2009-2010 Boise Venture of Mine: Semester Three

Fires lead to great moon shots in Boise.
(I'm experimenting with picture options. Click on the pictures to see full sized images.)

Well, I'm back at it. After discussing my options for this semester while back in Humboldt, I decided to take the plunge and go for the 5 classes. Why? Because I will be done with all required classes, and I will be able to move back home in June to finish my dissertation. I'll need to come back to Boise a few times to take care of meetings and such, but I can finish the work I need to do back home, and I'll be able to start working again.

That said, I'll be on a seriously turned-up treadmill for the next three months. Very exciting classes, though. I have a qualitative and a quantitative methods course, and courses in curriculum and current issues in education, and a field study class (where I'll be interning at the charter school I am studying). On top of that, I'm working on several projects/papers for my graduate assistantship, and beginning to plan out my dissertation study and get the preliminary paperwork and planning out of the way.

Speaking of that dissertation thing... I am planning to study the "grammar of schooling", which is the way that school is, and is "supposed to be" that everyone has programmed into their brains from their own experiences. It is one of the reasons that school reform is so difficult, because everyone is an expert (because of personal experience) on school. I am studying a school that has a very different grammar of school (a charter school centered on expeditionary learning) and interviewing some 8th graders to find out what their grammar of school is. I will also be interviewing some 8th graders who have attended traditional schools, and some high school students from both schools, as well. It's more complicated than that, but at least that'll give you an idea of where I'm headed. Once I have my full proposal, I can post it so those interested can see the nuts and bolts of it. It will be interesting, and no one has looked into this before. It is assumed that there is a grammar of schooling, and that everyone has it. It's a theory that hasn't really been tested.

There's Miss Giovanna under saddle. We got in about 5 rides before my trip to Humboldt, and then she got corneal ulcers (3!!) which have sidelined her for a bit. Among other reasons for wanting to be done with Idaho is how much my horses have been ill, sick, or injured since we moved here. Not sure what the deal is, but it has been non-stop. At any rate, she is recovering, and making progress. Finally started turning the corner yesterday, after almost two weeks of treatment. Very glad.

While I was in Humboldt, I painted about half of my childhood home. It was a working vacation, see? Also helped a friend with painting her house and prepping for her landscaping. Visited with other friends, picked up some incredible fish, got my computer updated and cleaned, and picked up the new lenses for my glasses. Was very difficult to step back into my Idaho life after settling back into my Humboldt life, but I've been intensely busy since the minute I got back. Not much time for anything else, which has been good.

Pictures of childhood home Painting project: