Sox." ha ha

The third question was my downfall. "How far would you have to walk to burn off the calories from one M&M?" The choices were (a) one mile, (b) 3 city blocks, (c) the length of a football field, or (d) who cares? ha ha I guessed (b), but the answer was (c). The guy on the other side of me said "Aren't (b) and (c) almost the same length?" I don't care enough to check if he was correct.

The fourth question involved dividing the product of the numbers from 1 to 10 (10!) by the product of the numbers from 1 to 9 (9!). What amazed me is that Al said how shocked he was that a kid on some show got the answer in less than 10 seconds, and then he said how there was a "trick" that would let you get the answer quickly. I guess he doesn't teach permutations and combinations much.

Much of the talk was really pretty standard stuff. I found it interesting that Valencia is part of this "Achieving the Dream" grant, and that 2 of the 3 initiatives Al mentioned with respect to this were (1) supplemental instruction (having a model student sit in on your class, take notes, and then work with the students as a student leader) and (2) LinC courses (our FIGs). Both of these are things we tried at RVC years ago.

The second session was "Pros and Cons of Computer Assisted Algebra," by Valerie Martin of North Arkansas College. The college used I Can Learn hardware and software to teach ALL sections of Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. Some highlights:

• Each section contained 20 students.
• Students could complete the course over 2 semesters if needed, possibly paying tuition a second time, through a new grade of NC (for not complete).
• It seemed that the classes were only 3 credit hours.
• Students could only work on the material in a college lab.
• The teacher was in the lab for the 3 class periods, helping individual students as they had questions.
• Students watched and listened to (via headphones) lectures on the computer for each lesson.
• Pass rates did improve.
• Students were overall pleased with the class.

It was interesting, and something to think about, which is why I'm here I guess.

We had dinner at Chuy's in Austin, which our cab driver told us is famous for being the restaurant where Jenna Bush got in trouble. It was good, and I got to finish Marjorie's margarita! We got back too late to see the bats, although a couple in the hotel elevator was able to tell us the time they started tonight - about 8:15. We'll have to see them tomorrow.

Just what is a NISOD?

Q: How many Hampton Inns are there in Austin, TX?

A: More than one.

This was the first important piece of information I learned at the NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development) 2006 International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence.

The picture is me posting this entry with my stylish name tag. (My name is even spelled correctly!)

The day started with bedtime at 12:00 a.m., followed far too closely by the classical stylings of WNIU on my clock radio at 4:04 a.m. I allowed myself one hit of the 8-minute snooze button, although the recurrence of music failed to result in an immediate springing out of bed at 4:12. I still had plenty of time to shower and drive to the Best Western Clock Tower Resort before the Van Galder bus left for O'Hare at 5:10.

I parked and went to the hotel desk to purchase my 3-day parking pass for $6. On the way back to my car, I was greeted with a familiar "Hello, Michael," from Evan, who was walking with his wife from their car to the bus stop area of the Clock Tower. I waved, deposited my hanging parking pass on the rear view mirror, and returned to the bus stop area.

We talked about how early it was, and how early we each awakened, and how early the bus was leaving until the bus actually arrived. Evan immediately claimed the only seat left that had an empty seat next to it, so I decided I might as well sit next to him, rather than next to a stranger.

Since neither of us is slight of build, that might not have been the best decision. Plus, I had to field questions about why the Developmental Mathematics Program Assessment Group had not completed its program assessment. Evan said that he had e-mailed Rodger about it, but had not received an answer yet. I assured him that Rodger would certainly respond, but that he was probably very busy either producing a new mathematics department feature film or deciphering one of Bob Branda's cryptic grievance filings.

Curbside check-in was uneventful, except that I handed the checker-in a $10 bill for the $2 bag checking fee, and he assumed I was paying for both Evan and me. I was gracious and gave him the $4 fee plus a $4 tip. Evan tried to buy me coffee by the gate, but I didn't want to drink anything because of my curious tendency not to move from my seat once the plane is in motion. Once, John and I were returning from Paris to Chicago, and I stayed in my seat during the entire six or seven hour flight.

Evan and I were originally seated in 17A and B, but Evan wanted to be sure he got an aisle seat to stretch those long legs, so he approached the gate attendant and was changed to an aisle seat in the exit row. I wanted to be sure I had a window seat, and the attendant indicated that I could just keep 17A and B, since the plane had a lot of empty seats on it.

I had neglected to bring my road atlas, so I could not follow our progress on the map. John jokes that I want to be prepared in case the pilot suddenly needs an additional navigator. I was able to follow our route to St. Louis, where I expertly identified the Gateway Arch. After that, Missouri and Arkansas sort of merged together, and it got cloudy, so I napped a little.

Upon arrival in Austin, we made our way to the baggage claim. Evan's arrived first, and he went to check on getting a shuttle bus for the hotel. After claiming my suitcase, I rejoined Evan, who had spoken to someone at the hotel who said "the girl" would be waiting for us. This wasn't exactly true, but a Hampton Inn van showed up in a few minutes.

The driver was pleasant and asked about our flight and why we were in Austin. Her lack of knowledge of the NISOD conference (which had filled the hotel for several days) puzzled me a little, and should have been a big clue. A few minutes later, Evan got a strange look on his face and looked to the left. The driver moved into the left lane, signaled, and pointed to the right and said "Downtown is that way."

Of course, we wanted the Downtown Hampton Inn. Instead, we were at the Airport Hampton Inn. Fortunately, she very kindly offered to take us to the other hotel. Along the way, she pointed out the Congress Avenue bridge, which apparently teems with bats who make a mass exodus at sunset every night.

She dropped us off; I tipped her generously; and we proceeded to check in. In the elevator, Evan was very concerned that he must have offended the driver because she wouldn't take the tip he offered. I assured him that I had tipped her well. He said he would need to buy me a beer sometime.

Somewhere along the way, Evan operated the VP-phone and spoke with Cindy Luxton, who was already at the hotel with the other 5 female attendees from RVC. They had been at the convention center (about 2 blocks from the hotel) and would be returning to the hotel. We met them in the lobby, and were informed that we had 12:30 lunch reservations with them at P. F. Chang's.

The idea was floated that one could order the food family-style, and share it around the table. I concluded pretty quickly that most were spice-phobic, however, so I opted to order my own Sichuan from the Sea Scallops. Lunch was good, and although I was at one point told that I could split up the check, Cindy actually divided $115 (including tip) by 8 and got $15 each. She was concerned that this might be too much for my selfish order, but I assured her that it was pretty close.

Everybody else seemed to have pre-conference seminars during the afternoon, but I returned to my room and logged into the free high-speed internet at the hotel to type this entry. I am meeting Evan and the 6 ladies (Cindy Luxton, Marjorie Oliver, Lois Lundgren, Marie Baker, Marie Navickis, and Paulette Gilbert) at the 5:00 Welcoming Reception, hosted by the Four Seasons Hotel, and featuring a mariachi band from Laredo Community College. I think I even have a free drink coupon in my convention packet, so look out Austin!

Let's start at the very beginning

It's hard to identify the actual beginning of this process. Thus, I am picking today since the RVC Board of Trustees officially approved my sabbatical leave at today's meeting.

The meeting was a two-parter. The first part was a riveting reorganizational meeting, culminating in the election of new board officers for the next year. I was hoping to get appointed College Architect, but they picked somebody else instead.

The second part started about 20 minutes after the first part started and contained the more traditional college business items. I have to hand it to the Board - the first part of the meeting had agenda items A through W, and they did it all in less than 20 minutes. That's pretty impressive. I wish the Faculty Association meetings were equally efficient.

After routine tasks like the approval of previous meeting minutes, the first order of business was the reading and approval of board resolutions honoring soon-to-be retirees. There were no surprise layoffs at the last minute, so everybody seemed happy. I know that retirement is a time to lay on the praise, but the wording of the resolutions led me to believe that I must be in the lowest quartile of college employees with respect to my effort to be "outstanding," "dedicated," and/or "superb." Everybody retiring had those qualities in abundance.

I exaggerate, of course. The resolutions were in reality quite touching. Those honored had spent many years at the college and put in a lot of time and effort trying to help those we serve. Each made a statement to the board after the reading of his/her resolution, and most indicated that they were thankful for the years spent at the college.

After everybody got done fawning over the old folks, it was time for the important business! The Vice President of Learning Services, Cindy Luxton, introduced Cheri Rittenhouse and me to the board. Cindy gave a very abbreviated version of my sabbatical, making me wonder if (1) she really knew what I was doing at all, or (2) at least had no idea she would be introducing me. Her introduction of Cheri was also somehow brief yet wandering at the same time.

I told the board my three main goals: (1) to investigate leading college math, (2) to research effective developmental math programs, and (3) to establish partnerships with local elementary and secondary schools for mathematics education.

Cheri, in contrast, is taking the year to find herself by traveling through Europe and Latin America. (Well, I assume it is really more than that. As a mathematician, I really didn't connect with her "artspeak" that much.)

Dr. Becherer smiled a lot, and told the board that although he really didn't have to ask them to approve our leaves, he would like them to do it anyway. And they did. But not before the outgoing chair asked if they would be getting a report after our leaves were finished. Dr. Becherer assured him that they would, sometime in Fall 2007.

So I guess I have over a year to make up some garbage that sounds more impressive than "I wasted the whole semester leveling 20 characters to level 60 in World of Warcraft."